Businesses looking to expand their customer base by using social media networks can easily make mistakes, and often do. Sometimes, these mistakes go above and beyond the normal learning curve and end up on lists like this one!
Here are several of our favorite social media bloopers. Hopefully, you can learn from these tips and avoid making mistakes like those mentioned below.
1. Skittles Directing Traffic to a Twitter Results Page
Instead of making their own website, the people behind the Skittles web presence decided to redirect traffic to a Twitter results page. The thinking was that they would benefit from good word of mouth from users all over the world talking about how awesome Skittles are.
This being the Internet, what they got was a collection of people effectively bombing the feed with pranks. There were tweets about how Skittles had ruined peoples’ lives and eventually very profane messages. The experiment ended up a failure.
Today, brands are shying away from promotions that direct people to loosely-monitored Twitter pages. While the vast majority of people who visit these kinds of pages play nice, the errant few who abuse the open forum spoil the fun for the rest of the visitors.
2. Amazon’s Slow Response to Customer Complaints on Facebook
When hackers broke into Amazon’s mainframe and deleted several gay and lesbian themed books, both the gay and anti-censorship communities were understandably upset. More so as they believed Amazon had deleted the materials themselves.
People complained on Amazon’s Facebook page for several days until someone finally took notice and responded. By then, the company had become the butt of jokes throughout the Internet and even received its own hashtag on Twitter. This could’ve been avoided if someone, I don’t know, checked the Facebook page once in a while.
3. TGI Friday’s Slow Response to a Million Facebook Winners
TGI Friday’s invented a successful campaign in the guise of Woody, a goofy looking guy that loves to eat at the restaurant. If Facebook users helped Woody reach 500,000 fans, each one of them would receive a coupon for a free burger.
It worked, and Woody received almost a million fans. Where did it go wrong? First, some people thought the fan page was just that, a fan page, and not a carefully planned marketing scheme. Also, when the page actually received 500,000 fans, it became clear the company was a little tentative about sending out the coupons. Only when it hit a million and people loudly complained did they send them out. It ended with people discussing how to report them to the BBB.
4. Molson Beer’s Misfire with the Legal Drinking Age
Thinking it would help promote not only their beer but encourage school spirit, Molson engineered a campaign on Facebook for students to send in pictures of them partying in hopes to win a trip to Cancun. There was also a list of top party schools in Canada that Molson was monitoring.
Parents and school officials complained that it promoted unhealthy drinking habits. There was also no way to judge accurately if the students in the pictures were of age, other than just the opinion of the viewer. The contest was pulled a week before it was due to end.
5. Wal-Mart’s Restriction of Facebook User Interactions
Reacting to a successful Facebook campaign by Target, Wal-Mart decided to test the social media waters as well. And they promptly screwed it up.
While the people behind Target’s page had done their homework and knew how social media sites work, Wal-Mart’s Facebook page restricted the ability of users to interact with each other. Since they did know how social media works, consumers figured out what was going on and roasted Wal-Mart on their page.
Not only that, the Facebook page tried to paint Wal-Mart as a place for “style” instead of what the store is really about, “discounts.” Consumers saw right through this blatant misrepresentation and the site has since gone through a restructuring.
Action Steps for You.
We’re not saying that you should avoid doing a social media promotion. Nor are we saying that all social media promotions go haywire. All we’re saying is that a well-run social media campaign has three elements in common:
- Clearly Defined Goals: Before launching any promotion, it’s a good idea to sit down with your team and discuss goals and objectives.
- A Contingency Plan: What are you going to do if things go wrong? How are you going to respond if the promotion backfires?
- A Review Process: Resist the temptation to run a promotion on the fly. Instead, take a step back and review your plan before executing it. It’s also a good idea to consult an attorney to see if you’ve missed any hidden landmines.
Once you’ve done the action steps mentioned above, you’re on your way towards a successful promotion. Hopefully, your results will be better than the ones mentioned above. And if they’re not — just dust yourself off, learn from your mistakes, and give it another try!
About the Author: Mickie Kennedy is the founder of eReleases, the online leader in affordable PR distribution since 1998.
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