Digital marketing can be an intimidating and overwhelming concept. It’s often too much for a business owner or in-house marketing team to handle on their own and as a result, embarrassing and easily avoidable mistakes can occur.
While entertaining for the rest of us, these errors can be incredibly damaging for a brand’s reputation. To avoid becoming the laughing stock of the digital world it’s important that you know what you’re doing when it comes to digital marketing.
Sometimes, it just makes more sense to ask for help. Employing a digital marketing agency can result in more effective digital marketing campaigns that encourage growth, ensure maximum return on investment and profitability.
If you don’t believe us, these rookie mistakes (made by established brands) might convince you:
- British Airways
While British Airways surely had their hearts in the right place when they shared a competitors Facebook post, it was an awkward mistake and a hard lesson to learn. In 2016, the airline accidentally shared a post advertising Virgin Atlantic’s services:
While the post was later edited to read “Finally we agree on something except for how to get there #FlyBAtoLondon”, the damage had already been done. To make matters worse Virgin Atlantic also replied to the post with “Thanks British Airways! So kind of you to share!”
- DiGiorno Pizza
When an American football star was fired from the Baltimore Ravens after a video emerged of him punching his fiancée, the hashtag #WhyIStayed erupted and thousands took to Twitter to share personal stories of domestic violence. Without looking into the context of the trending tag, DiGiorno Pizza decided to jump on the bandwagon, sharing this tweet to its followers:
Understandably the backlash was immediate and DiGiorno quickly removed the post, tweeting this apology: “A million apologies. Did not read what the hashtag was about before posting.” The lesson here? Always do your research.
- LG
In 2014 Apple came under fire after rumours spread that their new iPhone 6 would bend and break in customer’s pockets. Competitor LG decided to capitalise on the outcry, releasing this ad to poke fun at Apple:
Unfortunately whoever tweeted the ad on LG France’s page was obviously an iPhone user and the tweet was posted with “via Twitter for iPhone” clearly visible underneath… #fail
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It pays to enlist the help of someone who has the time, patience and expertise to ensure rookie errors are avoided. After all, no brand wants to end up in a situation like one of the above.
For more information on how a digital marketing agency can help minimise error, give us a call on 1300 766 665.
