The Social Media Mermaid

In the last post, I talked about how it is important to have a clear voice when starting to build your social media or online presence. Having a clear voice to present your message is ambigious in itself- can you be funny and serious at the same time? Or do you have to decide- there are a lot of questions and there is no simple answer. The infinite number of media outlets online have made it more difficult to express your message in a clear manner. Every social network or platform has its own rules and it is only beneficial for you if you know those rules and engage in the platform accordingly.

Therefore, there are just as many things you can do “wrong”, which can hurt your (business) reputation.

1. Don’t respond

Not responding to a customer comment on your Facebook page or ignoring a complaint on Twitter for example can hurt your reputation the same way- social media is exactly what is says- it is social. So when you have all your social media identities set up but just leave them like that, you will never properly engage with your customers. Same goes for negative publicity or comments- No one wants to deal with a company that ignores their customers’ problems. By engaging with your customers you are definitely more in charge of your online reputation and have good chances to influence it in a positive way.

2. Unprofessional or inappropriate content

This probably goes without saying, however there have been quite a few incidents of well known brands/businesses that made this mistake. Chaleigh Glass mentions the example of GAP: They took advantage of the popular hastag #Sandy during Hurricane Sandy to promote their online shop. Not only does this make them look like they are completely unsympathetic to what was going on, their true purpose as a business was way too clear. Even though making money is clearly their main purpose, it should not be publicised like this.
In general you should avoid getting involved in current news unless they are relevant to your business- but don’t try and force your saled with that news event.

3. Spamming

Forcing your sales should be done in a certain way on social media networks. Users do not want to constantly be bombarded with your products or news regarding the company. Keep the amount of new posted at a good level so no one gets bored too quickly and unfollows you. Social media is about keeping in touch with your followers/customers, not about annoying them or pushing the product too hard.

Jet wrote a great article about several other does and don’ts regarding social media use for your business. He has included various faux paus of companies, which are a great illustration for his examples.