7 December 2021
Yes, social media is fast-paced and it’s all about being authentic and conversational.
But it is also a space to represent your brand, an effective marketing tool and an online extension of your business.
How you represent yourself and what you say on social media matters.
Poorly cropped images, uninspiring graphics and text laden with spelling mistakes and grammatical errors can be a real turn off for current and potential customers and clients.
It distracts them from your valuable message, what you were trying to share gets lost and, in some cases, it can lead to consumers feeling your business is less credible.
To try to help you avoid them in the future, here we’ve outlined some of the most common examples of errors in marketing material:
Which witch is which?
You’re probably not writing about witches and broomsticks so much – ok, maybe at Halloween – but it is a good example of a homophone in action.
A homophone is a word that is pronounced the same (to a varying extent) as another word but has a different meaning. Homophones sound similar but have different spellings.
For example:
You’re and your
Their, they’re and there
To, two and too
Hear and here
Buy, by and bye
New, knew
Flower, flour
Read, red
The English language hey?
We get it, it’s confusing, but it is also very important to get right in your writing.
Here’s an example of an exchange that could help you to avoid some of the most common mistakes when it comes to homophones:
Where are your friends?
They’re over there with their kids.
Oh yes, you’re right, I can see them now.
Loose change v money to lose
This error is common, even in marketing material such as blog posts and social media updates. It’s also an error that annoys a lot of readers.
Loose and lose mean very different things. Let us share with you something we read many years ago which has helped us to avoid this mistake.
“If your pants are too loose, you might lose your pants.”
I, you, me – who are we?
Speaking in the third person can feel strange, especially when typing or writing. But if you are producing marketing content, or posting to social media, on behalf of your business it may be necessary to use “We” and “The Team” in marketing content rather than having your message come from an individual.
If it is your preference to post as “I” or have one persona across all of your social media channels that is totally fine. Just keep it consistent so that the reader isn’t confused.
When it comes to social media consistency is key.
On that point, we’ve put together some other tips on keeping your social media simple, you can check them out over here( https://kiscreative.com.au/keep-your-social-media-simple/ )
There’s a LOT to remember
We see this one a lot. And it’s unfortunate because ‘alot’ isn’t actually a word.
Yes, there is allot: to divide or distribute by share or portion.
But if you are trying to say there is a large quantity of something, you need to use two separate words.
Hopefully, this has helped make you a little more aware of some of the common spelling and grammar issues across social media, and how to avoid them.
If you’d like help with your social media management or thinking a facelift across your social media platforms might be in order, don’t hesitate to give us a call on (02) 4934 4556.
We love talking all things marketing.