Why social media mishaps can cost your credibility
Social media is everywhere. Consumers use social sites every day to check in on friends, share content and connect with brands. If you run a business, this last point is especially relevant; did you know that three quarters of shoppers consult social media before making a purchase?
It’s impossible to argue with the figures. Your social media presence – or lack of – can make or break your sales. Consumers want to check out your social profiles, see how credible your brand is and read what others have to say about shopping with you before they take the plunge.
If you’re already using social media, making what you put out informative, fun or engaging is crucial. Audiences now expect content of all kinds that is personal to them, and competing against the thousands of cute cat videos or gimmicky posts for a share of the attention is no easy feat.
Above all, content must be relevant to your audience. Knowing your readers means you can better connect with them. Still, even with engaging content, your social success hinges on a few other factors, such as timeliness, regularity and quality. In this blog post we’re going to focus on quality.
Quality content counts
Content marketing is key to creating valuable consumer relationships, many of which now start on social media. A shopper may click on a social post and open up your latest blog entry, for example, or watch a video tutorial you’ve created for a new recipe. This content can reinforce your brand identity, build trust and add value to the consumer experience.
While the content may be high quality, if the social post itself is lacking, you might not get those all-important clicks through to your content, which means you’re potentially missing out on opportunities to engage customers and warm them up to your sales messages.
Scroll through your Facebook feed and you’re bound to come across some social posts that just don’t quite cut it. Take the following examples, some of which have been published on the social media pages of international brands. At the very least, audiences deserve error-free copy, don’t they? Typos, spelling errors and grammatical mistakes can cost a business its credibility.
Stop! Grammar time
It’s worth remembering that social media marketers are not usually copywriters and may not be aware of correct grammar, spelling and punctuation. You can be sure, however, that at least some members of your audience will pick up on these mistakes. Perhaps not all of them, but depending on your particular audience, perhaps more than you might think.
While people are generally willing to let errors like misspellings slide on personal social accounts, companies tend to be held to a higher standard. Over time, social media errors from the same company will be perceived negatively by consumers who notice them, affecting the perception of your brand and impacting on your bottom line as a result.
If your social team is slipping up, now is the time to take action – before any more damage is done. After all, spellcheck is free.
Francesca Newton is CEO of copywriting and content marketing agency EVE Writing Services. For error-proof social media content and proofreading services, contact us today.