Instagram marketing is not easy. It requires thorough planning, precise targeting, and constant monitoring. Many brands have slipped up sensationally. Their social media fails reveal crucial don’ts of Instagram promotion.
Discover some of the most spectacular blunders below and hone your methods to avoid them. If you need help from professionals, https://www.aitarget.com/ has the full arsenal for launching an impactful campaign across social media. Instagram is a wonderful platform to tell your brand’s story, but be careful.
1. Bootea Shake’s 4 PM Influencer Post
Everybody knows that influencers get money for promotion, but their content should create a semblance of a genuine partnership. The former star of Keeping Up with the Kardashians Scott Disick did not even bother to check the caption to his post for Bootea Shake. He just copy-pasted the suggested caption with the timing instructions.
2. Nomadica Wine Repaints Houses
Do you still think that all press is good press? Nomadica’s failure can make you change your mind. To promote a line of canned rosé wine, the brand had three abandoned homes painted bright pink. However, the organizer did not bother to ask the neighbors for approval. The company did not apologize in response to the outrage. Instead, it simply stated that their project was “a jumping-off point for a conversation about community, development, public art, and social media.”
3. Kendall and Kylie Jenner Try to Profit off of Dead Musicians
These reality TV stars wanted to market their new line of T-shirts on Instagram. The products featured different musicians, including deceased stars like Tupac Shakur and Notorious B.I.G. Somehow, the sisters forgot to ask for permission from either artist’s estate. This outraged their fans and the artists’ families, so the shirts were finally pulled.
4. Benetton’s “No Girls Allowed” Policy
In 2017, Benetton decided to promote its summer children’s collection with an image of three young boys modeling the apparel. The caption read “Sorry ladies. Girls not allowed!” This attempt at humor backfired, as the post was perceived as an old-fashioned reinforcement of gender stereotypes. Why exclude the entire gender from your campaign?
5. Ruffles Chips Insults Vegans
Ruffles chips decided to mock vegans and vegetarians who refused to eat turkey at Thanksgiving. The caption said, “There’s a reason tofu-urkeys are never pardoned.” Predictably, the now-deleted post sparked outrage. Instagram is extremely popular with vegans, and they even launched a hashtag against the chip’s manufacturer (#BoycottRuffles).
6. Lime Crime’s Handling of Website Hack
This makeup brand sparked controversy when a large number of customers complained that hackers had gotten hold of their credit card data via the website. Initially, the company denied that it had known about the vulnerabilities but had done nothing to resolve them. This was followed by non-apologies. The now-deleted posts were overloaded with emojis related to identity theft.
