As an irreplaceable part of doing business, social media isn’t just amazing, it’s necessary if you want to keep up with your competition, for a multitude of reasons. However, as it’s always the case in life, nothing comes without its own set of downsides. But how can social media really be terrible for your business? Well, ask Hillary Clinton! Or better yet, ask Donald Trump what “covfefe” means. Obviously, there is a negative side of the social media these two public figures have experienced that can be reflected on your business, so learning all about the downsides of the social aspect of the internet can go a long way in helping you.
Social media marketing – a slippery slope
The concept of free advertising might seem amazing to people who are used to traditional advertising methods; in fact, it might seem amazing just a bit too much. They might blatantly jump into the social media and shout out messages at their audience via Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. This is obviously a horrible idea – no one likes being spammed and once people start feeling uncomfortable, they will unfollow/unlike/unsubscribe. This way, you can end up looking bad and be rendered customer-less.
The best thing that social media has brought to the table is trust and rapport – it’s what it relies on as a marketing/advertising channel. This is also where the idea of providing content on social media pages was born – people don’t always want to be pitched to; sometimes, they are looking for valuable content.
Drunk posts
Yep, it’s happened to everyone – a drunk text here and there that leaves us with a ton of regret over a bad drunken decision. Well, this has been known to happen with public figures and businesses, as well. Forget about Trump’s “covfefe” tweet; posting something ridiculous and un-thought-through can leave you with a ton of bad reputation – the last thing you want happening with your business. There are a lot of epic Twitter fails out there made by big brands, meaning that you are definitely not immune.
The busy modern world dictates that you should be available for business at all times, so leaving the business for the office might not be feasible, but you should come up with a mental barrier for posting while drinking, at the very least.
Grammar fails
People expect a certain dose of magnanimity from businesses – where the typical social media user can make grammar fails and spelling errors on purpose, a business needs to dictate a solid and respectable note. Let’s just disregard the moments of inebriation here, as this is far from advisable to begin with – let’s just focus on pure bad proofreading, in longer posts and tweets alike: it’s absolutely unacceptable.
Don’t double check a text before posting it – triple-check it, quadruple-check it; be obsessively-compulsive about it. And if you do happen to make a mistake while posting, own it!
Not being around
Without a social media presence, you are missing out. Without proper social media management, you’re alienating your following. It’s quite simple – people get frustrated when they don’t get their response, and who could really blame them? In this day and age, disregarding your online following is ridiculously irresponsible.
Naturally, finding enough time to deal with social media is tricky, in itself. This is why outsourcing media intelligence is certainly a solid idea – they can deal with everything from community management to content creation, result tracking and amplification, while you focus on your business tasks.
Having to play content cop
Whatever you post – you own it; it represents you as a business. The thing is, you have no control over what is posted in the comment section (unless you turn the comments off, which is a huge marketing no-no) and you have no control over how your content is retweeted. This means that you have to constantly keep track of your posts in order to keep the trolls and the like away.
This is just a detriment that you’re going to have to get used to. The etiquette dictates that you are there to put out fires, not engage in fiery discussions.
While it is true that the social media websites have brought a ton of benefits to the table when it comes to business, there are many detriments that are social media-specific, too! With spamming as your tool and alcohol for inspiration, your social media campaign is bound to fail. Be obsessively-compulsive about your posts, treat the commenters professionally, focus on your social media pages and keep the phone away while partying!
