Social networking for business is nothing new, in fact, Social Media Today reports that more than 90% of marketers use social networking for business. Facebook, Google+, LinkedIn… they are all beneficial to not only your brand visibility and SEO, but they also allow you to engage in powerful two-way dialogue with your target audiences.
The platform for two-way dialogue is something that has revolutionized the way that we market, however, there are some social networking no-no’s that you should remember when you are marketing your business on an online platform like Facebook or Twitter.
Some of these are going to seem obvious, but just like with warning labels, we are writing about them because we’ve seen them:
- No-no number 1 – ranting on a controversial topic. Keep personal preferences on controversial topics like politics out of your social media strategy unless your business revolves around them.
- No-no number 2 – ignoring complaints. Part of the beauty of social networking is that we can listen to complaints, address them online and offline and win over dissatisfied customers. Ignoring a complaint just adds fuel to a fire you don’t need.
- No-no number 3 – arguing with your audience. Yes, we said it, arguing with your audience. If someone voices an opinion that you don’t agree with, keep it professional and let your brand ambassadors do the talking for you or take the conversation offline and try to solve any issues that there may be.
- No-no number 4 – airing dirty laundry or making very personal statements on your business page. Fighting with your spouse? Children getting in trouble at school? Car not starting? Stick to a social media posting strategy that is relevant to your business.
- No-no number 5 – criticizing people online (this goes along with number 3). Nothing says it better than this article on BuzzFeed. If you haven’t seen it, it is worth the read… trust us.
- No-no number 6 – deleting comments from others. Nothing makes someone using a social networking site more angry than deleting his or her comments. If a person is legitimately being inappropriate, address the reason for the deletion. For example: “I’m sorry John Smith, but I had to delete your comment out of respect for the other users on our page. We take our customer comments very seriously, if you would like to discuss this further and allow us the opportunity to rectify the situation, please private message us.”
In short, there are a lot of ways for businesses to benefit from the use of social media – but there are also a lot of ways to hurt your brand online with poor strategy and management of your social networking platforms.
Need help strategizing for your business’s social media marketing efforts? Give us a call and let us help take the guesswork out of promoting your brand online.