8 Reasons For Brand Failure on Social Media (Twitter)

 Social Media  Add comments
Apr 012011
 

If you are a brand and you wish to make use of the power of social media via Twitter, it is a very tricky situation to be in. The following are some reasons why brands fail in social media.

1. When they fail to be social

The reason people are popular in social media is that they are social. They discuss, interact, make noise, learn and have fun. It is because other people like having them in their circle of friends. Therefore, when brands fail to get social, they do themselves a great disservice.

2. When they only talk about the product

Some brands get into Twitter thinking they can make noise about their products and get people’s attention. That would work if you are already an established brand like Microsoft or Coke. People will wait for your updates and won’t mind if you only talk about yourself. But if you are a brand that is fighting to get attention, you have to mix it up till you become an authority.

3. When they don’t answer on time

People will ask criticize, ask questions and even bad mouth you. All they are looking for is answers. When you don’t respond in a timely way, people will remove you from their list of ‘trusted friends’.

4. When they fail to accept mistakes

Accepting mistakes is a great way of getting close to people. It is one of the most effective and powerful tools for winning a person’s heart. Discussing mistakes will not spoil your reputation. On the contrary, accepting and discussing mistakes will encourage your community to stick with you.

5. When they fail to understand people

Brands exist only because people use them. When brands don’t understand people, they fail greatly. To understand people, just act like you are one of them. When you don’t do that, the distance between the user and the brand widens.

6. When they fail to give value to followers

Being a good brand is only half of the work. The other half is giving value to your followers. You could offer them an exclusive product review or an exclusive discount. Use the divide and rule principle. Reward and give value to your followers.

7. When they are not fun

Many companies are wary of getting social but still want to have an impact in social media. In an attempt to keep things under control, many companies have rules left, right and center. What they fail to understand is that rules in social media are set by the people, not companies. To succeed with people, it is important to be a fun brand.

8. When they have poor products

If you have a bad product, you cannot expect any magic to happen in social media. It is better to work at rebuilding your product rather than pushing a bad product to people.

 

Author Bio

Charles Mburugu is a professional content developer and an entrepreneur. He often writes about real estate, finance, business start-ups and internet marketing. In the past few weeks he has been writing for blogs where you can get the latest 123inkjets discount coupons and Network Solutions promotional coupon.

8 Reasons For Brand Failure on Social Media (Twitter)

guest blogger

This is the Dragon Blogger Guest Bloggers account for author's who want to submit articles and only have credit in the post instead of having to manage their own Wordpress profile.
  • http://www.lightcrest.com Maggie@ Managed Hosting

    I definitely agree with most of the points. Twitter is supposed to be social, and therefore it should be fun. I feel a lot of businesses fail to connect to their customers and appear to be a human with emotion, because their company wants their feed to be strictly “professional.” Although in social media, how do you be “professional” and cold? Sure, you shouldn’t say certain things and use certain languages, but you have to have fun with it!

  • http://topbestphonereviews.info zamahsari@best top phone reviews

    Yes that’s right if we want some body else pay attention to us we have to listen what they talk about and response it wisely and quickly..

  • http://www.dennisedell.com/10403/about-direct-sales-marketing/ Dennis Edell @ Direct Sales Marketing

    I dunno. I’m picturing a Bill Gates chit-chatting on twitter…..it ain’t pretty. lol

  • http://www.jocurile.us Alex@Jocuri

    LoL@Dennis, that isn’t pretty at all. But even Microsoft, has a presence on twitter and they must have some social media expert that consults and maintains this accounts.

    For small companies, usually someone may need to do this as an extra task and they might need to try and gain followers by using their products.

    Because I think that every brand wants to be social with their clients and informing them (their clients) of their social presents and informing them that they might be able to chat with a company representative for small customer support issues.

    • http://www.dennisedell.com/ Dennis Edell @ Direct Sales Marketing

      What I would do, not being big, is give away freebies in return for twitter chatter…kinds like a blog review that doesn’t lose steam in 3 days.

      • http://www.jocurile.us Alex@Jocuri

        Hmm, how would that work? You would give a free something if people would chat with you on twitter? I just don’t see that happening, I mean the chatter part.

        What I will do, I would say in a free ebook i give that they can ask me anything related about the ebook on my twitter account (of course this means you have to have a website/means of spreading that ebook first).

        • http://www.dennisedell.com/10403/about-direct-sales-marketing/ Dennis Edell @ Direct Sales Marketing

          No no, not chat with me, chat about the freebie with their followers.

          I like your idea too, I could definitely build on that.

  • William tha Great

    Great pointers!

    The best way to make the best out of your social media is to be a social a possible. When you say that you have to be very careful. in the process of being social on social networks it’s very easy to loos track of time start being unproductive. You must first find your balance. When you can be social without being unproductive and stay on track you will build your network.

    Thanks!

    God bless,
    William Veasley

    • http://www.dragonblogger.com Justin Germino

      I certainly agree with being as social as possible, which isn’t easy when there is 24×7 traffic on Twitter and you have to sleep sometimes.

  • Pingback: SpeedLink V11/2011, Social Media, Online Business, SEO, And Blogging

  • http://ronleyba.com RonLeyba

    In my humble opinion, the number 3 reason must go first?:

    When they don’t answer on time.

    Social media is about interaction in real time, when they fail to answer on time, then they don’t have that real time interaction thus making them a failure at social media.

    Again, its just my humble opinion.

    Great article nonetheless.

    • http://www.dragonblogger.com Justin Germino

      Thanks for sharing your peeve with people who don’t respond on social media.

  • http://www.peppervirtualassistant.com/ Axcell Van

    #4 is truly important. It’s irritating if one can’t accept a flaw in a product or design. When discussing about it on social media, it would definitely help if developers could provide tips to trouble shoot or ways to overlook the flaws.

  • http://mycorner99.com SEO Critics

    Good perception about brand failures i am agreed with most of points. my biggest appreciation is for first one “When they fail to be social” because failure starts from this point.

    Now we can figure out why we fail.

  • http://www.vergent.net jenn

    Agreed. Right now my twitter feed just has blog post updates, but I think I’m going to try to make it a little more fun and humorous. Otherwise, who cares? Come follow me for a chance to win a free iPad!

    • http://www.dragonblogger.com Justin Germino

      You should be more interactive, run games or engage with questions and answers.

  • http://www.thehomecart.com/ Brian@Denver luxury Real estate

    Hopefully I’ve not encountered any of the 8 danger signs but I agree that these 8 reasons are most likely to happen and when we don’t rub people the right way failures are bound to happen. According to me, selling a good product/service tops the list, as long as the products are good it doesn’t take long to get noticed because people have become smarter shoppers these days and appreciates quality. Another very important priority is customer care or relation with my clients for which I use the social media as well. These 8 reasons are solid Justin.

  • http://twitter.com/ascentivede susan@ascentive.de

    Although I do not claim to be a social media expert (at least not yet), I can attest to the relevancy of the points made in this article. In my opinion, the first two points are of particular importance. Along with the first point comes the issue of creating a unique personality to market your brand, which I think proves most difficult for a lot of people who use Twitter for this purpose. What has also proven difficult for me, on a day-to-day basis, is finding the right balance of product-related posts, market-specific posts, and posts that I find interesting on a more personal level, posts that may have nothing to do with our products/our specific market. It can be quite difficult, but, if you play your cards right, social media success can have a huge payoff!

  • http://www.teethgrindingstop.net/ Samantha@teeth grinding

    “fail to get social”

    From the term itself, SOCIAL media. You need to communicate with others and maintain a good relationship for you attract them. Otherwise, joining a social media sites is useless if you’ll just be a member and do nothing.

  • http://toprice.ie/ Jane Cooper @ online shopping ireland

    I think right now Facebook may have problems because they have too big database of users and there is so much spam and people may discourage because of it.

  • http://www.finchesbirdcenter.com//finch-cages/ John@Finch Bird Cage

    I agree with most of your points! And very much with point number 2 and 3. Starting and small business or companies in which they are first getting attention, they should talk less about their product and interact more with people, I guess, by that they will be known more. Also, they should respond fast, especially when it concerns their product. Thank you post sharing this article!

  • http://www.newbizblogger.com Michele Welch

    Hi Charles & Justin,

    All valid reasons for your brand failing on Twitter for sure. Twitter is tricky sometimes b/c it is a tool that you can use to promote your content, services and products but it’s all a social hub.

    There has to be a fine line between promotion and social for it to work effectively for you. Most people don’t have the time to spend hours on Twitter, but with as little as 10-15 minutes a day you can make it a point to connect with others, this way when you are promoting your stuff it doesn’t come off as spammy to your followers.

    Just my two cents. ;-)

    And fun? A must! :-)

  • http://www.janwong.my Jan Wong

    Those reasons are spot on! I would think that many companies think see social tools as a way to push products to their customers and come back in the end of the day saying that it (social tools) does not work.

    Social tools are amazing – put in value and you get value in return. Put garbage and that’s what you get. This article is a must share! Thanks for putting it together.

    • http://www.dragonblogger.com Justin Germino

      Thanks for reading it and you clearly are jazzed about social media as a business tool.

  • http://www.kalamazoodentist.org/ charlene @ kalamazoo dentists

    I agree with most of your points! And very much with point number 2 and 3. Starting a small business or company should talk less about their product and interact often with people. I guess, in that way, they will be able to establish their brand and get the trust of the their target audience. And social media makes it easier. Furthermore, they should respond quickly to establish great customer service.

  • http://www.virtualassistant.org/ Cresilda @ Virtual Assistant, Inc.

    I completely agree with everything. In twitter and even in other social networking sites, one must be social. That includes, respecting others and having fun. :)