The 10 biggest mistakes of firms in social networks

Nearly 90 percent of startups have a presence in social networks, but only 17.4% of large companies and 9% of consolidated microenterprises

Social networks have become a basic channel for companies that want to communicate with their customers, answer their complaints or inquiries, increase sales and achieve a good reputation online. They also promote the SEO or-not “natural” search engine positioning ‘paying.

“80% of Internet users between 18 and 55 years old use social networks every month. Facebook remains the most used but Twitter and Linkedin are experienced higher growth, like Foursquare or Instagram on the ground mobile. Also continues to increase the number of hours dedicated to the networks and the frequency of use, “explains Rodrigo Miranda, director of Internet Academi, the largest online platform Internet training.

The 10 biggest mistakes of firms in social networks“Regarding brands, users have become fans for information on offers and promotions (64%), competitions (36%), shopping (13%) and 5% for making complaints,” recalls the director Internet Academi, while stressing that some channels like Facebook or Twitter are becoming increasingly popular as a means of marketing and customer service.”

However, many organizations are misusing the social media. The experts who form the box professors Internet Academi, analyzed the behavior of SMEs and large companies and common mistakes.

The 10 most common mistakes

According to the analysis of Internet Academi, companies that mismanaged its presence in social networks often make ten errors:

1. Lack of a digital strategy. To begin with , each company must have clear what you want to be on networks and what are the objectives (doing business, branding , etc.).

Social channels allow to reach the main references in the sector, making new contacts, strengthen ties and convert followers into customers. But none is achieved in these issues without a global digital strategy.

2. Lack of investment. It is common to leave control of social networks a young but unskilled employee. That’s one way to put at risk the reputation of the company. The management of the digital presence of the company has to be done by professionals. A tweet innocent of an employee can create a great conflict for the brand.

Therefore it is necessary to have community managers or specialized companies invest in advertising campaigns in social networks and contract monitoring tools to know what response has each share of the company.

3. All networks are equal. Another of the most common mistakes is totreat social networks as a traditional media. Networks give prominence to the consumer, the user, are bidirectional.

In addition, the digital strategy must contemplate what mission will meet every social network, so that they complement. You can not send the same message in all or use the same format.

4. irrelevant content. Many companies confuse social networks with a single sales channel. If you just talk about your discounts and promotions they are doing wrong and bored their fans . They must bring value to their followers to succeed in social networks, not only promotional information, and share with Internet issues related to their area of business. That helps keep your network active.

5. Lack of activity. It is as bad as the abuse of promotional content. When it begins to act in social networks you have to maintain activity, update profiles; add new tweets , posts , videos etc.

If a company has thousands of followers in a network but does not update it regularly took advantage of the opportunity to share products, services or advice and lose the opportunity to receive valuable information from users about what they think of the service or product the company .

Also shows little interest in interacting with his followers, who will not either between them. And this alienates fans of the brand. In such cases, better not to be on networks.

6. Do not “talk” to users. It is a bad customer service. You have to answer queries or complaints from fans and do it as soon as possible. Comments on the networks occur in real time, so that the user requires the same return for comments or complaints.

An angry user translates to extend critical Internet and damage the reputation of the brand. In this case there to hide complaints, but give explanations. By contrast, a satisfied user retuiteará a comment, pricked “Like” or share with your contacts. And then you have to thank them.

A good example is the use that is doing Movistar from Twitter. It is a way to create value with communication and trust in the brand.

7. Do not listen. Must be aware of what the market, what brand image has on social networks says. It is therefore necessary to have monitoring and analysis tools, which also help to prevent a crisis, to know the behavior of competition, etc.

Even if a company does not participate in social networks you can have a crisis, which will eventually commented on Twitter or other networks, multiplying the reputational damage, resulting in economic losses.

8. Denying the use of networks to employees. Or admit no control. Well used, social networks can be a way to increase productivity, provided that these channels are integrated into the brand strategy and promote the flow of internal communication.

Thus, the company facilitates the sharing of content and promotes knowledge management as a virtual space to exchange information and experiences and increase teamwork.

Employees also contribute to developing the reputation of the brand for which they work, but distinguishing between personal use and professional. To this we should establish a policy of social networks, a code of good practice, clear procedures, etc., facing internal use only.

9. Make spam. Nobody wants publicity that has not requested. Try a promotion without limits, repeatedly send the same information, commenting in its publications services company, etc., will only make many followers cease to be. Furthermore, it is another significant damage to the reputation of the company.

In the end, it is common sense, put yourself in the skin of followers and avoid actions that bother anyone. Moreover it must be clear target audience of each company to provide the best customer information. Twitter also has strict rules on the use of spam and may void an account malpractices.

Beware also contests on Twitter from a hashtag . The company must measure very well the scope to avoid shocks. It may be that the trolls are the first responders and the campaign ends in failure.

10. Neglecting safety. Big companies like Facebook have been attacked byhackers , who have made public private data of millions of users. Make sure to have the necessary security policies and ensure confidentiality for employees or people who have access to the accounts.

Sometimes the bad image of a company is due to disgruntled former employees and workers.

Companies and social media

Nearly 90 percent of startups have a presence in social networks, according to a study of the company Socialmenta. 89% are on Twitter, 87% on Facebook and 57% on Linkedin. They do this to inform customers of their products and answer questions from users.

In addition, 83% of these companies use search engine optimization techniques and 75% have created a blog with own content.

Virtually all (96%) have a person on staff or specialized for managing this digital presence company.

However, there is a large gap from the rest of the business world : only 17.4% of large companies use social networks and the percentage drops to 9% between consolidated microenterprises, according to the ePyme12 Report , conducted by the Administration .

And that the report itself points out that the use of these networks, among other digital tools, improve productivity and competitiveness, providing cost savings and possibilities of entering new markets, among other advantages.

In many cases, it is the fear of the networks themselves, rather than the inability to invest, slowing many companies to use social media to interact with customers, improve their reputation, etc.

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