Scroll, scroll, scroll…oh NO! Have you ever looked through Facebook and an ad pops up from your favorite brand, and you think…oooo that’s a bad look. We’ve all seen one or two in our time, right? Well, Norton National is here to help a “poster” out. Here are some of the biggest mistakes that brands make on social media and tips on how to avoid them.
Haters Gonna Hate.
Usually, I would say to just throw on some pink Aviator sunglasses and block out the haters, but companies with a large social media following, can’t be doing that.
Replying to negative comments is just as important as hyping up the positive ones. When companies show their audience that they take negative comments seriously, positive attitudes toward their brand increases. Think about it, you can’t grow unless you know.
The absolute WORST thing a brand could do is delete negative comments. In an age of social media, people are obsessed with collecting “receipts” or proof that something happened. Everything on the internet is forever. If Comments are deleted instead of addressed, your group will look pretty shady.
The best way to deal with negative feedback on social media is to simply ask for more information. The company should ask “Negative Nancy” to slide into their DM’s and see how they can fix the situation. A brand should come across to their audience as if they care about the thoughts of their consumers.
Spamming
Companies should try their best to keep sales promotions to a minimum on social media. Treat social media as a tool to increase brand and cultural awareness. Less as another advertising channel.
Automatic or spammy links to online retailers never work. This may come off as ingenuine. Avoid broadcasting goods or services to every single platform, but still link everything back to the website where they can actually purchase the products.
Social media should be used as a tool to engage in conversation with the audience. See what kind of content they respond well to and what they don’t. You know, kinda like a first date!
Fake Followers
Ugh, this is just tacky and unoriginal at this point. When social media accounts have 30k followers, and only get 14 likes on their posts… It’s pretty obvious that they paid for their followers.
Wanna-be brands buy followers just to look better. Doing this actually has the complete opposite effect. Fake followers invite the consumer to think that the brand isn’t legit and that whatever they are trying to sell is probably fake.
Building followers is hard and can be a slow process, especially when first starting out. DO NOT fall into the temptation of spending $5 for a thousand fake followers. Buying followers is also against the rules of many social networks, so ya know… just don’t do it.
Define Objectives
Oh yeah, baby, time to dust off the ol’ SMART goals. If you don’t have goals, how are you supposed to track progress?
For a goal to be met; be Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-specific aka SMART. Having clear goals helps move the social media strategy forward and assists with defining metrics that matter. Check out our blog on tracking your growth on social media.
Goal setting increases social media success, yet many businesses don’t even think about creating social media goals. Companies should figure out exactly what they want their social presence to accomplish. Want to drive more people to the website? Gain more followers? Once established, they can build how to accomplish said goal.
Not setting goals and just posting whatever the heck a company feels like, isn’t the best way to retain an audience.
Social media in the 21st century is a tricky place to navigate. There are eyes everywhere and there isn’t much room for error. Keep your head up and try to avoid these mistakes. Now get posting!
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