Social media is becoming increasingly popular among businesses as a way to get their messages out. Almost anyone can use social media because it does not require special programming or design skills, but there are social media errors businesses can make.
This makes Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, blogs, and various other tools great opportunities for marketers. Unfortunately, many businesses do not understand that “easy to use” does not necessarily mean “easy to use.” While this might seem redundant, it is true. Too often, businesses and marketers fail to realize that just because social media is easy to set up and interact with, this does not mean that there is no need for a strategy behind it in order to avoid social media errors.
A recent article by Maria Ford of MarketingProfs discusses this issue. Ford points out two false assumptions made among marketers: first, more communication equals better communication; and second, social media is foolproof. These two assumptions can lead to lower quality communication, turning your message into “noise” and creating confusing or conflicting messages.
Ford goes on to say you don’t necessarily want more communication, but more effective communication. She lists five fatal errors that are common among businesses that use social media. These five errors include: failing to consider the audience first, assigning ownership of messages, offering too much or too little choice, failing to consolidate messages and information, and falling prey to “easy” and “cheap.”
Luckily, Ford also provides solutions to these mistakes. Having a social media strategy and knowing which platforms to use can mean the difference between a successful campaign and failure.
