Social Media Etiquette: The Dos and Don’ts for Your Business
If you aren’t already on the social media bandwagon, now is the time to jump on and utilize this great marketing tool. Social media is one of the best ways to get your brand out there and reach customers far and wide. Don’t underestimate the power of this tool to increase revenue and build a relationship with your customers, but be warned there is a certain etiquette when posting on social media. If you are new to content marketing, here are the dos and don’ts of social media for your business.
Do: Keep Personal and Business Separate
Unless you always want to be wary of two pages, you should keep your personal and business lives separate on social media. Some people may want to merge them together to benefit their business, but you should be aware that anything posted on either could have detrimental effects on your business. This means doing a massive spring clean of your social media accounts and making sure there is nothing on there that could be viewed as hurtful or slanderous. Keeping it separate and making sure your personal accounts are fully private is the best way to keep this under control.
Don’t: Spam
There is a much better way to get your content and page noticed than constantly spamming people. Nobody wants to see their social media timelines filled with information about your business, and spamming will lead to a loss of followers. Unless you are using your social media feed to answer questions and queries from customers, limit your posts to ensure full customer engagement. Put some information together and don’t post the exact same thing on three different platforms.
Do: Use the Right Social Media Platforms for the Right Content
Many business owners who don’t understand the full concept of social media post the wrong content on the wrong platform. Utilizing each social media app in the way it is intended will keep all your posts informative and aesthetic. Below is a quick guide to the different uses of the most popular social media platforms for your business:
- Facebook: a community to chat and engage with clients. Try using Facebook polls or “like and share” competitions to get your brand seen.
- Twitter is known for quick conversations and is best used as a customer question and answer platform.
- LinkedIn is a professional social media site and should be used solely for getting your brand out there or for searching for new employees.
- Instagram is all about visual content, so only post visually pleasing items on here and limit the amount of text. You can use the picture description to engage with customers.
Don’t: Share Anything Offensive or Untrue
The moment you post something on social media, it is out on the internet forever. Even those posts that have been recently deleted could have already been screen grabbed by an angry business or customer. Never post anything if you don’t believe it to be accurate and NEVER post anything that criticizes a member of the public or a competitor. If anything is posted like this, you could be held liable and be made to pay out a claim to the individual or company. If you want to keep yourself safe, should this happen, get general liability insurance for your business.
Did you know that the average claim against reputations could be as much as $50,000? You never know when one poor post could get you in serious trouble, but with general liability insurance from The Hartford, your business is protected. It’s easy to obtain a quote online within a few minutes.
Do: Interact with Your Customers
Social media is all about customer engagement, and while getting your brand name and product out there is one part of this, you should also use your social media channels as a way to learn more about customers and to get them more involved with your brand. If your customer purchases your product, ask them to share a photo on Instagram with your company hashtag. Re-post photos from your customers to show appreciation and thank them. Want recommendations for your next blog post or video content? Use Facebook to get your audience involved. Follow relevant channels on Twitter and get involved in conversations if you believe you can help. This is a great way to be more involved and be seen as a user-friendly service.
Don’t: Forget to Spellcheck
In a world full of businesses trying to get their name out there, poor grammar and spelling in your posts will lead to mistrust. If you cannot be bothered even to spellcheck your posts and social media profiles, how can customers trust you to put effort into anything? If you are a business that relies heavily on writing, such as an editing company, having obvious blunders and errors in your profiles will lead to a loss of custom.
Do: Get Visual
You want your social media profiles to be aesthetically pleasing to gain more customer engagement. With so much competition, standing out from the crowd is what will get you noticed. Consider rebranding or updating your logo and brand name to be visually pleasing on social media. Follow the latest visual trends in social media and consider hiring a graphic designer who can help you to build a visually pleasing profile.
Don’t: Abuse Those Hashtags
If you look at how successful profiles share, they don’t abuse hashtags just to get more likes and followers. Using hashtags the right way can add traffic to your page, but too much becomes ineffective and looks too much like spam. If you are struggling to know how to use hashtags properly, check out the most popular industry brands and see how they do it.
Following this guide can help bring your social media etiquette up to speed. The better the content you post and the more engaging you are, the more customers you will get. Be careful with what you post and spellcheck everything. Good luck and happy posting!