Poor spelling and grammar on social media channels such as Twitter or Facebook could harm users’ opinion of a brand. In fact, 42.5% of social media users are of this opinion, according to a survey from Disruptive Communications – a London-based communications agency. The survey garnered opinions of 1,003 Internet users across UK, asking them what is most likely to damage their opinion of a brand on social media.
Younger consumers in the 18-24 age group also insist that spelling and grammar are important, although not as much. They point it as the second main reason that would make them turn their backs on a brand. What 22.1% of the participants from that age group find most annoying about brands’ social networks presence is the lack of regular updates. On the other hand, around 12.8% of those polled in the survey think that brands post updates too often, which at the same time annoys 17.4% of youngsters.
Overall, 24.9% of participants said they would be put off a brand’s page if it has an approach that is too “salesy”. Younger users complaining about salesy updates accounted for 19.8%, while in the 45-54 age group this was the top complaint, as cited by 31.3% of participants.
According to Disruptive Communications, the finding that spelling and grammar put off most people is surprising; usually brands are less formal on social networks probably in an effort to look more “human”. Yet this seems to be a turn-off factor for many.
