It is time to check out some crucial social media mistakes which have been committed by known companies.
There are some brilliant examples on the page of Ian, my tutor. As the thought of the response of Bodyfit to their outrageously hilarious Facebook comment by a man who was quite deceived when it came to the actual menstrual cycle of women, compared to the one he had perceived as true in the commercials of the company. The reply was brilliant in my opinion: honest, on-point and quite funny as well.
Luckily I haven’t made any major fails, this can be due to the fact that I haven’t worked for an enterprise as a Social Media/ Community Manager, and also think twice about what I share. I think that the best way to evade being a major fail is to rather ask interesting questions than to create a so-called another push channel
This video sums up the failure of Airline companies throughout social media, especially Twitter, and is also entertaining to watch. With these great examples, the following is learned:
- Never use an auto-response to replying all of your tweets (American Airlines)
- Posting NSFW (not safe for work pics) (US airlines)
- Don’t make jokes about airplane crashes (Luton Airport)
- Don’t let your CEO troll and date through twitter (Ryanair)
- Don’t use hashtags or word combinations which can easily be used against you (Qantas)
Enough Airlines for now. with this knowledge being implemented to myself, I now know, that being funny not always pays off. Being kind, on the other side does. How about this epic flight funding campaign by another Airline, KLM
Other worth mentioning social media disasters are the following:
Victoria’s secret controversial post:
And still being in the sexy mood, Durex decided to launch a campaign called SOS condom. This is about the known gummy manufacturer about launching a campaign in which city the SOS condom service should be implemented. With all the good thoughts, the purpose of it was supposed to be launched in a major city, with popular cities to follow. Think of New York, Paris or Barcelona. Instead, the internet trolls made the number one spot to be Batman, a town in conservatory Muslim Turkey. What a banter!
Want to read more on Social Media Corporate Fails? Check these links out
What’s the lesson? Despite how boring your position or automatic reply may be, ALWAYS DO A DOUBLE CHECK before you post something. you should perhaps also consider asking your upper management or have a social media critic team to analyze what you’re about to post and what the possible outcome is. With social media budgets to be around 28% of the marketing budget of companies, there is a high chance these teams will be there. And not to forget to mention, always have an escalation plan ready. If you post something, make sure you can flip your reputation instantly after forgetting how easy the digital environment remembers your lazy mistake.
See you next week!
Impactful Insights 