What Is One Thing A Brand Should Not Post On Social Media?
To help you identify things your brand should avoid posting on social media, we asked social media managers and marketing professionals this question for their best advice. From personal opinions to client information to unverified links of curated content, there are several things brands are advised against posting on social media.
Here Are Nine Things To Avoid Posting On Social Media:
- Personal Opinions
- Anything Contradictory To Company Values
- Messages That Seem To Exploit
- Client Information
- Unnecessary Back and Forth
- Cons About Competitor Products
- Political Beliefs
- Purely Promotional Content
- Unverified Links of Curated Content
Personal Opinions
When it comes to social media, brands should use this space to inform their target audience of their company’s goals, upcoming new features, and helpful information that they may find beneficial. It should never be used to state any personal opinions – even if they’re directly from the CEO.
Your consumers are interested in what you have to offer by way of products or services, not your point of view. If it’s not about your brand, then save it for conversations among friends.
Ryan Rottman, OSDB Sports
Anything Contradictory To Company Values
A brand should not post anything controversial, contradictory to the company values, or anything that can be offensive or perceived incorrectly, or negatively. Once something is posted on social media, it is nearly impossible to get it removed.
Therefore, when it comes to posting, it is crucial to be mindful of what you post. Social media is a powerful tool, but once the public perception is tainted, this would be extremely damaging to the brand.
Patrick Ward, Rootstrap
Messages That Seem To Exploit
The news cycle is filled with more and more events leading to greater social unease and distress than ever before. As a company that engages with communities at large, it’s not inherently a bad idea to address these topics. However, if you go this route, be sure that the messaging and tone of your post are appropriate.
If it feels like you’re simply using a tragedy or similar kind of event to push your products, people will be rightfully furious at you for exploiting an event. Carefully consider which events to speak out on and tailor the message appropriately.
David Ring, MCT – Trading
Client Information
If you wish to run successful social media campaigns, never share conversations and business information of your clients as it can impact the brand reputation as well as brand loyalty. To be a renowned source in the market, brands must be cautious enough while sharing private conversations with customers as it can lead them to some serious legal trouble.
Whether it’s sharing a conversation, company logo/information, or screenshot of a client’s website; brands must take approval before using such sensitive information for branding and promotional purposes.
Unnecessary Back and Forth
There are many ways to handle customer disputes, and some of them require some form of escalation as they can get pretty heated. One thing brands, or any other business really, should avoid at all cost is to post their back and forth between clients and customer service departments.
No matter how wrong they are. The action of exposing your customer reflects badly on the brand much more than on the person complaining about the business or their experience with it.
This is not to say that you cannot respond, but always take it offline for a more appropriate handle on each situation and a good resolution.
Nicky Taveras, DNT Home Buyers
Cons About Competitor Products
Even if you mask the competitor product’s labels on the social media posts while listing out its disadvantages, it is highly unethical to add glory to your good through this act. While posting brand-related posts on social media, focus on your service features and the improvements that strike in the future to trigger interest with the users.
It is not a good practice to win the race by pulling the other down. Instead, run parallel with the competitors by revealing your capacity to meet the market demand.
Huzaifa Ahsan, FindPeopleFirst
Political Beliefs
Don’t post political beliefs on social media. A polarizing topic, you can easily lose customers quickly with just one statement or piece of content. Keep your social media brand-focused. You should have relevant content to what your product is and keep it politically neutral.
Amy Keller, Climate Candy
Purely Promotional Content
Although a social media page can be used to promote your products or services, it’s often counterproductive to limit your posts to just that. Make sure you balance the promotional content with a mix of informative, engaging, and diverse posts. Customers love a well-rounded page they can relate to and tend to support a brand that has something to say beyond its products.
Marc Roca, 4WD Life
Unverified Links of Curated Content
Brands should only post something that they know of on their social media. Although curated content is a great way to enhance brand authority, unverified links you have not read will be catastrophic at some point to the brand.
Such links could be misleading, dead, clickbait, or broken, ruining the brand image. Some of the links may be taking a political stand against your brand and cause massive damage to your reputation. Posting what you are not knowledgeable about will cause more harm than good to the brand. It only takes a click to check if the content complies with the brand values and is worth the effort.
Leah Wanjiku Gathoni, NearbyMovers
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