Social Media Marketing Basics 1

Facebook and Twitter hurricane disaster

A disaster that’s waiting to happen

Many medium and large-sized companies have left their social media marketing with their IT department, a junior executive or a self-proclaimed social media marketing guru.  Other companies have given the task to a member of the team that is frequently using a social network such as Facebook or Twitter.  Contrary to the popular notion, if a person uses Facebook regularly or is always tweeting it does not mean that they know how to market a company online. Would you trust a TV campaign in the hands of a friend with a movie camera? Would someone who can make you laugh at the pub be a good stand-up comedian?  The answer to those questions is probably no.

While social media marketing may use Facebook and Twitter, it is primarily about “marketing”, the networks are simply the tools.  The social media marketer must be able to effectively interact and achieve the desired goals for their companies.  Representing your business requires marketing knowledge and a thorough understanding of social networks.  There has been numerous reports of organisations that have tried to experiment with Facebook interaction or posted Tweets themselves and have had their accounts deleted or their reputation damaged.

One example is Nestlé’s Facebook scandal in 2010.  The company told members that if they left comments on their fan page with altered versions of the company logo, they would have their comments deleted.  By arguing with fans on their own Facebook fan page the company caused a stir. Some users even stated they would boycott all of the company’s products.  Following the media frenzy the company’s marketing and PR head, Tracy King stated that she was “horrified by the tone of the Nestle moderator.” and agreed the company had not interacted with their fans in the correct way.

UK furniture store Habitat had a similar issue when they started posting tweets with unrelated links.   The links known as “hashtags” are a way for users to connect the topic of their tweets with other user’s posts.  The most popular hashtags are displayed on twitters home screen.  Habitat had added hashtags with no relevance to their tweets in a bid to get more exposure.  The company saw a stream of user complaints accusing the company of spamming twitter.  Habitat soon deleted the posts and stated that “the hashtags were uploaded … by an overenthusiastic intern who did not fully understand the ramifications of his actions”.

Honda had an issue when they showed their new car design to fans on Facebook.  Many users were critical of the design but one fan seemed to buck the trend stating “Interesting design.  I would get this car in a heartbeat”.  Users researched the person behind the positive Facebook comment and found he was an employee of Honda, and worked in the company’s product planning department.  The story was passed onto the media but despite an apology from the company the damage was already done.

Why would you risk harming your brand online?  These are just some of the reasons why using a marketing agency is a safer option to put your social media campaign in the hands of.

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5 Responses

  1. Great article. You are so right. I have had bad experiences in the past hiring someone to do social media. I have learned that experience can’t be the only thing you look for,they have to have the passion for your product ( I mean really believe in it)

  2. Thanks for the post, some very useful information here, I am involved in a social marketing business and I am always searching the internet for tips and opinions and found this verey useful, thanks again.

  3. I read a lot of interesting content here. Probably you spend a lot of time writing, but worth every minute. Thank you!

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