2. When
you
do
business
online,
communica2on
is
everything.
If
your
marke2ng
isn’t
clear,
poten2al
customers
get
confused,
and
when
customers
get
Intro
confused,
they
leave
before
they
ever
know
what
it
is
you
offer.
Here
is
a
comprehensive
list
of
37
different
ways
marketers
and
businesspeople
confuse
their
customers,
and
how
you
can
avoid
making
the
same
mistakes.
4. Inactive Twitter Accounts
Fruit
of
the
Loom’s
TwiEer
account
has
three
tweets
#1 posted
in
a
three-‐minute
2meframe
from
2011.
They
aren’t
exactly
gaining
social
momentum
with
this
account.
If
a
service
isn’t
part
of
your
strategy,
don’t
sign
up.
5. Hashtag Overuse
If
every
other
word
in
your
social
media
message
is
a
#2 hashtag,
maybe
you
don’t
know
how
these
work—
that’s
what
customers
think.
If
your
hashtags
aren’t
deliberate
or
meaningful,
you
aren’t
using
them
right.
6. Forcing a Hashtag
#3
McDonalds
tried
their
hand
at
forcing
a
popular
hashtag
this
past
January
when
they
started
encouraging
people
to
share
#McDStories.
Their
plan
backfired,
and
gross
stories
of
fast
food
nightmares
began
filling
the
hashtag.
Forcing
posi2ve
customer
sen2ment
can
backfire
and
do
more
harm
than
good.
7. Avoid the Egg
#4
New
TwiEer
users
have
a
randomly
generated
“egg”
user
picture
when
they
sign
up.
This
should
be
obvious,
but
your
user
picture
is
a
branding
opportunity.
If
you
interact
with
users
without
changing
your
user
picture
to
something
that
represents
you,
you’ll
be
ignored
in
a
heartbeat.
8. Hyperactive Brand Name
Tracking
#5
Businesses
should
ac2vely
track
men2ons
of
their
name
brand
on
social
networking
services,
and
interac2ng
with
users
that
men2on
you
is
a
great
strategy.
That
doesn’t
mean
you
should
act
on
every
single
men2on,
though:
replying
to
any
and
every
men2on
of
your
brand
can
come
off
as
obsessive
and
creepy.
9. Automatic Social Sharing
#6
Does
your
content
translate
across
mul2ple
mediums?
Automa2c
share
systems
that
distribute
your
new
content
across
all
of
your
social
networking
profiles
can
oYen
botch
the
sharing
ac2on
by
including
too
much
unnecessary
text
or
parsing
content
in
a
way
that
doesn’t
seem
natural.
Customers
pick
up
on
this
as
a
sign
of
laziness,
and
will
respond
to
it
accordingly.
10. Unlock Twitter
#7
Another
pet
peeve
of
mine:
locked
TwiEer
accounts.
TwiEer
is
about
social
sharing
and
interac2on.
If
you
aren’t
willing
to
unlock
your
TwiEer
profile
and
make
your
content
public,
there’s
no
reason
to
use
the
service—unless
you’re
trying
to
look
like
a
weird
social
media
stalker
business
on
purpose.
11. Understand the Service
#8
Poten2al
customers
can
tell
if
you
don’t
understand
a
social
media
service
or
you
aren’t
familiar
with
how
the
site
“works.”
If
you
join
TwiEer
to
promote
yourself
and
never
share
anything
or
interact
with
others,
people
will
avoid
you
on
principal.
Learn
how
to
be
a
social
media
user
before
you
start
promo2ng.
13. Don’t Be a Ghost
#9
Social
media
profiles
provide
space
to
share
informa2on
about
you
and
your
business
with
other
people.
Again,
this
is
another
branding
opportunity—
fill
these
out!
A
blank
About
Me
sec2on
makes
you
look
untrustworthy
and
unworthy
of
new
business.
14. Facebook Disengagement
#10
Do
you
interact
with
your
Facebook
fans?
They’re
interac2ng
with
you,
and
if
you
aren’t
willing
to
return
the
favor,
you’re
chasing
poten2al
customers
away.
15. Being Annoying
#11
There
is
actually
a
content
strategy
called
“annoyance
marke2ng,”
and
it
can
work
some2mes—if
you’re
careful.
Social
media
is
not
the
best
place
to
make
this
strategy
work:
consider
that
with
each
post
you
make,
you’re
interrup2ng
your
customers’
personal
space
with
marke2ng
efforts.
Customers
are
generally
not
recep2ve
to
that,
so
make
sure
you
provide
some
value
with
each
post,
instead
of
chasing
them
away
with
annoying
disrup2ons.
16. No Show, All Tell
#12
Images
and
visual
content
go
a
long
way
online.
WriEen
content
for
social
media
without
a
visual
component
is
basically
throwing
away
a
good
exposure
opportunity.
Even
if
you
have
to
spend
extra
2me
finding
some
sort
of
relevant
image,
the
poten2al
reach
you
earn
by
calling
out
your
content
with
a
visual
cue
is
worth
the
effort.
17. Keywords Galore
#13
Consumers
spend
maybe
two
seconds
deciding
if
a
promo2onal
post
is
worth
reading.
Stuffing
your
social
content
with
keywords
like
you
would
write
longer-‐
form
content
is
a
great
way
to
make
your
posts
look
like
a
fishy
sales
pitch
to
poten2al
customers.
18. Open Your Privacy Settings
#14
Don’t
send
customers
to
your
social
profiles
if
they
can’t
see
any
of
your
informa2on.
If
your
Facebook
profile
is
completely
locked
down,
people
will
leave
without
ever
looking
further
into
contac2ng
you.
20. Writing Over Your Customer’s
Heads
#15
I’ve
wriEen
about
this
extensively
before:
there’s
nothing
I
hate
more
as
a
consumer
than
content
that
isn’t
accessible.
There’s
no
reason
to
write
over
customers’
heads
unless
you’re
qualifying
your
customers
by
scaring
away
anyone
that
doesn’t
understand
what
you’re
wri2ng
about.
Writer’s
oYen
don’t
realize
they’re
doing
this
un2l
somebody
else
points
it
out,
so
be
careful.
21. Vague Headlines
#16
Just
like
your
menu
should
express
clear,
immediately
recognizable
intent,
your
2tle
lines
should
be
clear
as
well.
Is
your
product
the
best
in
the
market?
Then
say
so,
don’t
hint
at
it.
Vague
headlines
are
a
major
point
of
frustra2on
for
poten2al
customers
because
they
can
be
misleading.
22. 6
Making Assumptions
#17
Don’t
write
content
based
on
assump2ons
about
your
target
market.
Customers
start
to
scratch
their
heads
when
they
read
content
that
is
obviously
directed
at
them,
but
doesn’t
actually
apply
to
them.
23. e Rhetorical Question
#18
Marketers
like
to
use
“do
you
need
this?”
taglines
and
have
worn
them
out
for
years.
It’s
supposed
to
make
the
customer
tell
themselves
“oh,
I
guess
I
do!”
We’re
smarter
than
this
now.
Once
in
a
while
these
are
okay,
but
don’t
hinge
your
en2re
conversion
on
a
2red
marke2ng
gag.
24. Print and Online Are Different
#19
Businesses
will
oYen
repurpose
their
printed
marke2ng
materials
for
online
use
by
simply
throwing
the
image
or
raw
content
online,
without
changing
it
or
op2mizing
it
for
the
web.
This
is
a
big
no-‐no:
large
images
(like
print
ads)
are
difficult
to
navigate
online,
and
consumers
are
very
frustrated
when
there
aren’t
interac2ve
elements
where
they
should
be
an2cipated.
Repurposing
print
content
for
the
web
is
fine,
but
be
smart
about
it.
25. QR Codes Can Backfire
#20
Marketers
oYen
throw
QR
codes
into
their
promo2onal
material
because
it’s
cheap
and
easy.
QR
codes
have
a
bad
reputa2on
for
requiring
lots
of
effort
to
produce
minimal
value.
Don’t
use
a
QR
code
without
making
the
value
of
a
scan
immediately
apparent
and
worthwhile.
26. Mystery Links
#21
Hyperlinks
are
a
major
distrac2on.
If
you
fill
your
page
design
and
content
up
with
them,
it’s
tough
to
focus
on
the
actual
content.
Make
every
link
count,
don’t
load
up
content
with
links
to
every
liEle
relevant
thing
you
can
think
of.
27. Over Anchoring
#22
I
was
reading
an
ar2cle
today
about
a
service
that
checked
if
your
password
had
been
stolen
aYer
a
recent
hack,
and
I
counted
14
anchor
text
links
in
the
content
of
the
ar2cle.
The
actual
service
was
one
of
the
last
links
on
the
page.
The
rest
were
links
poin2ng
directly
to
other
ar2cles
wriEen
by
the
same
news
site.
Ugh!
If
your
link
content
is
important,
make
sure
customers
can
find
it
easily.
28. Link-Bating is Old News
#23
Pos2ng
anchor
text
or
a
link
promising
something
incredible
or
valuable,
then
having
it
link
directly
to
one
of
your
conversion
pages
is
decep2ve.
Customers
don’t
appreciate
this,
and
although
it
used
to
be
a
popular
content
strategy,
now
it
just
makes
customers
lose
trust
in
your
brand.
29. Appreciate Customer Needs
#25
Your
web
content
shouldn’t
be
designed
solely
to
sell
your
products
or
services.
You’ll
earn
more
conversions
from
content
that
empathizes
with
customers’
problems
and
needs.
Emphasize
that
you
are
providing
a
valuable
service
instead
of
just
cour2ng
a
sale.
31. Overloading Your Site
Navigation
#26
Small
businesses
oYen
design
their
websites
so
that
everything
they
possibly
offer
is
crammed
into
an
overly
busy
homepage
menu.
Don’t
throw
your
en2re
business
at
customers
when
they
first
arrive.
Use
your
head
and
guide
users
through
your
services
with
call
to
ac2on
cues
and
deliberately
designed
paths
through
your
content.
32. Vague Navigation
#26
Another
mistake
small
businesses
oYen
make
is
pulng
2tles
on
their
naviga2on
page
that
aren’t
specific.
Making
a
menu
item
that
simply
reads
“Lovelies”
instead
of
a
buEon
that
says
“My
Products”
is
a
great
way
to
lose
poten2al
sales.
Your
naviga2on
needs
to
make
it
absolutely
clear
what
customers
can
click
on
and
what
they
can
expect
on
the
other
side.
33. Aiming Big
#27
Many
small
businesses
make
the
mistake
of
trying
to
align
themselves
with
massive,
mul2million-‐dollar
corpora2ons
right
from
the
start.
Most
of
your
poten2al
customers
aren’t
members
of
Fortune
500
companies,
especially
in
the
B2B
market.
If
your
services
rival
large
corpora2ons’
abili2es,
that’s
a
great
sales
point.
Make
sure
that
your
bold
claims
aren’t
making
your
services
seem
inaccessible
to
everyone
else,
though.
34. Hiding Your Contact Info
#28
If
you
aren’t
providing
an
anchor
link
to
your
info
every
single
2me
you
say
“Contact
Us,”
you’d
beEer
make
your
contact
page
absolutely
visible
somewhere
nearby.
Users
that
want
to
contact
you
will
get
confused
and
leave
if
they
can’t
find
your
contact
informa2on,
and
it
is
typically
an
aYerthought
in
site
design.
35. One Size Doesn’t Fit All
#29
If
you
have
mul2ple
customer
targets
you’re
trying
to
market
to,
you
should
offer
different
pages
that
offer
content
specifically
tailored
to
them.
“Universal”
content
marke2ng
doesn’t
exist,
and
is
usually
just
a
way
to
make
“vague
content”
sound
beEer.
36. Tighten Your Focus
#30
It’s
okay
to
cater
to
mul2ple
target
markets,
but
you
can’t
provide
everything
for
everyone.
Content
and
naviga2on
design
that
appeals
to
the
broadest
demographic
truly
targets
no
one,
and
your
conversions
will
reflect
your
confusing
targe2ng
tac2cs.
37. Be Considerate in Your
Followup
#31
Not
all
customers
will
convert
as
soon
as
they
land
on
your
page.
Having
an
automa2c
follow-‐up
built
in
to
your
page,
like
a
newsleEer
opt-‐in
or
a
“Get
More
Informa2on”
link,
is
a
great
tool,
but
only
if
you
don’t
slam
your
conversions
with
too
much
follow-‐up,
too
fast.
39. Provide Adequate Information
#32
It’s
all
too
common
for
products
to
be
listed
on
business
websites
with
absolutely
zero
descrip2ve
content
provided.
Give
customers
more
than
a
name
and
a
price,
or
they’ll
start
to
wonder
why
exactly
they
should
buy
it.
40. Don’t Offer False Value
#33
I
recently
saw
an
awful
discount
for
a
digital
entertainment
product
online:
pre-‐purchase
four
unreleased
pieces
of
soYware
and
get
them
the
day
they
come
out.
The
“premium”
price
was
$50,
and
each
piece
of
soYware
was
$15
each.
Great,
so
I’m
saving
$10
on
one
piece
of
soYware,
and
that’s
only
if
I
even
want
to
purchase
all
four,
which
I
don’t.
If
you’re
going
to
offer
a
deal,
offer
a
good
one.
41. Nobody Likes to Jump
rough Hoops
#34
Scan
this
QR
code
and
check
in
on
Foursquare
and
leave
a
review
on
Yelp
and
print
this
Groupon
offer
and
THEN
you
can
have
your
15%
off?
No
thank
you.
You
can
provide
condi2onal
discounts,
but
don’t
lock
customers
out
by
making
it
unnecessarily
difficult.
42. Tiered Rewards Can
Discourage Customers
#35
If
you
have
a
2ered
customer
rewards
system,
don’t
set
the
bar
for
joining
a
higher
level
too
high,
and
make
sure
the
increased
value
is
worth
the
price
of
reaching
that
point.
If
your
2ered
reward
system
doesn’t
provide
value
that
is
immediately
apparent,
it’s
probably
underwhelming
or
confusing.
43. Offers Must Be Timely
#36
I
can’t
even
count
how
many
2mes
I’ve
received
email
offers
that
expire
by
the
2me
I
see
them.
Don’t
send
out
email
offers
that
expire
24
hours
aYer
the
email
goes
out—give
your
customers
some
lead
2me
to
act
on
your
deals.
44. Offer Repeat Business
Incentives
#37
There
are
a
few
online
shops
I
am
happy
to
be
a
repeat
customer
on.
I
just
wish
that
every
now
and
then,
I
could
get
a
10%
or
15%
discount
for
my
next
visit
aYer
I
check
out.
Don’t
let
customers
think
that
you
don’t
want
their
business
again
in
the
future.
45. Conclusion
Helpful?
Have
anything
else
to
add?
Leave
a
comment
for
us
below!