Five Easy Resolutions for Avoiding Social Media Apocalypse in 2012
Posted by Chris Pilbeam on Jan 3rd, 2012
2011 saw its fair share of social media marketing blunders – so, for 2012, here are five resolutions that should ensure you aren’t the brand everyone’s talking about for all the wrong reasons.
1) Double-check which account you’re posting from
Last year: In March, a New Media Strategies employee lost the Chrysler Group account when he not only dropped the F-bomb on the client’s Twitter account, but also ridiculed Detroit drivers just after Chrysler launched the popular Imported from Detroit campaign at the Super Bowl. Though the staffer was fired, the damage was already done.
The Imported from Detroit campaign had been a smash hit out of the gate, and Chrysler was largely happy with the outside agency’s work – until one unthinking employee mistakenly logged into the wrong account.
This year: If you’re a larger business, having a clear and well-circulated policy on who can access social media accounts can prevent errors like this. For everyone else: just double-check before you tweet.
2) Don’t abuse trending hashtags
Last year: Someone managing the Twitter account for donut firm Entenmann began integrating trending hash tags into the company’s tweets to gain a wider audience. When they tweeted “Who’s #NotGuilty about eating all the tasty treats they want?”, a hashtag that had been trending due to the controversial verdict of the Casey Anthony trial, a backlash ensued.
This year: Unless a trending hashtag is related to your topic and would be of interest to your followers, don’t use it. If you do, make sure you understand why that particular phrase is trending.
3) Take care with what you share
Last year: Micky Arison, owner of the Miami Heat, was fined $500,000 by the NBA in November for tweeting about the lockout after the league had explicitly banned such social conversation. The fine he received was five times as big as those levied on others for their public comments about the lockout.
This year: Quite simply, don’t share confidential or proprietary information via any social media network. Depending on your settings, social media status updates and shared links are public and can be viewed by anyone.
4) Think twice before cracking that (elaborate) joke
Last year: Ragu hoped that a seemingly harmless video of moms criticizing the bumbling of their husbands in the kitchen would go viral. After it was sent to several prominent ‘daddy bloggers’, that’s exactly what it did -although not quite in the way they intended. Offended dads took to their blogs to denounce Ragu’s assertions that men can’t cook and to take the company to task for its sexist connotations.
This year: First off, it’s probably not a good idea to make fun of the target audience you’re trying to reach, no matter how endearing you try to make it. Second, with in-depth social media campaigns that have higher production costs, such as this video, it’s a good idea to test it with your target audience before taking it too far. If this team had tested their idea with some of the doting dads they wanted to attract, they could have adjusted accordingly and saved themselves some embarrassment.
5) Cover the basics before you get advanced
Last year: Netflix tried to make some pretty serious changes in September when it announced a plan to spin off its DVD-rental service into a separate site called Qwikster. With many customers turned off by the idea and cancelling their memberships, the company’s woes were then compounded by its failing to secure the Twitter handle @Qwikster before launch.
The handle was already in use by a foul-mouthed stoner who basked in his newfound notoriety.
Netflix killed Qwikster three weeks later. Though much of the backlash against Qwikster had to do with customer displeasure with Netflix’s new business model, the backtracking was compounded by the social media blunder.
This year: remember that it’s easy to forget something so seemingly obvious, especially when you’re focusing on becoming more proficient. We know you’re going to be a social media star this year – but please spare a minute to check you’ve got the basics covered.
Need a sixth resolution? We recommend ‘take a demo of Vocus social media software‘. We’re biased, of course, but it’s the way forward.
Image: Sean MacEntee (Creative Commons)
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