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The Not So Sweet 16: Common Mistakes Businesses Make With Social Media

by Greg Fry on February 15th, 2011
47 Comments



Many Companies have rushed into Social Media with no real understanding of how it works, what sites will work best for their business and  are blissfully unaware of the potential damage they can do to their brand on such a big stage.

So what are the biggest mistakes companies make using social media? Here is my not-so-sweet-sixteen:

1.       No Consistency

Many businesses start off like a speeding train with their social media efforts. Only to find out that they cannot sustain the volume of activity and engagement.  Don’t start something you can’t finish or don’t intend to do well. If you decide to blog, make a decision to do it on a consistent basis. Not randomly. And the more often, the better. Be consistent, present and responsive. Or don’t do it all.

2.       Listen to me! Sell Sell Sell

Many businesses forget that they are dealing with real human beings. With hopes and dreams and pet peeves. People relate to each other through two-way conversation, both online and in person. Ever met someone who monopolises the conversation? I have. And I tend to walk the other way when I see them coming. These shiny new social media tools are not loud speakers. Talking about yourself won’t make others talk about you. Don’t shout offers and deals and me, me, me. Take your sales hat off and think like a human being. Invest in getting to know your customers better than your competition does. Listen. Be curious, and interested and engaged. Tell stories and share knowledge. Most of all, ask yourself how you can provide meaning and value. How can you be helpful? How can you support your best friends and biggest fans? How can you lift them up? It’s about people.

3.       No Plan

Lots of businesses, especially small businesses don’t take time to build a proper strategy for social media or even do any planning or set any goals. Failing to Prepare is Preparing to Fail.

4.       It’s Not the Holy Grail

So many businesses believe “social media” is the solution to all their problems. It’s not, but coupled with other forms of marketing it can be very useful. Think of the word social media as “word of mouth marketing”. (Other tools that work alongside your social media strategy are – Your Website, SEO, Digital PR, Database marketing….even your telephone, email and face to face communication).

5.       Time

Many companies give up on their social media efforts just before they were about to succeed. It can take time to see a return on your social media efforts. Time – to get a loyal number of readers for you blog, Time – to build up a significant number of likes on your Facebook page, Time- for followers to start to trust and engage with you on Facebook and Twitter etc.  So be prepared to give more than you get back initially and you will end up getting back far more than you put in.

6.       Testing

Many companies rush into social media and never properly assess which Social Media sites are best for their business.  There is no point being on Plaxo or LinkedIn if your customers (current and potential) are not there. Also, many companies make the mistake of posting great content on the right site at the wrong time. So test different times of the day with your posts and see what days and times get the best level of engagement.

7.       Mixed Messages

Many companies make the mistake of acting differently on different social media sites. Eg. Being overly stuffy on LinkedIn and super casual on Facebook. This can confuse your customer and potentially damage your brand.

8.       Seplling

Yes I did that on purpose…Spelling! Many companies become careless when using social media. Very often we see big companies publishing updates on Facebook or even articles riddled with spelling errors. This can look very unprofessional. Make sure you have all updates and posts spell checked and/or properly proof read.

9.       Measure

Many businesses have no clue whether their social media efforts are working for them or not. They have not put anything in place to track or measure the impact of their tweets, facebook posts etc.

10.   Knock Knock

A recent study in the UK found that 42% of customers expected a response to a query left on Facebook or Twitter within 60 minutes. Many companies are too slow in responding to their customers on Social Media sites and some fail to respond at all.

11.   Getting Shirty

What happens when someone complains about our product or service online? That is a real nightmare and worry for most businesses.  However it may in fact be better or someone to complain about us to our face, rather than behind our back. I have seen many companies making the mistake of getting defensive and starting a visible argument online. This is extremely damaging and in fact very often draws people over to the conversation as your bad press spreads virally.  So if a complaint happens online acknowledge it and take the conversation off line ASAP.

12.   Permanent Ink

Companies occasionally make the mistake of saying something they shouldn’t. This is a bad error in a meeting, but can be a disaster if done online. Remember everything we write on our Social Media sites are public and may even be searchable forever.

13. Ownership

A common mistake that many companies make is that they get a staff member to set up the company’s Facebook page or LinkedIn Group. If the account is set up by that individual’s personal details they can own the rights to that page and not the company. I heard of a company who recently paid an ex employee thousands of Euro to regain ownership of the company LinkedIn group. So ensure all accounts are set up using company emails and make your staff administrators of those accounts.

14. Believing everyone sees your content

Sometimes companies assume just because they have posted something up on Facebook their customers have seen it. This is a dangerous  and ill advised assumption.

15. Believing no one sees your content

When we put information out in the public domain we must be aware that we are not in control of who sees our content. We think no one is listening or watching, but chances are we are wrong.

16. Get your facts Right

Companies have been caught out in the past by making up false statistics and facts online. This is a bad idea in a business meeting, but even more reckless online.

What common mistakes do you see companies making? And what advice would you give?



Category: coaching, Leadership

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The Author: Greg Fry

Greg Fry has over 10 years Recruitment experience in the Irish and US markets. He holds a Diploma in Business and Life Coaching and a Marketing degree. He runs a company called Careers Coach and assists people with their career transition. In these challenging times Greg believes that in order to excel in life and business we need to think and act smarter than before. Today’s job seeker can find employment if they take a proactive approach. Areas that Greg specialises in include: Career Coaching, Career Guidance , Group Coaching courses (including - Finding Employment in challenging times) , Marketing yourself, Interview preparation and techniques, Self Improvement, CVs, Using Social media as a business tool, How to start your own business, Leadership skills. More information at: www.careerscoach.ie http://www.careerscoach.ie

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  • http://twitter.com/fredchannel Fred

    Great post Greg! That’s a good selection. I’ll share one more: “Social media becoming an afterthought”. We wrote a post about it not so long ago http://bit.ly/aJeado . It basically consists on Marketing departments remembering during the final steps of organising a campaign :”Oh, we need to do this social media thing”. nOffline publicity is very important. Online tools can harness those offline efforts. Anybody that thinks that social media is the cherry on top, is totally missing its potential.

  • http://www.tweakyourbiz.com Niall Devitt

    Great list Greg, Wouldn’t it be great if people just read one post of this nature before they start with social media. nnI’d add building community and genuinely engaging with people as very important, I’ve seen many Facebook pages with hundreds of thousands on fans and really poor levels of engagement. If a fan/customer asks a question and is completely ignored, what do businesses believe this does to their image/perception? nnThe reality is that social media can be both a force for good and bad, people sometimes forget that. Thanks for sharing, Nialln

  • http://twitter.com/IrishSmiley Frederique Murphy

    Greg, this is an EXCELLENT read, thanks for sharing these 16 points!nnAnd, I second Niall, “Wouldn’t it be great if people just read one post of this nature before they start with social media” ;-) nnI’ve said it before, but what surprises me the most is for people and companies to start on social media because they’ve heard of it, but, yet, do not have a strategy nor a plan. I see social media platforms as being additional channels of communications; and, all channels should start with a strategy and a plan of actions; knowing the What, Who, When, Where and Why at the minimum.

  • http://www.ivanwalsh.com Ivan Walsh

    Nice one, Greg, nnOne suggestion I make to clients (actually itu2019s a task!) is to monitor how others use Social Media effectively and then create a list of best practices to share with team members. nnPeople want to do it right but need direction. nnCreating cheat sheets and best practices gives folks the confidence to get started in what for them may be very intimidating. nnItu2019s easy to forget this as weu2019re u2018power usersu2019 but for many people Social Media is very abstract u2013 finding ways to get them involved and build up their confidence is essential. nnLearning to walk before running and all that good stuff :) nnIvan

  • http://www.sianphillips.ie Sian Phillips

    What a brilliant post Greg. So many good points that people really should take on board. Especially Time. I’ve seen a few people think they can set themselves up on Twitter or Facebook and expect it to be big straight away. It takes time and effort to build up. One company (that shall remain nameless) I set up on Facebook haven’t bothered to use it since because they thought of it as like their website and not needing much attention once done. nnAlso the Sell Sell Sell – arghhh, constant sales messages just make me want to switch off. To me it’s like someone with a loudhailer in the street shouting out to everyone – you want to walk the other way.nnI really hope everyone gets to see this post and I’ll definitely be pointing lots of people to it

  • http://twitter.com/JBBC Marie Ennis-O’Connor

    Well done Greg on this thoroughly comprehensive post – a must-read for anyone starting out. Probably the biggest mistake I would see is that businesses assume that merely having a presence on social media sites is a strategy. Platforms such as Twitter and Facebook are the tools you employ to help you in your strategy, not the strategy itself. That is why setting up a corporate Facebook or Twitter account, just because everyone else is doing it, without a clearly thought out plan will not result in any kind of meaningful success. nn

  • http://www.tweakyourbiz.com Niall Devitt

    Greg, here’s another: http://www.facebook.com/niall.devitt/posts/10150103308237445nSorry for the rant nature of it :)

  • http://frugalentrepreneur.com/ Adam Gottlieb

    Very important list Greg.nnI just want to point out that even before social media, there have been businesses that just don’t understand the fundamentals of marketing, nor have they adapted to changing consumer realities. nnFor all it’s benefits, social media makes it possible for even more companies to fit into this category and fall into the mistakes you mentioned above. Why? Because it’s a landscape that is constantly changing, there are many more paths to choose from, and the right social marketing strategy will be highly specific to that particular business, meaning one can and should learn from examples, but the lesson will have its limits. A lot of small business owners are confused, and it shows.nnAdam

  • Jmag

    This is soooo concise-thanks! I took up the social media banner 4 months ago and used an alter ego to ease my way into it. Still finding my feet but feel I am now ready to tackle a business presence. Reading your 16 points really does clarify what my strategy NEEDS to be!

  • http://www.encouragingexcellence.ie/ Mairu00e9ad Kelly

    What a fabulous blog Greg, it’s FULL to the brim of brilliant advice. I think that many businesses didn’t expect social media to last and were skeptical about it and didn’t plan for it properly. It’s here to stay and the businesses who are only dipping their toes in now are learning from the mistakes of those who went before them.

  • Anonymous

    Thanks for the comment Ivan. Super advice “monitor how others use Social Media effectively and then create a list of best practices to share with team members”. As Social Media is so new and always changing we must keep up to date on what others are doing well and learn from other peoples’ pitfalls.

  • Anonymous

    Thanks Mairead. If I only knew then what I know now….I think we are always learning when it comes to social media. There are super lessons for businesses to learn from if they have the courage listen and change.Companies too often fail to accept their mistakes and continue down the wrong social media path.

  • Anonymous

    Delighted you found the article helpful. It is important that you do not let other people’s mistakes hold you back when starting your business pressence. Plan your strategy carefully, but don’t be too fearful of making mistakes. I often find tackling one task at a time (ie. focusing soley on LinkedIn first before I embrace Facebook and Twitter) can be a good way to get one’s business pressence going.nn

  • http://www.soundwebsolutions.com/blog clavoie

    Great list and oh-so-practical advice. I would add one more point, which is an extension of your #5. It Takes Practice, not just time. Like any other new activity, companies should expect that they won’t necessarily get it right immediately — and that’s OK! It takes a while to get the hang of social media, to find what ‘plays’ with your followers, and to establish an authentic voice. So hang in there!nnThanks for sharing your wisdom, Greg!

  • Anonymous

    Thanks Adam. You make the great point that many of businesses have failed to grasp the fundamentals of marketing. Very true.

  • Anonymous

    Great Rant, Great point. “Amazes me how few people actually get the networking aspect of social media….” Couldn’t agree with you more. I sence your next great blog post brewing…

  • Anonymous

    Thanks for your lovely comments Maire. You hit the nail on the head with “having a presence on social media sites is a strategy”.

  • Anonymous

    Thanks for your comments Sian. Yes, it always makes me laugh when companies want a Social Media presence, but are not prepared to put the work in.

  • Anonymous

    Thanks for your comments Frederique. I agree that social media is another and now vital channel of communication. However to use it effectively we must understand how it works.

  • Anonymous

    Thanks Niall. Quite honestly I wish I had read a post of this nature 2 years ago…LOL. Spot on and no better man than you to demonstrate great online interaction. The real value of social media is without doubt being able to effectively engage with our community.

  • Anonymous

    Thanks for the comment and link to your post Fred. Yes, there is no doubt that social media can be far more than the cherry on top.

  • Kelly Weppler

    Great post Greg. Social media is like everything else, it takes hard work and a plan. There’s no magical pill.

  • http://twitter.com/SociallyLocal Angie Green

    I don’t often clap after reading an article, but I’m applauding now! Great points, all very valid. Must read for any small business.

  • Anonymous

    Thanks so much for your comment. It means alot that you liked the article, but it means even more that you took the time to write a comment.

  • Anonymous

    Thanks for the kind words Kelly. Now there is a thought……a magic pill for social media success;)

  • Anonymous

    Thanks for the comment Cindy.nnYou are so right that it does take practice to get things right.

  • http://www.snogglemedia.com/ Snoggle Media

    Wow what a fantastic blog you run here! I haven’t been onto Blogger Tone for a long time so I haven’t seen many of the updates. Keep on sharing great quality articles for writers and entrepreneur’s as a fantastic resource.

  • John Ramsay

    Thank you for this post Greg it is both interesting and informative, I recognized the possible set backs as I was reading but many of these points I would not have considered before reading this article, nicely put.n

  • Karen

    Some great tips here but I’m unsure about accounts set upn”ensure all accounts are set up using company emails and make your staff administrators of those accounts.” nIf each Facebook Profile/Account is meant to represent a single individual then the company email would have to be of one of the staff who don’t have another FB account? Or are you recommending setting up “ghost” profiles to maintain the page.nThanks in advance,

  • Anonymous

    Thanks for the lovely comment John.

  • Anonymous

    Karen, nnMany thanks for your comment.nnWhen refering to Facebook I would not endorse “ghost” profiles. The accounts on Facebook I would recommend the business owner to have control of is the Company’s Business Page. Very often the Marketing employee sets up the company business Facebook page and should he/she leave they will still have full control of the page. (Personal accounts are personal and we cannot control them and nor should we.)nnI hope this response makes sence.nnIf not feel free to email me on info@careerscoach.iennKind RegardsnnGreg

  • Ann Kelsey

    Great post Greg. Back to the planning phase for social media myself at the moment! Will keep your advice close to hand for that!nThanks.nAnn.

  • Anonymous

    Thanks Ann. If you need any help give me a shout.

  • http://www.seefincoaching.com/blog Elaine Rogers

    Every SN newbie should read this post – word is spreading Greg (Niall watch out) – Bloggertone must be hopping off the presses!! nnWell done – a fantastic reminder for the power users also :)

  • Eleanor

    A great read, I’m in Social Media and will definetly put some if not all of these steps into practice with my team, thanks again for your insightful analysis!!!nEleanor

  • Anonymous

    Thanks for the comment Eleanor:)

  • Anonymous

    Elaine your kind words and positivity have as always made me Smile:) Thanks

  • http://www.promopenscheap.com Celie

    This is useful stuff thank you. The thing I have found with media such as Facebook is that it is a lot of work to keep up the level of communication you dreamed of in the first place. Blogging is the same, it seems ok to think of a couple of posts a day, how long could that take? Well as events overtake you as they do in all businesses, a couple of posts a day look less and less likely to happen. Been there.

  • Anonymous

    Thanks for the comment Celie. Sometimes the trick with social media is to under promise and over deliver.

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  • http://www.howsthemarketinsyracuse.com George Tucci Jr

    Great stuff Greg, I’ll be sharing this at office meeting

  • Pingback: La fiche des erreurs communes faites sur les médias sociaux | iThink.fr

  • Anonymous

    Thanks George:)

  • Breda Stackpool

    Great points Greg, some of which I have personally learned the hard way!! I am just about to start teaching social media and you have given me a couple of extra points to think about. Thanks for sharing!

  • Anonymous

    Thanks for the comments Breda. Good luck with the teaching I am sure you will be great.

  • Laura Bury

    Really great article Greg!nI have found time and time again that companies fall into two main traps in this list – a lack of consistency and a lack of patience. It takes time to build up trust, and you’re not going to be as big as Coca Cola within a few weeks of posting on Twitter. But social media is of great benefit when used in the right way and when used consistently.Social media for business is not the same as having a personal social media platform and it can be difficult to distinguish the two. It is something that you have to really give time, thought and effort to.

  • http://twitter.com/CSAlexMorris Alex Morris

    An American entrepreneur recently lost her head and went on a rampage at her bemused Twitter followers, branding them “idiots” and “haters”. I guess she’d been listening to Cher Lloyd. A guaranteed way to not get new customers is to level at them the possibility they are morons or in some way unpleasant. I’m not a businessman and even I know that.

    A good list, Greg. Well done. Especially on spelling and grammar. It can make a company look very stupid if they get their grammar incorrectible.

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