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What Turns Fans Off About Your Brand In Social Media
August 20, 2013
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It's not so much about "rules" or "best practices" in the social sphere as it is paying attention to behavior. How we speak and operate socially is what defines us. And sloppy spelling, along with, "pitchy" posts are indeed chipping away at your brand's equity.
That's according to Disruptive Communications, a social and digital agency in the UK. They recently shared their research findings about what brands are doing that's not so attractive to the fans.
As Lance Concannon, who led this research pointed out, "Most people flagged up poor spelling and grammar as their number one turn-off. This is interesting because so often in social media we see brands being much less formal and even using heavily abbreviated txt speak, perhaps in an effort to appear more laid back and human. The survey findings show that this could actually be counter-productive and is more likely to annoy people than win their trust."
As you see below, the majority cite spelling or grammar as the main negative:
Emulating fan dialogue socially doesn't mean you should spell like them (or speak their slang). It simply means be real – and fun – but have some business sense when writing.
While many brands have an easier time managing these mistakes socially because they have separate teams overseeing the fan experience in this space, in radio, there are often all kinds of different people randomly posting.
And random acts of social lead to communication breakdowns.
Want to work at keeping your fans turned on? Start here:
- Speed is not the essence of any social communication. Show a sign of intelligence and proof the messaging before posting. Does your station look refined in its spelling and grammar, or more like a 12 year-old girl texting?
- There's nothing attractive about anyone – face-to-face or in the social space – when all they do is push themselves on us. Have enough confidence that being a great story teller in the social space is more effective than telling fans what you want them to do. They will follow you to the "mothership" if your messaging is worthy of their time.
- Breathe in between posts and tweets. Don't hijack your fans' Live Feeds with non-stop chatter and incessant message.
- Wit doesn't come easy. Don't force it.
- Find balance. As overwhelming as it is when brand's over post – it's equally underwhelming when they don't meet fan expectations.
Social is an indirect path to our brands.
It's not about what we want to say, it's about what the fans want to hear.
While the end result is to "pinball fans" from social media to the assets we own (our stations, the database, the website), we first must earn permission to do so. And we accomplish that by visually enhancing their News Feeds and studying the communication that triggers their positive reactions.
Make a commitment socially to reflect who you are to the fans first and foremost. You are their companion, you make them feel better, you talk about what matters to them, and memories sometimes resurface when they listen.
Understand what fans value about your brand and pay attention to how everyone on the team speaks for you socially.
Don't let your social assets become a turn-off.
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