7 Social Media Tips for Your Business
Using social media for your business is always a challenge. There’s a delicate balance between using it as a broadcast marketing tool, which totally erodes your credibility, and using it just for personal interactions with friends, etc.
Somewhere in between those two extremes lies a perfect blend of the two, characterized by a combination of personality and professionalism.
Recently the marketing department at the company where I work has been working on some branding materials to share with the entire staff, including a set of tips for social media. Since I contributed some of the ideas, and thought the rest were really good, I thought I’d share a modified and annotated list of those tips here:
Use good judgment and common sense
Think about what you’re posting. Think about all the people who may see it. Is there anyone who you don’t want to see it? Yes? Then don’t click the post button.
Use language that reflects core values and key attributes
This one’s a particular challenge. As a communicator for a company, you need to make sure you’re communicating the same message as others who are also communicating for your company. Consistency is key. This does not mean that you should spew marketing speak. That’d definitely be a no no.
Avoid posting anything that reflects badly on the brand, yourself or another staff member
Disparaging remarks about anything can harm the reputation of your company. This includes comments about your coworkers, partners, vendors, clients, competitors, etc. And, it applies to both your company social media accounts and your personal accounts. If you go around bashing people, it’s eventually going to come back around and reflect on your company. Really, this rule applies for social media in general, even without the company aspect. It’s a big Internet world out there. We’ve got to all play nice.
Do not share private or confidential information
This may seem obvious, but sometimes people just don’t think. Talking about that deal you closed prematurely in a public space.. not so good. There’s a lot of information that you may be privy to, or that your company may hold, and that should not be the subject of your latest tweet.
Do share news about the great things that are happening at your company with your circle of friends
Have something to say! The whole reason your business is using social media is to let others see what’s going on, so share what’s happening. Are you working on an exciting new project (that isn’t overly confidential, of course)? Then talk about it. People love to hear about new and exciting things. Even better, include some links, photos or other media so readers can truly get their hands on it. Your followers can be your best marketers if you get them excited about what you’re doing.
This goes for your personal accounts too. You can generate a lot of interest in your business by telling your personal friends and followers what you’re working on.
Avoid posting anything that may indicate endorsement, unless an official relationship exists.
This is simply a case of thinking through what you’re going to say before you say it. How might a post be read by others that you have a relationship with? For instance, if you have some sort of partnership with one vendor, you might not want to post a link touting the great benefits of their competitor.
This isn’t to say you shouldn’t share some of the great content you find out on the Internet, but try to keep it limited to useful, informational content with very little bias toward specific companies or products.
On a similar note, try not to sound like a marketing broken record when talking about those companies and products you do work with. You don’t want to sound like you were paid off to say what you’re saying.
Have some personality
When you have the power to send a tweet or post out to thousands of users, it can be so easy to fall into the trap of carefully crafting some nifty marketing speak to sell whatever you’re about to post. Don’t do it.
Social media is about connecting PEOPLE together. Your friends and followers want to see a glimmer of that personality of yours show through in everything you post. I really like the idea of using ^CoTags to tag every post with the identity of the person who posted it. This goes a long way in removing that corporate veil from your posts, which can mean the difference between a lively and responsive follower-ship and a dead one.
Anyway. I hope these tips help you as you’re starting to think through using social media for your company. If you’ve got any more ideas, feel free to post them in the comments section.
