Sometimes fear is what holds us back from reaching our full potential. We hear it in questions from our clients all the time. What tone should I use? What messages should I avoid? What if I post too much/not enough? From the outside, it seems like there are plenty of reasons to avoid the headache of social media. But, this wouldn’t be much of a post if we couldn’t offer some good news. So here it is:
It’s pretty hard to fail at social media… or is it?
You may object, citing US Airways, Amy’s Baking Company or McDonald’s. On the other hand, what really happened in these examples of epic fails? Some extra publicity (good & bad), some apologies (or not, in the case of Amy’s Baking Company), and some funny celeb responses.
More often, businesses genuinely fail at social media by demonstrating apathy, misinformation, indifference, and misunderstanding. Taking the time to educate yourself on how to address negative responses (because those will happen) is important. You should also learn the basics before taking the plunge. Know what is standard in your industry, what your competitors are doing, and who your audience is. In fact, we think education is the best defense against social media’s potentially-paralyzing fear of the “what if” questions. That’s why we have created a lunch & learn series for our clients (read more about it here).
Additionally, make sure you control knee-jerk reactions. Social media is instantaneous by its very nature. But, that doesn’t mean your reactions should be. Taking a few extra moments to analyze the impact, examine the numbers, and collect all the information will save you a much bigger fail related headache later on. Of course, taking a few days to respond to an incident is too long for social media’s attention span. So find that balance of time that works for you & your company– something in between responding from your iPhone in the parking lot of Starbucks and responding a week later, after conducting a full-blown investigation.
Of course, there are still plenty of examples of genuine full-on nuclear fails (those companies that used disasters to promote themselves, failed to check the source of trending hashtags, etc). But, by and large, social media audiences follow the pattern of immediate brutality & eventual forgiveness/forgetfulness. So, you should absolutely be careful, but since humans are creating & publishing content, mistakes will be made. Don’t let the fear of “what if” keep you from jumping in the game.
We hope you’ve been encouraged to face social media head on rather than letting the fear of a fail. If you’re still feeling intimidated, enlist the help of a social media management company (ahem…), attend an educational seminar or do more research. Whatever it takes to get you comfortable with putting your company out there. Because staying within the walls of the office might be safer & easier, but your customers are everywhere else. Reaching them helps you guarantee your business will expand socially & grow exponentially.
Just make sure you don’t get your social media tips from CeeLo Green…