Tweet

Four Common Errors on Social Media Strategy and How To Prevent Them

Guest post by: Omaro Ailoch

Article Overview: Social media marketing has attracted a lot of public attention in the past two years, largely made up of success stories from major brands, niche companies, and successful internet celebrities who have used it to their advantage. However, despite the success for some, there has been a great deal of major commercial failures in social media.

Four Common Errors on Social Media Strategy and How To Prevent Them

Social media marketing has attracted a lot of public attention in the past two years, largely made up of success stories from major brands, niche companies, and successful internet celebrities who have used it to their advantage. However, despite the success for some, there has been a great deal of major commercial failures in social media.

From poor product promotions to absolute failures in online PR, the world of social media is not quite as rosy as the press often makes it look. Unfortunately, most of the time, potentially great campaigns are brought down by minor errors and slightly miscalculated strategies. These four errors on strategies are common amongst failed social media marketing plans. Absorb them, master their solutions, and incorporate them as an anti-example in your next social media marketing plan.

1- Letting bad press dominate through inaction.

There is only one way to fight bad press in a digital world: through explanation and response. In the 2008 Presidential Election, Barack Obama was faced with waves of inaccurate and occasionally malicious accusations. For a political candidate, having untrue information out there -- good or bad -- is potentially harmful, especially in a domain like social media where it can travel quickly.

Instead of letting untrue discussions grow, his campaign team fought them head on with their own social media profiles and websites dissecting and rebutting the claims. Your social media presence must do the same -- dissect, rebut, and acknowledge bad press, but turn it around to use to your advantage.

2- Losing potential conversation through inactivity.

A social media presence requires constant attention. The reason so many businesses fail on social media platforms is not because they put too much in, but that they fail to give enough to feed their audience. A social media presence is only as valuable as the amount of effort put into it -- a lazy profile is worth less than no profile at all.

Remember, your social media efforts are a branding exercise, and when they are inactive they quickly become a negative brand. If your social media presence becomes inactive, remove it, plan for the future, and re-release at a time when your business can accommodate it.

3- Affecting your relationship with current clients.

There is such a thing as having too much information, at least when you are running a business. While platforms like Twitter are great for running promotions, when used as a personal blog they can be devastating to your business' image. Think about it this way -- would you want every action of your day reflecting on your business?

There is a simple solution for this; tweet less and do more. Instead of tweeting about anything and everything, limit your social media output to things that can really help your business. When it comes to sustainable social media marketing, less is more.

4- Spending too much on social media, and too little on other marketing platforms.

Social media is not the ultimate form of marketing. Yes, it is free. Yes, it is effective in the right hands. No, it is not the only way to market your business. When you dedicate all your time to social media, it is easy to fall for the wrong metrics. Think about opportunity cost, and spend time effectively across multiple marketing methods, not just the most glamorous.

Related Articles
  How to develop a European Social Media Strategy
  “Should I or shouldn’t I”
  Are you paying people to update their Facebook profile?
  Resourcing B2B social media
  “The Top Ten Public Relations Errors That Are Hazardous To The Health Of Your Media Relations”

Article Tags: Common, Errors, How To Prevent, Social Media, Strategy



Related Forum Posts
Re: Kevin needs "social glue" ideas - Hi, I like the idea of "10 items that could act as "social glue" because I am an internet marketer. But I agree with the rest that the 10 recent post is nice. Maybe we should open up a new section in the forums on Social Media...or Social Media Marketing. I will tell you that the world is about 1 1/2 behind when it comes to understanding social media. Building a section now will put EvanCarmichael.com is a great position a year down the road when people realize Social Media can produce more traffic than SEO. Jeff
Re: Kevin needs "social glue" ideas - [quote="WebBizIdeas.com":gvtxsu7g]Hi, I like the idea of "10 items that could act as "social glue" because I am an internet marketer. But I agree with the rest that the 10 recent post is nice. Maybe we should open up a new section in the forums on Social Media...or Social Media Marketing. I will tell you that the world is about 1 1/2 behind when it comes to understanding social media. Building a section now will put EvanCarmichael.com is a great position a year down the road when people realize Social Media can produce more traffic than SEO. Jeff[/quote:gvtxsu7g] Hi Jeff, Thanks for the suggestion. Why don't you start a new post (with a poll) to see if there's enough interest in your idea for a social media section?
Re: UPDATES: New Campaign! New Layout! New Ideas! - GT - thanks for the FYI - I'm not sure if we'll put a link back. Something to consider though! Trent - the new category is "Social Network and Media" which was put in to compliment the Online Businesses category that currently exists. Overall the new categories are: - Looking For, Networking and Events - Review My... - Social Network and Media - Brags and Rants These came as a result of Ringo doing research on other forums and thinking about what could be improved on ours to give a better experience for everyone. I hope you enjoy them! David, I'm looking forward to reading your Brag / Rant!
Re: Marketing 2.0 - What Are Your Thoughts - Hi Shri, Thanks for posting this. I also read it and I believe Social Media is here to stay, until the next best thing comes up. Social media proved to be useful for me many times and I think everyone should use it for their business.
Re: Social Media Marketing Ignorance - [quote="vbn411":7qciluxl]Social Media is space that you have to be in to succeed in our current climate. People are going to be discussing your brand / product whether you like it or not, so you might as well join the conversation and add value. [/quote:7qciluxl] I think that's probably one of the most realistic way to think about it. There's no real textbook way of understanding Social Media, it's the networks of people and their interactions that will exist with or without your input. As for Jennifer, You can always have 2 Facebook pages. Many people do. There is also LinkedIn, which is like a professional networking version of Facebook. The only way to know is to try it.


Share this article with your friends. Fund someone's dream.

Leave a comment below or share on the left and you'll help support entrepreneurs in Africa through our partnership with Kiva. Over $50,000 raised and counting - Please keep sharing! Learn more.

Tweet

Newsletter

Get advice & tips from famous business
owners, new articles by entrepreneur
experts, my latest website updates, &
special sneak peaks at what's to come!

Name:
Email:

Popular Articles

Business Coach Explains To You How To Add Value

How to Set Sales Goals that Work

Working Across Borders

Suggestions

Email us your ideas on how to make our
website more valuable! Thank you Sharon
from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for
your suggestions to make the newsletter
look like the website and profile younger
entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez.