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In a constant struggle to get likes, plus 1’s, retweets and favorites, more and more companies are turning to social media to vie for your attention. This opens up a can of worms for you or your company if you don’t know how to navigate the social landscape.
One important facet of that landscape is hashtags (you may know it as the pound sign or number sign, but I digress). Hashtags are a great way to group your content on social platforms.
They’re also a ticking time bomb, ready to blow up your reputation, if you use them incorrectly.
We all know Social media can get you fired – a quick google search can turn up tons of examples, like these. But social media can be deadly to your reputation if you don’t know what’s going on.
Take for example DiGiorno Pizza. The hashtag #WhyIStayed was trending to raise awareness about domestic violence. DiGiorno tweeted “#WhyIStayed You had pizza.” Obviously enough, a lot of people found this to be cold and insensitive. I’d be willing to bet you that this translated to lost revenue for DiGiorno’s as well. After all, with many frozen pizza options at our disposal, why settle for a company that makes light of domestic violence (Granted they apologized but the damage was already done).
So what’s the moral of the story? Be careful what you are using for your hashtags. Just because it’s a trending topic, you might not want to throw your brand in the conversation – find out why it’s trending. Just look at DiGiorno’s or Celeb Boutique or Entemann’s.
Until Next Time,
Tom Zobel