If you own a business, one of the first things that you will be told is to create a social media presence. In fact, one would think that it would be absolutely insane to do anything other than get as active on social media as possible and take advantage of all of the great social media promotion opportunities available. What many people ignore is the fact that there are situations when social media promotion is the worst thing possible. In fact, in some cases, a business may have absolutely no reason whatsoever to create a social media presence. Here are 5 situations where this may be the case.
In The Face of Human Tragedy
It seems as if every time humanity is stricken with a tragedy, at least one company clumsily attempts to combine a message of sympathy with a promotional message. The result is always the same. The company making the remark is deservedly mocked and criticized, and then they spend the next several weeks attempting to back peddle. There is nothing wrong with releasing a sensitive, sincere, and appropriate statement about a tragic event. However, if you attempt to make that statement anywhere near a promotional statement, you are going to be public relations toast.
When You Cannot Follow Through
You’ve probably witnessed this more than once. A company releases a series of social media posts promising a big new thing. It could be a redesigned website, a new product, a new service offering, or something else entirely. Whatever it is, the company creates all sorts of buzz. Then, when it comes time to deliver, everything falls apart. The website crashes, the product is flawed, or they cannot deliver on the services promised.
When You Lack the Resources to Respond to the Created Engagement
The purpose of social media promotion is to create engagement and to get shares. If your customers or potential customers respond to your promotional content, and you do not have the time or staff to maintain the relationship, your efforts are wasted. In fact, they may have a negative result if people are offended by your lack of response.
If You do not Have Quality Control Resources
If you post something on social media, know that it will be checked. It will be grammar checked, fact check, and cross-checked against your previous posts by those who wish to point out your errors and inconsistencies. You will also wind up with an egg on your face if you demonstrate a lack of pop culture awareness in your social media promotion efforts. This might include misuse of memes, using pop culture references in ways that don’t work, or making attempts to become relatable to different groups of people that come off as pandering.
You Simply Do Not Need to Be on Social Media
There are two reasons to promote your company on social media. The first is to establish relationships with people and to create engagement as a result of those relationships. The second is for the purposes of public relations. If neither of these two things is a concern, you may be wasting your time with any efforts to create a social media presence. For example, if your business is solely based on government contracts, or if you are in a B2B space where transactions are large but infrequent and nobody is engaging with one another on social media, why waste your time?
Before you decide what to promote and when, or if you even want a social media presence at all, it is a good idea to seriously analyze the resources you have available to you, your social media savvy, and the benefits of social media promotion for your enterprise. Once you have done that, you can make decisions based on what is best for your company.
About the author
Daniela McVicker is an independent blogger and writer who doesn’t believe in the word impossible. She believes that success depends on knowing the ideas that allow you to manage and master the universe of information.
