Social media marketing is all about creativity — it’s the perfect platform for communicating your brand to your target audience. Social media has become an increasingly popular way for brands to communicate their unique voice in an informal way, however some companies fall victim to using the same overdone cliches in their marketing strategy. These habits can tarnish a brand’s reputation and annoy the hell out of their audience. When social media marketing is done well, it has the potential to bring more leads to your online business. So what are the worst marketing cliches on social media, and how can you avoid them?
1. “We’re taking X to the next level”
As if your products weren’t already top-notch?
This phrase is thrown around a lot, and it’s actually more damaging to your brand and products then you might think. You’re openly telling your audience that your products or services weren’t that great in the first place, so you must take them to some mysterious ‘next level’.
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Every product you create should be the absolute best there is, so you’re doing yourself a disservice by using this one in your marketing strategy.
It’s also a super-lazy form of storytelling that smacks of a boring Facebook update nobody cares about. If you’re making changes to your product or service, offer some real insight and narrative into why you made changes, and don’t make existing customers feel like they got a bad deal!
What should you use instead?
Be specific with what you are ‘taking to the next level’, like improving customer service or upgrading your software. If you want to shout about significant changes or improvements, a community-led post in the tone of “we heard you” sets a better tone.
2. “It’s all about viral social media marketing”
Everyone is trying to make their content go viral, but let’s face it, only a handful of businesses will actually succeed. To the untrained eye, it seems like everyone is getting there, but in reality it takes a lot of hard work (and money) to make your social media campaign ‘go viral’.
The whole concept of creating a viral campaign is largely based on luck. Just because you’ve created an interesting image or witty article, there is no way to ensure that this content will spread, unless the timing is right or it amasses high levels of engagement thanks to strategic seeding and promotion.
What should you use instead?
Focus on creating amazing content your audience will love, rather than gimmicky campaigns. Invest in a steady marketing strategy that offers consistent value for your audience — building trust and brand consideration.
3. “Think outside the box”
Being totally off-brand on social for the ‘hell of it’ is not always a good idea. At first, being more creative and letting people have free rein on social may seem like the ideal way to reboot a tired strategy, but you will probably just end up with a load of disparate ideas and messages.
‘Outside the box’ thinking is best done during the strategy phase. In business, creative thinking isn’t always something you need to apply to content — it may be that you need to shake up how your social team works, or the social platforms you’re targeting.
What should you use instead?
Thinking too far outside the box can lead to wacky ideas – too much zaniness could put potential customers off working with you. Don’t just go running after wacky unicorn posts — look at how you can run a more agile social team instead.
4. “This is a 360-degree solution”
Surely this is not what you actually meant to say? If your solution or service that you are offering to customers is 360-degrees, then you will end up right back in the place you started from.
There are so many bland and boring business cliches out there — don’t let your social media channels become the same. It’s important that you focus on using real language that’s direct and actionable. That’s way better for users, and way better for SEO.
What should you use instead?
Change your wording to let customers know why your product or service really is different in tangible terms. Giving users a comprehensive view of what you have to offer should speak for itself, so don’t reach for vague pronouncements like ‘solutions’.
5. “Content is king”
Although this one is partly true, the cliche ‘content is king’ has become so repetitive that it has almost lost its message. Sure, content is crucial, but it’s not the only component that makes up a successful social marketing strategy. Consistently coming up with interesting content is time-consuming and it can be challenging to be creative. Focusing on other aspects of your social media marketing strategy will allow your products and services to grab the attention of your online audience.
What should you use instead?
Think more about lead-generation, SEO, and ROI. Just throwing content out there and hoping something will stick isn’t a good strategy. Take a step back and get some perspective on whether what you’re doing is actually working.
Try to tailor your social media marketing strategy to represent your brand voice. Overused words and taglines have become tired and annoying to the point that they can actually be damaging to a brand’s message, and not all accepted social ‘wisdom’ is always that wise. If you are struggling to think of ways to integrate your social media strategy with your online business, then find out more about social media tools here.
