2009 has been a breakout year for sports and social media. Athletes, teams, leagues, coaches, media and sponsors have finally started to take note of how social media impacts sports and fans. There have been some really great executions and ideas as well as some missteps.
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Tactics for Social Media Strikeouts
Posted on March 22nd, 2010
I said it today on Twitter, but I’ll say it again.
Social Media is not magic.
You can’t assume it will work wonders for you. Being on Twitter will not automatically increase your sales. Starting a Facebook page is not a strategy. Just being involved is not enough; it’s about what you do with it and why you’re doing it.
It takes commitment, creativity, and strategery. And, as Cody Swann pointed out, it takes patience.
But some brands and people will still get it wrong. Avoid the tactics below or else you’ll also see how it feels to strike out with social media.
Not setting goals – Brands and people need to figure out what they’re trying to achieve by being involved with social media. Not setting or having goals is a sure fire way to strike out.
Not listening – Not listening to what people are saying about you before/during participating in conversations and creating new programs will land you a seat at the end of the bench. Not reading/listening to bloggers before pitching them stories is another great way to fail. Please remember that different communities and websites each have their own culture and jargon. Pay attention to details.
Trying to exert too much control – People will think/say/blog/tweet what they want. Brands can influence the conversation and direct it, but trying to exert too much control will earn you a one-way ticket to the minor leagues. Nestle, unfortunately, gives us a good example of what not to do (trying to cover-up/delete negative comments).
Being Fake – Authenticity is a key fundamental of social media. Pretending to be someone you’re not or hiring someone to act as you is a great way to fail. Dishonesty=disaster. Remember the Walmart FAIL from 2006?
Not balancing participation and promotion – When you’re engaging people, you need to focus on being helpful and participating the right way more than promoting your own products and services. If you’re only there to promote yourself, people will notice right away and you’ll be destined to strikeout in social media until you change your ways.
Not committing adequate resources - Depending on your goals, you’ll need to invest time, employees, education and money into being successful. Not dedicating proper resources will hurt any chance you may have at success.
What other tactics for social media strikeouts would you add to this list?
Next time, I’ll share some tactics for social media home runs. If you want to share a few sentences/tips for this next post, send me an email (jpeck at hwy24 dot com) and I’ll make sure to include your ideas. I’d love to hear your thoughts!
*image credit – artolog on Flickr
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Comments 4
March 23rd, 2010 at 8:09 am
Unfortunately, I’ve seen all of these happen far too often. Trying to exert too much control is one that always frustrates me. Especially in sports, the PR teams and management are hesitant to give up control because fans are, by nature, very critical of the team and players when something goes wrong, which makes them extremely hesitant to ever want to relinquish any control.
However, you can’t be the person who acts like the mom and tries to exert your control over your followers/fans, because that will probably just make them do whatever they’re doing even more. So, there’s definitely a happy medium to be found in there between this and letting fans and customers run free and bad mouth your brand. After all, you can’t control the conversation, but you sure can try and influence the direction it’s going in.
Great thoughts, Jason!
March 24th, 2010 at 7:42 pm
Couldn’t agree more unfortunately too many see social media as another broadcast medium and just add it to the press release/ web content rollout plans. It’s the teams that start engaging in social media that can really start gaining the advantages of a passionate tribe.
March 24th, 2010 at 8:13 pm
Jackie – Thanks for stopping by. Definitely agree with you re: too much control. People are going to say what they think. I feel like they’re sometimes less likely to say insanely bad things when they know someone is listening..and they’ve developed a relationship with that person. And no relationships can develop if the fan/customer feels like they’re talking to mom, instead of a friend.
Sean – I agree with you 100% – Thanks for your comment.