3 Fatal Social Media Engagement Mistakes

Social media engagement is at the heart of any good program, but a few seemingly harmless mistakes can mean severe repercussions.

Are you taking advantage of the huge benefits that accompany social media engagement? It is supremely important that you are. After all, engaging with your social audience is the key to any good campaign. People are reaching out to you, and want to hear back. But be careful, there are a few mistakes that brands make when it comes to social media engagement, and they could be very costly.

Below are three mistakes that are easy to make but very costly to your brand.

Watch Your Grammar!

If you’ve ever watched your Twitter feed populate, or read through SMS threads among friends, you might come to the conclusion that good spelling and proper grammar are dead. Far from it.

A recent study by Disruptive Communications found that – get ready – 42.5% of customers felt that poor spelling and grammar on social media would damage their perception of a brand. This issue was, quite surprisingly, the most damaging to a brand’s image, with content being all about sales coming in second with only 24.9% of consumers finding it the most damaging to a brand’s image.

Grammar and spelling are still very important, particularly when you are trying to portray a professional image and convince potential customers to choose your brand when conducting business. Pay attention to those commas, and make sure you have the appropriate spelling of there/they’re/their, because your audience certainly is.

Sometimes You Have to Let It Go

Arguing is never fun. Arguing on social media is never smart. So why would you do something that is sure to be a no-fun-no-smarts activity?

It is more likely than not that at some point there will be a past, present or future customer that takes issue with your brand on social media. What is the best course of action? Well, whatever you choose to do, don’t blow it up – that’s very bad for business.

You would be better off acknowledging a complaint and rectifying an issue – even if you feel as though you are in the right – than getting into a public argument with a customer. Imagine how that would be perceived by other customers. Would you do business with a company that appears to have a ‘customer is always wrong’ mentality? Probably not.

Address issues in a professional manner and cater to your clients’ needs. Taking the conversation offline might be the best move in cases like these. But, while you might love your brand, don’t shoot yourself in the foot by berating the people that make it possible for your brand to exist.

Respect Your Social Activity and Audience

Sure, social media is a little more lax and informal than conventional marketing or communications channels. The idea of incorporating social into your business is to create a personality for your brand with which users can engage. But it is important to remember that while social media may seem a little less formal, it is still a serious part of your business, and should be treated as such.

You might create your social channels and hit the ground running. But a lot of brands tend to neglect their social networks after a while, and that means neglecting customers. People are talking to you on social media and leaving them without a response, feeling alone and unimportant can be harmful to your brand’s image online.

Treat your social customers like you would any other – they are really no different.

Keep these three mistakes in mind and you will find success on social media much easier to achieve.

What other social media engagement mistakes can you think of? Tell us in the comments below or on Twitter!