Twitter Facebook LinkedIn Flipboard 3 In the early days of Social Media marketing was easy. The basic concept for branding and gaining visibility was to post content on the free Social sites and the objectives were achieved. Smaller business owners could get away with doing the marketing on these sites themselves and other businesses could hire interns or have a staff member (with no marketing background) do it for them. Flash forward to 2015 and there are so many layers to using Social Media for marketing and advertising that wise businesses hire Social Media professionals. Social Media Marketing and Advertising is a serious business and when done correctly can be extremely beneficial to a businesses’ bottom line. Recently, Donald Trump, real estate mogul and 2016 Presidential candidate tweeted his latest campaign ad. Unfortunately, those in charge of designing and posting this content failed to catch that the campaign ad featured Nazi soldiers. Looking closely at the ad you can clearly see the soldiers dressed in Waffen-SS infantry uniforms, which is the military wing of the Nazi SS. The image is linked back to Getty Images and can be found searching for “Marching Soldiers”, unfortunately the other keywords include “Fascism” and “German Culture.” The campaign ad has been removed from Twitter. A campaign spokesperson for Trump was reached by The Daily Dot and blamed the blunder on an intern. “A young intern created and posted the image and did not see the very faded figures within the flag of the stock photo,” they explained. This isn’t the first time an intern or staff member with no professional knowledge of Social Media messed up a message for a company. Amnesty International can Suck It In 2014, CSIS, the Center for Strategic and International Studies – a think tank that hosts leaders from around the world told Amnesty International to “suck it”. CSIS deleted the Tweet and Tweeted an apology along with a formal apology on their website. “Early this morning, an unconscionable tweet was directed to Amnesty from CSIS’s Twitter account (@CSIS). The tweet in no way reflects CSIS’s views. It was sent by a CSIS intern who had access to our account for monitoring purposes. The intern wrongly assumed that this tweet was being sent from his personal account when in fact it was sent while logged in to CSIS’s twitter account…” Children Dying: No big deal In 2013 Luton Airport wanted to express their commitment to safety during snowy weather. Their Social Media team posted a photo of plan that had previously slid off the runway onto a snowy, icy street with the post, “Because we are such a super airport…this is what we prevent you from when it snows…Weee:)” Unfortunately, the Social Media team used a photo of a real-life plane crash that caused the death of a 6-year-old passenger. Only Complain During Business Hours British Airways failed to provide adequate and timely customer service when a passenger complained about his lost luggage on Twitter with no response. After receiving no response the passenger took out a paid ad to complain about British Airways customer service and they STILL did not respond. A company as large as British Airways and the fact it is a 24/7 operation should definitely have Social Media staff 24/7. The final tweet coming from the passenger addressed this very issue: “…how does a billion dollar corp only have 9-5 social media support for a business that operates 24/7?” Social Media’s Biggest Villains Finally, the most famous Social Media gaffe of all, Amy’s Baking Company. The restaurant appeared on Gordon Ramsey’s Kitchen Nightmares. They did not showcase their best side, stealing their employee’s tips, admitting to firing over 100 staff members and picking fights with customers. Viewers took to social media to discuss what they had seen on TV and the owners Amy and Samy Bouzaglo fired back. Taking to Facebook to respond by calling people stupid and attacking anyone and everyone in their path. It became a very well-known Social Media blunder. Recently the couple have announced they are going out of business. So, the takeaway here is don’t count on an intern to provide professional and knowledgeable Social Media Marketing, any staff member really is not qualified to manage a Social Media Campaign and business owners should allow Social Media Management professionals to handle their communication on Social Media. Hire a professional! Twitter Tweet Facebook Share Email This article was written for Business 2 Community by Kane Pepi.Learn how to publish your content on B2C Author: Kane Pepi Kane Pepi is an experienced financial and cryptocurrency writer with over 2,000+ published articles, guides, and market insights in the public domain. Expert niche subjects include asset valuation and analysis, portfolio management, and the prevention of financial crime. Kane is particularly skilled in explaining complex financial topics in a user-friendly … View full profile ›More by this author:VoIP Basics: Everything Beginners Should Know!Bitcoin Investment, Trading & Mining: The Ultimate Guide for BeginnersIs This a Better Way to Set Your 2020 Goals and Resolutions?