Is Your Brand Misbehaving on Social Media?

The rise of social media has presented brands with a new, more direct way of communicating with their customers. Instead of planning ad campaigns months in advance, brands can now react to trending topics in real-time, weigh in on current events and just be in touch with the world. Unfortunately, social media advertising done poorly is like throwing money down the rabbit hole.

While the tone on social media channels is typically less formal than in more official communication channels, and brands like to present themselves as humorous and snappy, there are limits to what brands should do on Twitter, Facebook, or other social platforms. For instance, are you getting the engagement on social media you think you should?

According to a recent study from Sprout Social, making fun of customers is the worst offense brands can commit on social media. Brands should also refrain from talking politics, using slang, or bashing competitors, as all these things are considered annoying by most of their customers.

This chart shows consumer sentiment on-brand behavior on social media.

Fear not if you’ve made these mistakes in the past:

The majority of us have made the same mistakes. Just learn from them and move on.