Social media has become an essential tool in the business world. When used correctly, it can be very powerful and help your business grow and secure a wealth of new customers and connections. Once your account is up and running, there are a few things you should keep in mind to ensure your image is never mishandled and you never end up in the middle of a social media nightmare.
When it comes to your posts, there is nothing more important than consistency. Ensure you regularly update with blogs, videos, tweets, shares and likes. This helps your customer base engage with you personally and a well maintained account instils a sense of trust and belief in your business. Avoid periods of inactivity as much as possible, and offer swift, friendly, honest and helpful responses.
Although social media allows you to establish more personal connections with followers, it is crucial to ensure no boundaries are crossed and that your site never displays any distasteful content. It is vital to establish the right balance between personal and professional. Timing is everything, especially with sites such as Twitter and Facebook. There have been many instances in the past of organisations placing an innocent post online and finding themselves facing backlash as a result. Check that your posts contain no material that could be misconstrued or seen as offensive in any way.
Momentary carelessness can lead to all kinds of problems. The majority of your employees will likely have personal social media accounts, and as we have become more comfortable saying exactly what we want in any way we want, it is important to make sure that your professional posts do not become too informal. You need to be friendly and approachable, but still retain your professionalism.
We all know that bad publicity is better than no publicity in the world of media, but when it comes to social media this is not the case. Before you upload anything to your site make sure it is of good quality as a tweet, status or photograph in bad taste will only bring you negative attention.
Never post anything that deliberately attacks any rival companies. Customers are likely to be turned off by aggression and you also risk alienating fans and customers of those rival brands. Remember, every person that can see your posts is a potential future customer and there is no better way to attract new business than presenting a professional and high quality image at all times.