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NOTE: The following is a guest post by Natalie Hunter. If you want to submit your own guest post, click here for more information.
There are nearly 150 million active Facebook users in the United States, and about 70 percent log in at least once a day. Social media are powerful business tools that can be extremely effective when used correctly. Social media use accounts for nearly 25 percent of all time spent online. 64 percent of Facebook users have “liked” a particular brand they encountered through the website.
It’s estimated that by 2012, half of the world’s population will use some form of social media. It is easy to see why social media are important in promoting a product, business, or even online college. However, using social media the wrong ways can deal a severe blow to a company’s image.
1. Ignore Feedback
Not all feedback is going to be positive or even valid, but choosing to ignore all feedback is counterproductive and gives the impression that a business is out of touch or simply doesn’t care about its customers. Responses can be simple messages just thanking people for their feedback or acknowledging an issue. Some recognition of input is necessary.
2. Ignore Statistics
It’s not enough to just create an online presence. Businesses should track incoming traffic from links and social networks. Keep track of the number of people in social media groups and fan pages. Businesses should consider how many people are following them on Twitter and Facebook to be vital marketing data.
3. Send Mixed Messages
A business should have the same basic identify online and offline. This doesn’t mean there can’t be special perks offered to online customers, but keep the overall message the same. In other words, if a business is serious, responsible, and reliable offline, don’t try to present is as fun, hip, and spontaneous online. A confusing or mixed message is an instant turnoff. Keep it consistent.
4. Have Multiple Social Personalities
This is related to #3 but different. Creating one identify for Facebook and another for Twitter and yet another for LinkedIn leads to confusion. Maintain the same basic profile information across the board. This helps create and reinforce brand identify. The same goes for company logos and images. These should follow a similar theme used in all business-related postings. While some products may sell better with different approaches, or some messages better on some networks vs. others, the corporate personality should remain consistent.
5. Try to Go It Alone
Groups and communities are core when engaging in social media. An individual web page is great for personal use, but the goal of a business is to be a part of a group. Creating a group or fan page is an excellent way to engage existing customers and bring in new ones. Consider having some real employees be a part of the mix to add credibility.
6. Always Make Assumptions
Sometimes reality is different from perception. Before jumping into the world of social media, businesses should take time to see what others are saying about their brands. Some adjustments may be necessary to create a consistent message.
7. Sharing Everything You Can
While it is important to engage customers and communicate, not everything needs to be shared. Social media use for business is about return on engagement. It’s important to share information and address concerns, but some issues (such as lawsuits) are best left off the table.
8. Engage in Online Battles
It’s not wise to go after competitors by engaging in personal attacks through social media. Leave tackling the competition directly to advertisers.
9. Jump Into Every Service
It’s tempting to just create a profile on every social media service, but doing so has a few drawbacks. First, it’s not realistic to keep up with everything on every separate service, especially for businesses. A better approach is to make a list of what social networks work best for a particular business. More time can be better devoted to each of these social websites rather than trying to keep up with everything everywhere. Social websites that are rarely updated quickly loose customer interest, and even some that start out hot quickly become flops.
Like any other form of communication, some approaches work and some don’t work when it comes to social media. Carefully selected strategies and a coherent, unified message and online persona are the way to make social media effective business assets.
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Natalie Hunter grew up wanting to be a teacher, and is addicted to learning and research. As a result, she is grateful for the invention of the Internet because it allows her to spend some time outside, rather than just poring through books in a library. She is fascinated by the different methodologies for education at large today, and particularly by the advent of online education.
Tweet this: 9 Ways NOT to Present Your Company or Product via Social Media http://wp.me/pXBON-2UW #socmedia #marketing #prodmktg #prodmgmt