When companies decide it’s time to up their social media game, they have to figure out a way to manage the work that entails.
Some businesses lean on their marketing team or interns to handle their social media management; others may ask volunteers from various departments to help, consider hiring a dedicated social media manager to take on the responsibility, or even try to lean on artificial intelligence technology to help manage their social media.
While posting branded content on a daily basis might seem like a fairly simple, straightforward function of marketing, there is a lot more involved in successfully developing a strong social media presence that helps a business attract and retain customers. Below, 19 members of Forbes Communications Council share common errors companies often make in managing their social media. Here’s what not to do to ensure social media marketing efforts are effective.
Treating social media as an announcement board
One error would be treating social media as an announcement board by only posting news about the company’s events, releases, product updates and so forth. By doing so, you’re forgetting to spotlight the social media users. This can create a variety of problems for a brand, most notably audience indifference, or even negative sentiment. Crafting content with them in mind would bring value to them. (Yael Klass, Similarweb Ltd.)
Focusing on topic and not tone
Too often, companies focus on topic and not tone. Social media needs its own tone of voice. Even if your idea or asset is great, you have seconds to catch someone’s attention on social media, and if the tone is off, you won’t pass go. Mindset is key, and when people are on social media they are in a different headspace than they are when reading emails, so you have to tap into that to avoid just adding to the noise. (Rosie Guest, Apex Group Ltd.)
Providing generic responses
Providing generic responses to negative comments or feedback from customers can create the problems of damaging the company’s reputation and losing customer trust. Instead, respond like a human. (Corey Quinn, Corey Quinn, Inc.)
Failing to begin with the sale in mind
A common, insidious error social media managers make is solely emphasizing improved metrics without concern for whether the brand maintains consistency, authority and trustworthiness in earning them. While shares, likes and views are transactional milestones in lead generation, failure to begin with the sale in mind via shallow, top-of-the-funnel content can leave any brand broke and forgotten. (James O’Connor, WordWoven)
Being self-promotional
Companies often think social media is there to promote their company’s products and services. In reality, it’s more important to provide useful content and resources to an audience that includes (but is not limited to) potential buyers. Not providing real value and being too self-promotional are the biggest social media mistakes many companies make. (Tom Treanor, Snipp Interactive)
Having social teams manage executives’ online presence
Often, executives opt for the social team to manage their online presence. This can be successful if the leader stays engaged with the program and consistently provides guidance and feedback. When total control is given to someone else to manage the voice of your leaders, it can quickly feel disingenuous and inauthentic, which can damage the brand reputation of both the leader and the company. (Jen Iliff, WunderLand)
Not limiting the number of administrators
Having unnecessary administrators can cause serious problems, including account hijacking and data security breaches. To protect your social accounts, limit the number of admins with access and require multifactor authentication for login. Furthermore, consider setting up new accounts tied to company emails that are independent from personal profiles. (Cord Himelstein, HALO)
Not setting an organizational standard for social media posts
Organizational activities can quickly spread on social media, so it’s crucial to communicate social media updates within the organization. Listening to the tone of customer feedback is essential, and evaluating and responding to it from an organizational perspective is necessary. Simply reading messages isn’t enough. Action is needed to engage with the audience and address their concerns. (Humsa Dhir, Sony Pictures Networks India)
Not committing to long-term social media management
Content-driven, organic social media is a long play. Social media platforms are first and foremost conversation and engagement hubs, not billboards. To really do social well and yield results, you have to be all in, with consistent content generation and interactions that fuel engagement. If you aren’t, you’ll struggle to unlock the medium’s full potential. (Michelle Stark, Red Sage Communications, Inc.)
Just posting and expecting results
Social media is a two-way street. You can’t just post and expect results. To really see progress, add engagement as a component of every social campaign. This might mean dedicating a member of the team to replying to or “liking” responses, or it could mean figuring out how to feature the best responses in a testimonial-style campaign that leverages the positive feedback for even more growth. (Melissa Kandel, little word studio)
Ignoring engagement opportunities
Engagement is one of the easiest ways to build social media profiles and is often overlooked by companies that don’t recognize its importance. Ignoring engagement opportunities, such as responding to messages and comments or liking posts from other accounts, can be a huge error and an easy way to miss a great opportunity to boost your presence. Engagement only takes a few minutes, so don’t skip out. (Victoria Zelefsky, The Menkiti Group)
Trying to do too much with a small team
It takes an incredible amount of time and thought to create strong multimedia content that delivers a cohesive set of core messages for social media. Lack of focus causes disjointed messaging, an inability to deliver clear messages and content that is less than engaging. Focus on enabling your team to reach and organically grow your audience with memorable content. (Radhika Duggal, Super)
Thinking social media is marketing’s responsibility
An error that companies often make is thinking that social media is marketing’s responsibility, which is a recipe for disaster. Having worked for brand leaders in analytics and AI, I have witnessed firsthand how these companies educate, engage and deploy their entire executive, go-to-market and even their product teams to amplify their brand value via social media. (Andy De, MedeAnalytics)
Not creating social media guidelines for employees
The most consequential error is not creating guidelines for how employees must treat the platforms. Companies must develop thoughtful guidelines for everyone. Without them, time will be wasted putting out fires created by employees who should’ve known better but didn’t use common sense. Guidelines help prevent problems from occurring in the first place and go a long way toward maintaining a positive brand reputation. (Monica Kumar, Hitachi Vantara)
Using an inconsistent brand voice
Brand voice inconsistency is a killer. When a brand’s voice varies, it can leave the audience uncertain about the company’s identity and its values. This uncertainty may weaken the relationship due to reduced trust. Trust is the lifeblood of all commercial relationships, and without it, a brand is likely to suffer lower engagement and a subsequent loss of customers. (Patrick Ward, Rootstrap)
Sharing messaging that is off-brand
One error in social media management is sharing inconsistent or off-brand messaging. This can confuse customers, dilute brand identity and negatively impact credibility. Consistency in tone, style and content is crucial to maintaining a cohesive brand image, building trust and engaging the target audience effectively. (Jonathan Shroyer, Arise Gaming)
Believing only customers can see your social media channels
Believing that your social media channels are only seen by customers is a mistake. Social media can be a great channel to engage with employees and prospective employees, too. Before applying to a job, prospective employees may peek at your social channels to get a sense of what it’s like to work for your company. Don’t forget to spotlight your talent or workplace environment via social media. (Rekha Thomas, Seismic)
Using social media as a tactic and not a strategic channel
It is a mistake to use social media as a tactic rather than as a strategic channel. Planning for social media up front—including when, how and why you are going to use it—before a campaign even launches is key. If the channel is an afterthought or box to be checked, it will be massively underutilized and unfollowed. (Erica Morgenstern, Virgin Pulse)
Posting without purpose
The major social media pitfall is posting without purpose. Consistency is crucial, but it isn’t just about daily posting; it’s also consistently delivering value, fostering relatability and inviting engagement. Posting aimlessly can hurt audience engagement, dilute brand messaging and decrease perceived value, undermining your brand’s credibility. Post with intention, not just for the sake of posting. (Brittany Garlin, Vista Social)
Excerpt Forbes
