For many of you, increasing your followers on social media is probably part of your goals for 2017. But are your strategies actually hurting you? Take a look at the biggest brand social media turnoffs and see if you are making these mistakes.
Biggest Social Media Turnoffs to Avoid
If adding and retaining followers on your social media accounts is important to you and your brand, you need to understand that there are certain actions you can take that will have the opposite effect… The dreaded unfollow.
About the Data
In a recent survey conducted by Sprout Social of over 1,000 Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter users, participants indicated the social media activities that turn them off from brands.
These actions that participants identified were not only figurative turnoffs but literally turnoffs, as they resulted in participants unfollowing those brands.
Here are the biggest social media turnoffs
1. Too Many Promotions
Have you every stopped following a company because they kept posting promotions that filled up your newsfeed?
58% of participants indicated that when brands post too many promotions, followers start to get annoyed and unfollow them.
However, this is tricky as market research also indicates that consumers need to see a product multiple times before they decide to purchase it.
2. Lack of Authenticity
The next few brand turnoffs involve authenticity: using slang (38%), not having a personality (35%), and trying to be funny when they are not (32%).
Authenticity on social media is HUGE!
Does your brand have a voice or personality? Your social media activities should reflect that.
Any attempt to be something you are not will turn off your audience.
Be aware of your audience and your industry… using humor or slang may not work for you if you’re a financial institution, but might be appropriate if you are a lifestyle brand.
3. Poor Customer Service/Engagement
The last major turnoff that brands commit is also the easiest for you to fix: not replying to customer messages (25%).
You want your customers to add their own content to your social media platforms. But, you definitely do not want negative content.
If nothing else, you should look at social media as part of your customer service department.
Just like you want the person who answers your phones every day to provide a positive customer service experience, you want to make sure your actions on social media also provide the same experience.
These are ways for your followers to actively engage with you. So engage back! Address any problems or negative reviews head on; do not let content that negatively impacts your brand perception sit on social media for too long.
SEE ALSO: How to Use Social Media to Develop Your Digital Brand Voice
Notice any other social media turnoffs? Please share with me in the comments below!
