The year 2014 should cultivate some of the best social media campaigns we have seen to date. As time goes on brands and their perspective social media managers are learning new and captivating ways to leverage social media platforms. Unfortunately, there are still quite a number of brands that do not understand how to execute a social media strategy that educes the growth of sales, brand awareness, and customer retention. Here are the top 3 social media bloopers brands should leave in 2013:
1. Linking Facebook & Twitter
Whether by design and/or normality the audiences of different social platforms are used to a certain type of content. For example, people tend to post more frequently and fragmented on Twitter than they do on Facebook.
Consequently, if you have your Twitter linked to your Facebook it could become quite a nuisance to your Facebook friends/fans to see an overload of twitter posts on their timeline. 
Also, one of the main reasons consumers tend to use different social media platforms is to see different content or enjoy a different experience. For this reason, the duplication of content on multiple platforms can become redundant. Don’t bore your Twitter audience with Facebook posts and/or vice versa. Give your consumers and potential consumers fresh captivating content as they move from platform to platform.
2. Social media buttons on websites that lead to inactive pages
If a current or potential consumer visits your website it should be understood that there is some level of interest there. It should also be understood that if you have social media buttons on your website there is a high possibility that your current or potential consumer will click on it. The last thing you want to happen is for that consumer to be lead to your social media wasteland, disinterest will follow. You want your consumer to be taken to a page that is active, speaks to your brand voice, and entices purchasing decisions.
3. Lack of engagement with audience
Sometimes, brands tend to forget the word media comes second to the more important of the two words, social. There are too many brands treating their social media platforms as an online billboard. Though your social media platform can be used to get a particular message to the masses, similar to a billboard, the real power in social media comes with the opportunity to engage with your current and potential consumers. Relationship capital, the intangible value that a brand has through its relationships with customers, is lost when you fail to engage with those who keep your doors open. Here’s a gem, most consumers entertain purchasing decisions from people they know/trust and the only way to get to know your customers on a social media platform is through conversation.
Here is something to also take into consideration: 1. There is no need to mention yourself on Twitter. 2. If you want a person to like you on Facebook, make it easy for them and put the link in your tweet. Enjoy your time bringing in the New Year!
