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Social Media Mistakes That Can Break a Business

In business, you sometimes have to learn lessons the hard way: through experience. However, when you mess up big time, you probably won’t make the same mistake again. There is something to be said for seeing where others have failed and vowing to not repeat their mistakes, though.

Given the widespread adoption of social media for marketing purposes, it’s only inevitable that some mistakes will occur. Social media blunders can cause huge business troubles. With that in mind, there are a number of social media mistakes to avoid that could tank your business.

Social Media Mistake: Approving Ads Without Reviewing Them

In March 2018, Snapchat released a “Would You Rather?” ad that asked users to choose between slapping Rihanna and punching Chris Brown. Critics drew a connection between the ad and the celebrities’ domestic abuse case in 2009, with and Snapchat had to fend off a ton of backlash from an angry audience (and an angry Rihanna).

Apparently, the advertisement was created by a third party and slipped through Snapchat’s review process. Despite their apology, Snapchat stocks went down by 4 percent following the ad, and Rihanna’s complaints about the ad cost Snapchat around $800 million. Though Snapchat apologized a second time, after Rihanna released her statement, the company wasn’t able to regain the money — or the respect — it had lost.

Social Media Mistake: Trying to Profit From a Devastating Death

When Carrie Fisher died in 2016, the world was heartbroken. Cinnabon, however, decided to post a recycled image of the actress with her famous Star Wars buns replaced by the company’s cinnamon buns. Twitter reacted, and not kindly. The general consensus was that Cinnabon had used the actress’ death to promote their products. While fostering a fun and positive workspace is crucial in the restaurant industry, this type of tone-deaf marketing can undermine even well-intentioned efforts.

It’s not uncommon for brands, celebrities, and the public to pay homage to a beloved personality who has passed on. However, the condolences have to be authentic and focused on the individual in order to be appreciated and taken seriously. Further, they have to be divorced from any overt promotion; both customers and fans feel that a death isn’t the time for self-promotion. Since there isn’t a proper way to honor a celebrity while also promoting your own business, simply don’t do it — share your grief and leave branding out of it.

Social Media Mistake: Throwing a Fit

In August 2015, Vanity Fair published a story called “Tinder and the Dawn of the ‘Dating Apocalypse’.” The article paints Tinder in a specific light: it’s portrayed as a hookup app where cheap “relationships” are formed. The article interviews both men and women who use Tinder, some of them disliking the experience and others finding exactly what they’re looking for, but almost all of them claimed that it’s for short-term dating or hooking up.

Tinder wasn’t thrilled, and its Twitter account (seemingly manned by the CEO) sent out around 30 tweets, rushed, frantic, and emotional. The tweets attempted to counter the claims made in the article, even though the article had direct interviews and research to support them. The tweets also included statements that drew skepticism, such as a boast about the number of their users in North Korea, even though Facebook (which is the most common method to access Tinder) is banned there.

The most obvious fallout from the situation was Tinder’s CEO, Christopher Payne, being fired after only five months in the position. While it wasn’t disclosed that the Twitter rant led to the firing, the events happened within two days of each other.

The lesson? A social media presence is necessary for modern businesses, but using it to air personal views or complaints is a serious no-no. Businesses have to behave professionally, even when facing harsh criticism. Stepping back to formulate a well-crafted response would’ve been more effective and respectable than firing off a flurry of emotional responses.

Planning Your Strategy to Avoid Mistakes

Planning a social media strategy takes a lot of savvy and time. From deciding what your current goals are (brand awareness, leads, sales, etc.) to laying out every step of the sales funnel, social media marketing is a full-time job. While you can take the time to learn the ins and outs of digital marketing, you may find it more cost effective and productive to hire a professional marketer.

Digital marketers do more than craft great Facebook posts. They’ll spend a lot of time learning about your business in order to target your audience and reach your goals. Your marketer may be able to handle all of your content marketing in addition to social media. They should also be following the industry to know when best practices, algorithms, and laws change so that your digital presence is always in line with requirements.

Final Thoughts

Individuals know that what they post online can come back to haunt them, but when it comes to business, monitoring your online presence is even more important. Businesses are under intense scrutiny from customers and competitors. The second you make a mistake on social media, backlash will follow, causing everything from your reputation to profits to take a hit. Since you can’t undo social media blunders (they live online forever, in one way or another), it’s best to not make them in the first place.

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Social Media Mistakes That Can Break a Business was originally published in Marketing And Growth Hacking on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

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