Black Friday
In-store purchasing remains notably more popular than online shopping, but with virtual card usage on the rise.
SOCIAL MEDIA
Avoid common posting pitfalls by having a strategy and brand voice
By our News Team | 2022
The online world is full of avoidable social media blunders by businesses. Here are some of the common ones.
Depending on how you use it, social media can either make your business a digital marketing darling or an out-of-touch pariah to be mocked and avoided.
Writing in Entrepreneur magazine, Adam Petrilli, CEO and founder of US-based online reputation management company NetReputation.com, warns that self-inflicted online damage not only hurts an organisation’s social media efforts; it can do major reputational damage that dents brand integrity and revenue over the long run.
Photo by Fauxels from Pexels
He lists some of the biggest social media blunders. Among them:
Posting from the wrong perspective
Posting business updates from an individual’s point of view may seem harmless enough. But straying too far from your brand’s voice can create real audience disconnects that have lasting consequences for your brand, injecting a sense of personal feeling or bias that alienates users and ultimately undermines your messaging.
No matter your brand or industry, keeping your social media strategy on track means maintaining a consistent brand voice throughout, and ensuring your marketers are always posting from the company’s point of view and not their own.
Seizing on the wrong trends
Latching onto the wrong trends is one of the faster ways to bump your social media management off the rails. Unfortunately, it’s also an all-too-common trend among businesses seeking a quick boost in visibility. It inevitably links brands to irrelevant memes or hashtags that leave followers and the public shaking their heads.
While every social media channel offers plenty of space to experiment and try something fresh, it’s important to understand what that latest trend is all about before doing anything rash.
Jumping into the wrong conversations
Involving your brand in the wrong conversation is a serious but preventable social media blunder that generates significant public blowback with lasting repercussions for your business. That’s because joining social chatter and discussions that aren’t aligned with your message or your purpose doesn’t only position you as out of touch; it can also quickly transform your brand into a social media laughing stock, hurting brand integrity and customer relationships in the process.
While there are certainly cases where joining the conversation can reinforce and even bolster your messaging, it’s critical to do your homework before diving in. Conversations that align with your brand, customers and culture are great, but be absolutely sure they do before chiming in.
Read the full article here.
The Internet
Online users in almost every country surveyed want better control over how their personal data is collected, used and sold.
Advertising Spending
But the silver lining is that October outperformed all other months so far in 2022. Digital, OOH and newspapers are among categories that grew.
Consumer Research
We’re so worried that the people we’re buying gifts for will be offended by our present, that we overspend or get them what they don’t want.
Brand Acquisitions
Study finds brand acquisitions may not work out as planned, as consumer perceptions of the brand become tainted. But this can be mitigated.
Supply Chain
Consumer-packaged goods industry in Africa is being ‘systematically transformed’ by Ramani’s ‘huge ambition’, investor says.
Executive Appointments
Zayd Abrahams joins from banking group FNB, where he currently leads marketing for the Personal Banking and Private Banking segments.
Marketing ROI
Despite evidence that shows it’s a bad idea, marketing budgets are often the first to be scrutinised and tightened in times of uncertainty.
Consumer Engagement
Strategies needed to optimise digital commitment from consumers have shifted as the global business and geopolitical landscape changes.
Traditional Media
Traditional media remains stronger on the continent than in developed markets, with relatively high cost of digital access being a factor.
Online Shopping
As retailers struggle, they may need to rein in their returns procedures, particularly for ‘serial returners’ and ‘retail borrowers’.