Common Social Media Marketing Mistakes

Publié le 16 July 2020 Par Matt Dodge

Companies spend millions of dollars to promote their brands across various platforms and mediums in order to reach a wide consumer base. Any suggestion that social media is little more than a passing fad has long since dissipated. With the constant pressure to follow trends and take advantage of any opportunity, there are bound to be errors and faux pas on social media which bring the wrong type of attention to a company. Here are some common social media marketing mistakes, and ways that they can be prevented.

Mistakes Were Made

Accidents and mistakes can happen in any profession, and social media marketing is no exception. The position of social media manager plays a vital role in the promotion of all products for virtually every large company. Even with experience and awareness, there are still common mistakes which can slip through. These include accidentally posting from the wrong profile, jumping on trending topics without checking their source, and not paying close enough attention to the content of the posts themselves.

Posting From the Wrong Account

Large corporations typically are not built around a single popular brand. Coca-Cola makes more than one type of drink, just as Disney produces more than one film a year. This creates a situation where social media managers could find themselves managing several different accounts for various brands and products. Not only does this pose the obvious challenge of crafting a distinct voice and image for each brand, but it adds the practical issue of having to switch in and out of many different accounts.

The process of working with multiple accounts, with different usernames and passwords which frequently change for security, is actually quite complicated. Social media marketing requires strong organizational skills and clear structure to prevent a family-friendly movie account from suddenly posting a trailer for an R-rated comedy.

One of the more challenging aspects of social media is that it is in a constant state of flux. Millions of pieces of content are generated every second, and trends and patterns can emerge incredibly quickly. A good social media manager will always be on the lookout for the latest trending topic. This provides an opportunity to spin it in a way which will help promote their brand or product.

Problems can arise, however, when they do not take the time to research why a particular topic or hashtag is trending. This can lead to companies seemingly associating themselves with events or topics which are less than ideal. Brands have defined images and audiences, and social media managers must take the time to ensure that all hashtags are in line with with the image of a company or product.

Not Double-Checking Everything

Even with the sheer volume of content generated on social media, it would be a big mistake for any brand to consider their presence on a social network to be disposable or unworthy of careful attention. The same rules of good copywriting and branding must also be applied to social media if a company is to reach their marketing goals.

The basics still apply: promote a clear and concise message using correct spelling and grammar. What sets social media apart is the efficiency with which one can tag other accounts, share postings and post links to other media. These tags and links must be double-checked before posting, or it can cause confusion for customers and embarrassment for the company.

For example: there was an instance of an airline who re-posted a sale ad for their direct competitor, seemingly in error. While this may appear to be a mostly benign mistake, it signifies a lack of attention to detail that could lead to bigger issues.

Out Of Your Control

Sometimes problems and social media marketing mistakes can occur that are not the result of a direct error on the part of an employee. Profiles can be hacked, AI-supplemented programs can backfire, and accounts can unintentionally fall into the wrong hands. An experienced and proactive social media manager is still needed to correct these errors, and ensure that all marketing continues according to the wishes of the client.

So You’ve Been Hacked

As more information and data moves from the physical realm to the digital one, the importance of computer security continues to grow. While large companies can afford to have entire IT teams devoted to maintaining and protecting their computer networks, flaws can still happen.

Something as simple as unchecked malware or a too-simple password can leave accounts vulnerable to outside forces. Once a hacker has gained control of an account, they often end up making defamatory and inappropriate postings. In these circumstances, there is a little for a corporation to do other than change the password, immediately delete the postings and admit what happened. Better to have allowed a lapse in security than to appear malicious.

Review AI and Bots

The use of artificial intelligence in all aspects of the workflow process is becoming more and more common. AI-supplemented bots can assist social media community managers by searching for relevant keywords, tracking statistics and even automatically generating posts. While this can save time and effort, it is also capable of causing unexpected problems.

In one such case, a large brand was approaching 1 million followers. In order to celebrate the growth of their online community, they had set up an AI program to automatically repost the latest posting from the 1 millionth follower. The program did exactly as instructed, but unfortunately the resulting posting contained something offensive and had to quickly be removed. While AI can save time through scheduled postings, it is important that these plans be reviewed and monitored by actual people.

Update Your Domain

Even with the plethora of available social media platforms, the vast majority of companies will still link back to their home website as a central source. This creates a problem if their website suddenly isn’t there. Whether a website is for a multi-billion dollar international corporation or a freelance copywriter, the process for purchasing a domain is essentially the same. Using a domain name registrar, companies and individuals will search for domain names, select one that is available and purchase it for their use. The vast majority of domains are purchased for a set period of time, generally for one year, before they must be renewed. There is usually the option to set up automatic renewals, but it can be easy to overlook this step.

This has led to situations where extremely popular websites have suddenly found that their domain name has been purchased by an unknown third party. Companies have spent years and countless dollars building their corporate brands and reputation, and having their customers suddenly unable to find their website presents a huge issue. Clicking a link on a posting could then lead them to the wrong info or potentially even expose them to malware. In real life examples, companies have often resorted to purchasing their domain back for a greatly increased fee, and presumably ensuring that the option for automatic renewals has been selected.

Businesses and companies are always trying to hit their advertising goals and social media represents a constantly moving target. Social media managers must continue to use every tool and opportunity to promote their brands, while hopefully not falling prey to social media marketing mistakes and errors. These can can derail a promising social media marketing campaign before it even really gets started.

Think you can do a good job while avoiding these issues? Check out the latest career opportunities for social media managers.