There’s no denying that social media is undoubtedly one of the biggest platforms to help promote your brand or business. It also has the power to make or break your business. One wrong tweet on Twitter or an unconscious slip up on Facebook and you could tarnish your reputation.
Therefore, it is of the utmost importance that you doublecheck your social media content, not just to save your online reputation but also to be able to generate quality content.
Listed below are some of the ways you can steer clear of the errors you make on the social media:
- Fear of the grammar police
Social media is not just limited to posting interesting content with catchy headlines on your Facebook or Twitter profiles, it also requires content management and scrutiny, and proofing the posts before hitting the ‘publish’ button.
Many a times people make spelling mistakes and grammatical errors that are later pinpointed and bashed by the grammar police. And before you can go back and correct the error, it might have already gone viral and the damage is done.
Thus, to save yourself from a situation like this, it is best to check your content twice or more for any grammar and spelling errors before publishing it online.
- Posting from the wrong account
Being a social media manager, chances are that you are always multi-tasking, posting things from several accounts while also managing your clients’ accounts at the same time. With this constant back and forth movement between your personal account and business accounts, you could possibly end up posting the wrong tweet or post from the wrong account. And before you know it, the post has hit a thousand views and it is too late to make amends.
A situation like this calls for a strict double check policy on your social media content where you need to carefully read what you are posting and which account you are posting it from.
For example, the person in charge of Department of Justice’s Twitter account posted a very opinionated tweet about CNN while thinking that they were posting it from their personal account. This tweet was also shared during the Republican National Convention which made it viral and the damage couldn’t be undone.
- Wrong hashtags can pave the way for failure
Any Tom, Dick and Harry can blindly use trending social media tools, but it takes a smart person to thoroughly understand them and make proper use of them.
One of such useful tool is a hashtag which often means something else in reality than what they appear to portray. Putting up hashtags with your tweets and posts without knowing their backgrounds can cast your business aside as being ignorant, insensitive or opportunistic. This apparently simple mistake can give a blow to your brand image.
That’s why social media always calls for a double check. For instance, the ultimate social media fail by Digorno pizza, which used the hashtag #WhyIStayed to self-promote its products, suffered a severe backlash because that hashtag was meant for a discussion on domestic violence.
- You need to check your facts before you post
If your content on social media involves the use of facts and figures, fact-checking is imperative. Such posts require thorough research from your end and should definitely align with your target audience. Misinformation from your end can hurt your clientele and can often come off as ignorant and offensive.
Perhaps, no one can understand this better than Coca-Cola when the company owing to its lack of knowledge of Russian geography featured an outdated map of the country in one of their ads.
This lack of awareness and research from the famous soft drink company hurt the sentiments of many of their Russian customers, who responded by posting photos of Coca-Cola being poured into toilets.
You would definitely want to avoid being in this embarrassing situation at all costs and thus, it’s always a good idea to double check what you post on your social media.
- A typo can hurt your credibility faster than anything or anyone
Double checking and proofreading your social media content can go a long way and save you from ultimate humiliation, especially if you manage to correct a potential typo in one of your posts during the process. After all, nothing can hurt the credibility of your brand or business faster than a typo that could’ve been well avoided had you been paying attention.
Like the famous reality TV personality, Scott Disick who made an ad on Instagram on behalf of a company and went on to reveal a lot more information than was necessary. This failure to proofread the post not only cost him his reputation but also made the company look less trustworthy.
Using social media to your advantage can pave the way for brilliant success for your brand and business, given that you use it correctly. Since majority of the people use several social media platforms and are often active users, a single mistake from your end can hurt or damage your reputation and business.
Therefore, it is vital for you to keep your eyes open and be vigilant every time you post something on your social media account to prevent any undesired problem.
