By now, you have certainly seen some major social media disasters from brands and are counting your lucky stars it’s not your business. Marketers need to be extra vigilant about social media practices to avoid any potentially damaging mistakes. Once something hits the Internet, even if it’s only for a few minutes, it becomes nearly immortal.
To help you avoid any major missteps, we have pulled together here a list of five major social media mistakes to avoid. Don’t do the following things:
1) Share confidential company information.
Most of the time sharing behind the scenes information on social media is a great idea. It helps followers feel more connected to the brand and helps humanize the company. This strategy can backfire if you share the wrong information.
For one example, Gene Morphis, CFO for women’s clothing retailer Francesca’s, found herself in hot water after tweeting the seemingly harmless “Board meeting. Good numbers=Happy Board” after a private board meeting. This information caused the company’s stock to rise 15 percent. The problem is this kind of information sharing is considered “selective disclosure” because it was only revealed to Morphis’ 200-something Twitter followers and is illegal.
To prevent this type of over-sharing in your business, keep an eye on all employee’s social media accounts, particularly those with access to financial information.
2) Neglect social media security.
This tip ties in closely with number one as you don’t want anyone accessing information or accounts that could be damaging. In recent months there have been several incidents of hackers breaking into high profile social media accounts, particularly on Twitter.
No one is safe when it comes to Twitter hacking, not even the President. In April, the Associated Press (AP) Twitter account Tweeted "Breaking: Two Explosions in the White House and Barack Obama is injured." Not surprisingly, this Tweet blew up (pardon the pun) all over social media and the ripple affects caused the Dow Jones Industrial Average to plummet more than 150 points. The tweet was only up for about five minutes and that much damage was done.
This is an extreme example of what can happen if your Twitter account is hacked, but it’s an excellent warning. Be very strict about who has access to your account passwords. Create complex passwords with letters, numbers, symbols, and both upper and lowercase type. And lastly, change the password often.
3) Create and post too little.
You will never establish yourself or your brand as a thought leader if you fail to post enough quality content on a consistent basis. You can have your finger on the pulse through your work, the news sites your read, and your daily interactions with other thought leaders, but if you are not sharing that information through your social media outlets, no one will consider you an expert in your field.
The content you share doesn’t have to be all items you created. In fact, it shouldn’t be. Sharing content from other prominent leaders in your industry shows you have a solid understanding of what’s important. Post thoughtfully and post often.
4) Get political.
Avoid this topic like the plague unless your business directly involves the political system. Even then approach all topics lightly. With politics, the issues are always emotionally charged and making any sort of comment, no matter how seemingly neutral, will invite criticism and drama to your brand on social media.
5) Only post about your brand.
The world social in social media is there for a reason. These networks have developed a means to interact with other real human beings, not as an advertising platform for brands. This is one of the most common mistakes that brands make when approaching social media.
Internet media pro Jack Humphrey suggests the 90/10 rule when it comes to posting. About 90 percent of the content you post on social media should be personal insights, helpful links, and thoughtful questions and 10 percent should be content directly benefiting your brand.
Providing useful content, rather than turning your feeds into 24/7 ads, will inspire trust and engagement from your followers rather than annoyance.
