Social media offers fantastic opportunities to companies who want to increase their reputation, create traffic to their website, generate sales and leads. Unfortunately, some brands still fail to understand social media and do not get the results expected. Today, I suggest you discover 12 social media errors that brands commit (and how you may be able to avoid them).

1. Having an inadequate or no budget

A brand that does not invest financially in its social media program does not give itself the means to effectively use social media to achieve the company’s overall marketing objectives. If a few years ago, the free social media was an attractive factor for the creation of the presence of a brand on these platforms, today companies that have not evolved on this aspect find themselves penalized.

Driving a plan on social media requires essential investments, for example, in the creation of performance-based advertising campaigns and the promotion of content on congested newswires. There is also the use of specialized solutions in order to implement a strategy to listen to or evaluate the performance of a social media strategy in its entirety.

2. Believing they can do it themselves

In a difficult economic context, companies do not allocate sufficient human resources for the creation, implementation and monitoring of a social media strategy. However, social media requires a constant presence on ever-increasing platforms where content production, commitment creation and responsiveness are time-consuming activities. A lot of time.

Too often, companies do not have a dedicated social media team and either use employees already engaged in another activity within the company or trainees who do not have enough experience ( and will perhaps not be in the company for long).

3. Define the listening strategy

Getting started on social media begins with listening to identify where conversations take place about a brand and a topic. This approach is therefore essential in order to identify priority and relevant platforms.

The interest of the listening strategy does not end there, however. Indeed, listening to online conversations has many advantages: managing e-reputation, detecting business opportunities, getting feedback on aspects related to the brand or products, doing competitive intelligence And sectoral.

4. Ignoring the importance of commitment

Incorrectly, social media can be used as a tool for broadcasting, while consumer expectations for a personalized relationship and dialogue with brands have never been stronger.

Successful companies on social media are those that engage their audiences with relevance and foster dialogue with consumers but also between them.

Beyond purely commercial aspirations, the goal here should be to establish and maintain a genuine, solid relationship with consumers.

5. Refrain from responding to comments

Even today, too many brands do not respond to the comments of their audience. In the case of negative comments, companies hope to avoid increasing the visibility of a problem. This attitude is debatable and I will address it partially in the next point. But what is the logic of companies when it comes to a technical question or even a compliment? Most certainly, a combination of several factors including the lack of human resources indicated above and the non integration of the social component internally.

6. Do not see criticism as an opportunity

Brands that consider negative remarks as devoid of value obscure important data and choose a dangerous path. Of course, I’m not saying that because a prospect or a client makes a criticism, it is necessarily justified. But the attitude of systematically ignoring the criticism can lead a company on a downward slope.

7. Lack of authenticity

Nobody likes to talk to a machine. No one appreciates the lack of empathy of a customer service. So why is the customer relationship on social media all too often related to the transposition of a traditional customer service, where formatted and automated responses prevail?

In the world of social media, consumers are in the habit of communicating with each other on the basis of human interactions. When the employee of a company connects with consumers genuinely and shows a real interest in their expectations, it allows the establishment of an open, trusting relationship and carries a positive experience with the brand.

8. Use only one platform 

When marketing, conversion is essential. once a platform like Facebook or Twitter starts to deliver consistent and sustained results, it’s a very exhilarating moment, and businesses tend to put all their eggs in that one basket but remember that algorithms, targets, and client behavior all change over time and counting on one approach can eventually stall your efforts resulting in poor performance.

9. Not bringing value

The overabundance of information reigns in our daily lives. However, companies with qualitative content succeed in attracting consumers’ attention, building trust and building a solid reputation. Whatever their products or services and their sector of activity, each brand has become an editor on social media and more than ever their content has to be created to meet the expectations of consumers.

10. Have a 100% commercial tone

The direct marketing techniques are not effective on social media. They are even counterproductive. Continuously sending commercial offers on the news feed of users is often perceived as an intrusion.

The nature of social platforms is based on the relational aspect. On the whole, therefore, they are not originally channels dedicated to sales. But that does not mean that the sale of products and services is not welcome.

So how do we do? Adding a Buy Now button on publications is not the solution. On the other hand, creating a pleasant, attractive, easy and frictionless experience for the user is a more successful and compatible approach to social media.

11. Being an Impersonal Brand

“People will forget what you have said, they will forget what you have done, but never forget what you have made them feel. – Maya Angelou.

What differentiates two brands that sell the same product on social media? Technical characteristics? The price policy? The ancillary services? Nothing of the sort.

Ultimately, the personality of a brand should allow users to enter the world, experience emotions, share unique experiences within a community, feel close to them and feel preference.

12. Wait for quick results

” Rome was not made in a day “. This proverb perfectly illustrates what millions of brands live on social media every year. Building a community on one or more platforms takes months. Attracting qualified members requires skill and experience. Earning the trust of an audience and getting interaction requires patience. Selling directly products and services requires wisdom.

RSMEDIA believes that in the end time is money and how much is your time worth ? Why would you waste your time by trying to do your own social media ? Unless you have nothing better to do, your efforts should be focused on running your business which is what you do best. And let us do what we do…