8 Important Social Media Etiquette Rules for Your Business

Is your brand being represented accurately on social media?

Are you interacting with people just like you would if you were face to face?

If you want to make sure you’re following the do’s and don’ts of social media, here are 8 important social media etiquette rules for your business.

Build Relationships

Just as you would at any networking event, or if you were dealing with a customer in person, use your social media channels to build relationships. Don’t simply post self-promotional things, like discount vouchers, new products or sales.

Talk to people, share other people’s content, and above all be personal. People buy from people, not businesses.

Choose Your Platforms Wisely

Take a good, hard look at your social media channels. Which ones are working? Where do you get the most engagement? Have you got 8,000 likes on Facebook and 178 followers on Twitter? It may be time to stop tweeting and start concentrating on Facebook then.

Engage With Your Audience

If people are talking to you on social media, TALK BACK! It’s like when a customer comes into your store or office – would you ignore them for ages and then give them a half-hearted response when it’s clear they’ve lost interest? No, you’d go straight on up, ask how they are and how you can help.

So no matter how annoying it is to be asked 20 times a day what time you close or how much shipping costs, the least you can do is answer them – especially if it’s on a paid post! (We recommend setting up some copy and paste responses for when you just CBF anymore.)

Avoid Being Needy

While engagement is fab, don’t beg people for it. Stop asking your followers to tag their friends or share your posts because the mean Facebook algorithm won’t show your posts to anyone anymore.

In fact, besides making you look totally desperate, Facebook has recently said they’re going to promote this kind of content even less now, so just stop already.

Don’t Post Content For Content’s Sake

Remember that, just like when they give you their email address, people have allowed your page to appear in their feed by liking your page. With business content finding it harder and harder to be seen on all social media platforms when people do see your posts, you need to make sure they are worthy of your audience.

Too many cat memes and they’ll soon be hitting that unlike or unfollow button.

Educate Your Customers

When people follow business pages, they usually want one of two things: to buy your goods or services or to learn from you. Don’t be afraid to share content that educates your customers. These could include things like how to videos, cheat sheets and ultimate guides to just about anything.

Proof Read Everything

The last thing people want to see on a business’ social media account is poor grammar and spelling. We all know that we can make typos these days, but there is no excuse not to proof read your posts before they go out into the world. Posts are usually super short so it’s not like you haven’t got the time to re-read a couple of sentences before you hit the send button.

Be Consistent

The first thing a new follower does when they follow any business on social media is check the last time they posted. Anything over a month and they’ll wonder if you’re still in business. Anything over a year and they’ll know you’re out of business!

You don’t have to post every 5 minutes. Choose an interval you’re comfortable with, even if it’s less often than daily, and STICK TO IT. As long as people can see consistency in your posts, it doesn’t matter if they’re daily or weekly. Be like Nike, just do it.