Top 5 Social Media Etiquette Rules
Whether you are a one-man social media band or have an entire digital department, it is critical to have set out social media etiquette and standards and to ensure that your team who has access to the social media platform eats, breathes and lives these rules.
Majority of organisations around the world are utilising social media as an effective digital marketing tool to not only advertise but to communicate to both new and existing customers. Your social media platforms are the voice behind your brand – and what you say online creates a digital footprint and essential an online reputation of the company – if you wouldn’t say it to your customers face – don’t post it online!!!
To avoid your CEO going red in the face when hearing about a potentially embarrassing post on the companies Facebook page take note of the Top 5 social media etiquette rules:
1.Think before you post:
Any content that is linked to the companies social media platforms creates a digital footprint and an online reputation for the company. Once your image is ruined – it's extremely hard to get it back!
Before you get typing , stop for a second and think to yourself: Does this content have any value? Is it offensive? Does it conform to the values and ethos of the company? Am I posting at the right time? Am I using the right social media platform?
2.Use Spell Check
Nothing worse than reading a post that is full of spelling errors – all it takes is a quick spell check and bobs your uncle! Not only does it ruin the entire post but instead of users reading your content they will be scrolling past it.
3.Avoid Oversharing and overloading users with content
Sit down with your team and ascertain which days and at what times your posts get the most traffic and once you have the ideal days and times you will be able to get your content out there with the piece of mind that it will be seen. We have all heard of that saying of “Quality over Quantity”. Constant streams of posts and emails has a negative effect on the brand and this will lead to your audience unsubscribing, unlinking your page and unfollowing you. You need to get the right balance – aim for 2- 3 posts a day consisting of valuable content and not streams of nonsense.
4.DON’T WRITE IN ALL CAPS !!!!!
Writing in caps is not only highly offensive but it gives off the vibe that you are shouting. There are many ways to get your message across without caps. What's with the sudden rage of exclamation marks?? Writing in caps and adding numerous exclamation marks will leave your follows running for the “unlike” hills.
5.#Dontabusehashtags
Appropriate hashtags are not only useful to connect your posts to other posts of the same topic and with that exact hashtag but it's a really cool way to search and categorise tweets and posts. Utilise catchy hashtags that capture the images and content that you are posting.
Top 5 Social Media Etiquette Rules