Top 9 Most Common Social Media Mistakes and how to fix them

Tweet Fails

Hi all, welcome to our 6th blog.

I decided to take a look at the most common social media mistakes out there and how we can go about fixing them.

We all know the immense power of social media – as the saying goes, ‘with great power comes great responsibility’ and when social media goes wrong, it goes horribly wrong.  I’m sure many of us, at some stage or another, have thought of where the consequences of that damaging online post could lead to. One rogue tweet, bad post or angry conversation will be screenshot before you can even think about deleting it. So to help you avoid the pitfalls, I’ve put together a list ‘Top 9 Most Common Social Media Mistakes and How to Fix Them’.

Top 9 Social Media Mistakes

1. If Your Customers Make their Mark, Make Yours

Remember that bad news travels fast, but so will how well you deal with it. UK feminine care brand Bodyform faced this recently after a man named Richard Neill posted a humours rant on their Facebook page, accusing the brand of giving him false expectations with their mantra ‘have a happy period’.

Bodyform Facebook comment – click to enlarge

Instead of just ignoring this extremely popular post, Bodyform responded with a brilliant parody video featuring the CEO of Bodyform apologising for ‘all their lies’. Bodyform then shared the joke surrounding their brand in a bold move that paid off. Their video itself went viral, making a stronger impact than the original comment and importantly, resonating well with Richard Neill himself. Bodyform used open and humble engagement with customers to turn a potential social media embarrassment into a success story that endeared consumers to the company the world over.

The Fix: Social media really is a game changer, because your online community is strongly united and collectively, the voice of customers counts for more than your corporate voice. The only way to make room for what you have to say is to appeal to that community voice and get them speaking on your behalf, and that means talking to them openly.

2. Approach Influencers With Caution

Approach with caution

Here is an interesting PR campaign that didn’t go according to plan. Wanting to boost visibility and credibility of their event, a PR agency sent a tweet to the American football star, DeSean Jackson, asking him to ‘promote’ their event. They had requested that he tweeted as if he was at the event itself.  So, what could go wrong? It was a simple thing to do and it wouldn’t take much of his time… but DeSean Jackson accidentally tweeted the entire ‘original’ message to his 400,000 followers.

DeSean’s public tweet – click above to enlarge

The Fix: While we understand that using influencers is one of the best ways to appeal to certain audience’s, remember to be genuine, tell the truth and understand that  you can’t control everything in social media.

3. Tweeting From The Wrong Account

Tweeting from wrong account

It’s the stuff that makes you break out in a cold sweat – publishing a public tweet that was meant to be private, posting from the wrong account or uploading the incorrect photo. Mistakes on Twitter can happen to the best of us, but if you’re a well-followed tweeter, you’re pretty much doomed to an internet lifetime of haunting screenshots, and lists like this. It get’s worst when what you are tweeting is somewhat controversial. But, it inevitably happens to agencies like the Red Cross (the beer example), global car manufacturers such as Chrysler and British Airways. British Airways made a huge mistake when they mistakenly re-tweeted a complaint from an irate passenger.

However, the most humorous one I’m come across is from the infamous Charlie Sheen when he accidentally tweeted his private mobile number to his millions of followers.

Charlie sheen tweet – click above to enlarge

The Fix: There’s not really any foolproof advice I can give to avoid this. All I can reiterate is to always check and double-check which account you’re using and try to keep personal and company accounts separate. Make sure any staff with access to the company account is properly trained. If it does happen, chances are most people will be amused, it will be discussed a little, but then most will forget about it. Delete the tweet and explain that it was a mistake – do this quickly before momentum builds. Remember to apologise, especially if the tweet was offensive.

4. A Customer Complaint Goes Viral

complaints go viral

I’ve highlighted 2 great examples of social media mistakes that went viral. The first example is Ryanair where they ignored a customer complaint posted on Twitter and it spread through the internet, receiving hundreds of thousands of likes.

The other example shows a humorous take on how an air passenger took to YouTube, composed a song blasting United Airlines for failing to take responsibly for his wrecked guitar.

The music video was then seen by more than 150 million viewers around the world. I personally don’t like country music but have to admit that on this occasion it’s worth the listen.

The Fix: This is more of a case for prevention rather than cure. In the United Airlines example, had they acknowledged the complaint before it went viral, they could have avoided all the bad publicity. They assumed the ‘little guy’ was powerless and overlooked the fact that the annoyed passenger could very easily use a social media platform to vent their anger. Make sure you listen and respond to customer comments even when they are being rude. Be polite, take on their feedback and offer them a solution to their problem.

5. Social Media Managers Losing Their Cool

Remain calm…

A well-published example of an embarrassing social media mistake happened to Dublin restaurant, Cinnamon – who demonstrated how not to do customer service on social media. A regular Cinnamon customer took to Twitter to complain about a 40-minute wait, with the Cinnamon account replying and defending the restaurant, saying it was a busy day.

The conversation trundled along and turned nasty when the restaurant told the customer that they would be happy to have ‘one less person in the queue’. And then went and called them an ars*hole.

Cinnamon – click above to enlarge

Cinnamon – click above to enlarge

The story made it onto national radio stations and Cinnamon eventually apologised and offered a €1 coffee to customers as a good will gesture. They blamed the tweet on a ‘moment of madness’ by a member of their staff.

The Fix: Stand back, take a deep breath and think before you type. Apologise, empathise, don’t point fingers, take it offline, resolve the issue as quickly as possible and learn from the mistake.

6. Forgetting To Unschedule Tweets

RadioHead tweet – click above to enlarge

Last year, British band Radiohead were to perform in a sold-out concert  in Toronto. However, the roof of the stage collapsed during sound-checks, killing one person and injuring three. Radiohead cancelled the show. Understandably, there was an air of sadness both on and offline. You would think that this would be the end of this awful tragedy but the organisers ‘@LiveNationON’; tweeted about the show’s cancellation – and unfortunately they had forgotten about their pre-scheduled tweet. It went live with the tweet asking users to create a ‘Radiohead photo album’ by sharing photos of the show on Instagram.

The Fix: The lesson here is that there is NO automation when it comes to time-sensitive conversations. Don’t schedule tweets that should be spontaneous. You can ‘plan’ spontaneity but remember that scheduling tweets puts you in a vulnerable positions with regards to unseen changes.

7. Your Hashtag Campaign Gets Hijacked

Top 9 Social Media Mistakes

We all know about the many examples of this happening, e.g #waitrosereasons and #mcdstories  being perhaps the most well-known. With Waitrose’s Twitter campaign,

they set up a hashtag to encourage their customers to talk about why they chose their stores over other supermarkets, asking followers to finish the sentence ‘I shop at Waitrose because… #WaitroseReasons’.

Waitrose – Click above to enlarge

The campaign backfired when tweeters seized the opportunity to mock the brand’s upscale image. Waitrose reacted by recognising the good humour of the Twitter community’s jibes, with a light-hearted response: ‘Thanks again for all the #waitrosereasons tweets. We really did enjoy the genuine and funny replies. Thanks for making us smile’. This humanised reaction to people poking a little fun at a leading national brand made this campaign an enjoyable experience to be shared with consumers online.

 The Fix: Make sure that your hash-tag can’t be twisted against you. Take time to consider the possible uses of the hash-tag, and also to consider what you could do if it does get hijacked. Make sure that you have decided this before you kick off your campaign, in case the worst does happen.

8. Your Campaign Becomes A Laughing Stock

Many social media campaigns have gone wrong, purely because they haven’t been thought through, and because the possible consequences – good and bad – haven’t been considered.

The hashtag to promote Susan Boyle’s album, #susanalbumparty, caused controversy as the hashtag can of course be read another way. Some have said that this was a deliberate ploy by the PR company to get people talking, which is possible, but seems to have received a more laughing-at-them than laughing-with-them response.

Susan Boyle hash-tag – click above to enlarge

The Fix:  Spend time thinking about the timing, content and tone of the campaign. Consider how your fans will respond, but also how those who aren’t such fans of the brand might respond. Make sure you read your hashtag properly, to ensure it has no double meanings.

9. Don’t Fake Friend or Over-follow

Don’t fake friend

Social media is called ‘social’ media for a reason, but there’s nothing ‘social’ about following an ungodly number of users, especially in a short amount of time. Often gathering ‘friends’, ‘connections’ or ‘followers’ can be a rat race – people want to gather as many as they can at warp speed. Tempting as it may be don’t start following everyone and anyone for the sake of it. Take your time.

The Fix: Fake friends aren’t going to click your links, visit your website or buy your products. It’s okay to be choosy with your online connections. You wouldn’t walk into a pub and immediately ask everyone to be your friend. Don’t do it online either. Go for quality over quantity all the time. Connect with people you are interested in and help them in any way you can. Build real relationships. That is how social media becomes powerful.

Conclusion

So, there you have it, the definitive list of what can go wrong with social media campaigns, how to avoid and hopefully fix them. Feel free to share ‘Deadly Digital’s’ blog and thanks for taking time to read our latest blog.