{"id":4292,"date":"2012-08-20T05:47:10","date_gmt":"2012-08-20T05:47:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thesocialcmo.com\/blog\/?p=4292"},"modified":"2012-08-20T05:47:10","modified_gmt":"2012-08-20T05:47:10","slug":"relationship-killers-four-of-the-worst-mistakes-brands-make-in-social-media","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thesocialcmo.com\/blog\/2012\/08\/relationship-killers-four-of-the-worst-mistakes-brands-make-in-social-media\/","title":{"rendered":"Relationship Killers: Four of the WORST Mistakes Brands Make in Social Media"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>The biggest goal for any brand delving into social media should be to develop quality, productive relationships. That\u2019s the bottom line. However, many brands still \u201cdon\u2019t get it,\u201d and consistently make mistakes that are damaging to them in social media and therefore damaging to their brand. In my opinion, there are four big no-no\u2019s that not only kill those all-important relationships, but also tarnish your reputation:<\/p>\n

1. Broadcasting:\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong>Blasting out sales messages rather than listening and engaging has got to be the number one relationship killer of all time. Bar none. People hate to be sold\u2014especially on social channels, where their main objective is to talk, get opinions, relax and have fun, or find answers to pressing problems. When a brand spends the majority of its time broadcasting, it\u2019s a clear message to followers that they\u2019re not interested in real, two-way communication.<\/p>\n

Listening should be your first priority, followed by engagement. Don\u2019t try to sell to people until you\u2019ve earned their trust!<\/p>\n

2.<\/strong>\u00a0Taking Followers Offline to Resolve Issues:<\/strong>\u00a0 If someone has a problem and comes to your social presence to try to get it resolved, the worst thing you can do is shunt them off to a customer service contact with a \u201cform letter\u201d response. Too often I see\u2026 \u201cfollow us so we can DM you,\u201d on Twitter, or a quick move to traditional customer service channels on Facebook. People have an innate need to be validated\u2014and \u201cshowing them the hand\u201d is the fastest way to sour a customer relationship. Sometimes there are things that have to be resolved offline for legal issues, but the majority of complaints or requests for help should be addressed promptly and publicly in social channels. At the very least, if you MUST send them offline, do so in a friendly, personal manner. Address them by name, thank them for bringing the problem to your attention, and so on. Walk a mile in your customer\u2019s shoes\u2014how do you feel when you\u2019re ignored or made to jump through hoops by a company you deal with?<\/p>\n

Responding publicly has another important, beneficial, and cost saving benefit. Other people with the same issue, and you can\/should assume there are many more, can receive resolution via your response, and see how you interact\u2026 and then make their own judgments about your brand character based on those interactions. If you\u2019re doing it right, you will build brand advocates in the process, and when\/if needed your best brand advocates will support you when they see that kind of open, honest communication.<\/p>\n

3. Having No Brand Personality: \u00a0<\/strong>People who spend time on social media like to spend time with people\u2014not logos. If you have a team of employees handling your social responses, don\u2019t make them hide behind the brand logo when they interact with followers\u2014give them a voice and a face. Ford does a great job of this with @ScottMonty building his personal brand along with theirs. Scott interacts with followers as himself, not the Ford brand. This humanizes the brand and fosters good communication. Being able to see the team members behind the company and interacting with them personally makes a big difference in fan loyalty.<\/p>\n

When a company censors its employees and doesn\u2019t allow them to participate in social discussion surrounding the brand, it\u2019s usually because they\u2019re afraid of \u201cwhat might happen if\u2026\u201d They\u2019re afraid they\u2019ll spend too much time on social or say the wrong things. These issues can be resolved with a comprehensive social media policy so all employees know how and when they can and should interact. Remember, your employees should be some of your best advocates, and a natural extension of your \u201cpublic face.\u201d\u00a0 You can\u2019t do social right with employee censorship. Your people are your company\u2019s personality. Let them shine for you. And\u2026 if you don\u2019t trust your employees, maybe you have the wrong employees, or a business approach that will be difficult to sustain in this hyper-connected world.<\/p>\n

4.\u00a0 Making Social a Direct Marketing Channel: \u00a0<\/strong>Can you develop a relationship with a piece of direct mail? A TV commercial? A newspaper ad? An email blast? Of course not! Yet many brands treat social as an extension of their direct marketing efforts\u2014mainly because that\u2019s all they know. They\u2019re used to handing off their marketing to an advertising agency and having them run with it so they can get on with their day. They think in terms of ROI formulas, but falter when it comes to measuring the effectiveness of one-on-one networking.\u00a0 If that\u2019s you, don\u2019t feel too bad\u2014it\u2019s a habit that\u2019s been drummed into you and hard to break. But you\u2019ve got to break it! Adopt a whole new mindset around social, and think in terms of building relationships and an emotional connection to your brand, or you\u2019ll always be frustrated with your results. Remember\u2026 Social Media drives engagement, engagement drives loyalty, and loyalty correlates directly to increased sales. Return on Relationship\u2122 = ROI.<\/p>\n

This goes back to the \u201cBroadcasting\u201d mistake I mentioned earlier. Think in terms of providing helpful content, fun ways to communicate, sharing information and asking questions. Leave the direct marketing stuff in traditional channels. Get a sense of who your audience is and give them what they\u2019re looking for in your social communications, or you\u2019ll get \u201cun-followed\u201d or ignored in a hurry.<\/p>\n

What other \u201crelationship killers\u201d have you come across when dealing with brands online, and how do you think they could be avoided? Conversely, which brands have you noticed that are \u201cgetting it right\u201d in social media when it comes to\u00a0Return on Relationship\u2122<\/a>?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The biggest goal for any brand delving into social media should be to develop quality, productive relationships. That\u2019s the bottom line. However, many brands still \u201cdon\u2019t get it,\u201d and consistently make mistakes that are damaging to them in social media and therefore damaging to their brand. In my opinion, there are four big no-no\u2019s that … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[1458,1413,480,1691,566,30,3],"class_list":["post-4292","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-tedrubin","tag-tedrubin-2","tag-featured","tag-return-on-relationship","tag-shopper-marketing","tag-social-marketing","tag-social-media","tag-ted-rubin"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thesocialcmo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4292","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thesocialcmo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thesocialcmo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thesocialcmo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thesocialcmo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4292"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.thesocialcmo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4292\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4295,"href":"https:\/\/www.thesocialcmo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4292\/revisions\/4295"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thesocialcmo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4292"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thesocialcmo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4292"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thesocialcmo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4292"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}