Top 10 Ways to Fail at Social Media

March 25, 2013

With companies jumping on the Social Media bandwagon left and right, there are many mistakes that need to be learned and avoided. We’ve compiled a list of 10 ways you can fail and what to do to avoid throwing time and money away.

1) A one sided relationship works. If you get a response from a follower make sure you respond to them in a timely fashion. One thing that turns followers off is a brand that ignores its fans.  

2) Request people to like or follow your brand. Avoid begging people for likes and retweets, and if you need to, make sure you have something to offer.

3) Keep Personal & Business accounts together. One of the biggest mistakes that can be made is mixing up a personal account with a business account. A great example of this is the mistake a KitchenAid employee made. During a debate the employee mistakenly posted an offensive tweet poking fun at President Obama’s Grandmother from the KitchenAid handle instead their personal handle. This led to a PR nightmare.

4) Build a Facebook app that requires multiple steps. If you want a successful Facebook app, then make sure you only request the basics in order to activate it, or else the user might opt out.

5) Expect your pretty picture to drive likes and boost your followers. Most likely your audience will need to be shown where, how, and why to interact with your brand. Although images have proven to boost interaction, it doesn’t guarantee to promote your brand effectively.

6) A negative reaction means take it down. Not every post will get your audiences praises, but just because a few people might not be a fan doesn’t mean remove the post. By removing the post, you might end up doing more damage than by standing behind it and moving on.

7) Because you have a lot of likes and many followers makes you invincible. Never take your fans for granted. No matter how many there might be you need to keep a high engagement with them. This will keep their interest and make them feel relevant to your business.

8) Write your own reviews. If you aren’t getting the reviews on social media sites that you’re looking for, then you might be tempted to make a false ID and post one to your liking. Whatever you do, do not write a review for your own business. Reviews like this can be misleading and can damage your reputation.

9) Take offense to critics. If someone writes a negative comment or review about your business, do not respond back at them with a negative reaction. The best thing to do is to offer a solution, or ignore it and move on.

10) Going in blind and without a plan. One of the biggest mistakes a company can make is going into a social media campaign without a plan or knowing where to even reach their audience. Yes, these networks are free, but to efficiently use them you need to put forth time, and time means money. Have a solid plan and you’ll surely avoid failing in the social world.

If you need up creating a marketing plan, learn what we can do with your research and strategic planning



About Insivia

We're a SaaS Growth Agency scaling SaaS & technology companies through brand positioning, integrated marketing, web design, sales and retention.