Social media has become very important in the last few years, with more and more companies trying to promote their services and products directly to consumers. Of course, this means companies should think about good practices on social media.
Today we are going to talk about a few important rules to follow, to improve your social media accounts. Your online presence is very important as a way to interact with your customers. Regardless if you chose twitter, instagram, Snapchat, or facebook, there are few rules every company should take into consideration.
To make things easier, we are going to give examples that caught our attention.
1. Good Practices on Social Media – Be professional
This seems like a very obvious one, but, sadly, not all companies think of how they are perceived every time they share something on social media.
Most guides for social media will mention trying to tap in the popular discussions. A clothing company decided to hijack a popular hashtag with inappropriate promotional messages. The hashtag in question was related to a revolt, where people got hurt. They got a lot of backlash for their messages.
Unless the services or products you are selling are somehow related to the topic that is trending, don’t interfere. It will only look unprofessional.
Special attention should be given if the message is related to the business. Another example is that of a chef from a posh restaurant, commenting on social media about what a TV presenter was wearing in a well known cooking show. It’s highly unprofessional to make fun of how people look like or what they are wearing.
Tip: Every time you write something on social media, make sure it’s something you would be happy to tell face to face to any customer.
2. Good Practices on Social Media – Avoid answering to messages written by people a few days before.
Some companies think that is appropriate for them to search what people are saying on social media and reply to them. While it depends very much on the topic of the discussion, problems can arise too.
A company selling beauty products replied with a joke to a lady saying she packed a huge luggage for a trip. At the time when the company wrote the message, that lady was a victim of a terrorist attack, where she was on holiday. As with the other examples, they received a lot of backlash online. Their joke was inappropriate considering the situation and it upset the family and friends.
Having a conversation on social media can lead to new followers and potential buyers, but only if there is already a connection. Also, any answer should be given in a matter of minutes to a couple of hours, not days.
Tip: Engage with your customers and followers and not strangers that have no connection with you.
3. Good Practices on Social Media – Don’t try to be your follower’s friend. You are not.
In an attempt to be as human as possible, some brands will try to appear as friends with their followers on social media. There are multiple hashtags and memes that seem so easy to tap into, like #MondayBlues, how to survive till Friday, almost Friday (on a Thursday), and, on Friday that is nearly weekend.
These might be fun, but only two things can happen. First of all, it shows the company in a bad light by the employees. Second, it can make people slightly uncomfortable because these are the kind of subject they want to chat with their friends about, and not with an employee from a company from where they bought boots, makeup, or airplane tickets.
Tip. Be friendly and nice no matter what. At the same time, be professional. Remember the purpose of using the social media platform is to promote services/products.
4. Good Practices on Social Media – Each social media platform is different, adapt your feed to it.
Not all social media platforms are equal. Because they are so different, it’s very easy to pick the one(s) that suit your brand’s needs better. Instead of trying to use all of them, focus on the ones that can work for you.
Frequency of updates is another thing to take into consideration. This should be adapted to the social media channel you are using.
Tip. One of the things people love are stories. So, make sure, you are also sharing non-promotional company information. It can be a “behind the scenes” story or picture. It can be about a project, the office, or something the company got involved in, like a charity project. Share that with your followers, it’s likely they will be interested in it.
5. Good Practices on Social Media – High Quality Images or Videos.
Regardless of which platform you want to use, for all of them high quality images or videos are necessary. When it comes to products, we, at Web4Infinity, recommend having lifestyle pictures. It will show the items you are selling/making as natural as possible, in a way your customers might use them.
Tip. A book will look better on a shelf with other books around it, a vase on a beautiful side-table with a bunch of flowers in it, candlesticks with lighted candles in them on a table decorated for a special dinner, and so on. This way your customers will know how it will look in their homes or it will be something they can aspire to.
We hope you did find interesting our guide to Good Practices on Social Media helpful.