Lately, I’ve seen some small businesses (and some large ones!) start “dipping their toes” into social media. It’s obvious to me that they are testing the waters because they have no overall theme or consistent messaging, their efforts aren’t supporting the brand or marketing campaigns, and they are painfully unaware of social media etiquette. While the lack of strategy will only get them nowhere in terms of social media ROI, the missteps in etiquette have the potential to damage their reputation and credibility in the social space…which could end up being quite a hairy monster to tame. So I thought I would offer these folks a few quick tips on what NOT to do in social media.
1. Lie. This should be obvious, but there are many folks who think they can stretch the truth, dabble in the gray, or fudge the numbers. The content you put out in social media is forever. What you say here could come back to haunt you, so save yourself the headache and backtracking. Just be honest.
2. Pass the Buck. Every now and then a company makes a mistake. Own it. Admit it. No one wants to read your whiny post about how it’s not your fault. Social media loves companies that own up to their missteps and tell us how they will be corrected. If you are open and honest your followers will be more interested, more engaged and more forgiving.
3. Bash Your Competition. Social media isn’t a place for you to trash talk your competition. Share what your team does well, explain why your product is superior, but don’t bash your competition or you might risk people considering your blog–or worse, your company–as nothing more than a sales pitch wearing a costume. But one of the great things about social media is the interaction that can develop between your customers, your brand ambassadors, and the negative posters. If you have built an engaged audience of followers, they will come to your rescue when someone decides to vent. And that’s far more credible than you defending yourself.
4. Oversell. At the risk of sounding unoriginal, I’ll use the cocktail party metaphor. Have you been to a cocktail party where some bore won’t shut up about his business/product? You are polite, and listen as long as you can, but the next time you see him coming you beeline for the taco dip. It’s the same in the social media world. No one wants to hear “me, me, me” all the time. Your audience is not stupid–they already know what you do. If you put your product/service in the context of a conversation that is engaging, they are more likely to listen and respond. Treat them like a friend, and they will probably do the same for you.
5. Abandon Your Audience. You aren’t going to have a ton of followers right away. It’s going to take some time to develop them, and the best way to do this is by providing them with regular content that is engaging and valuable. Ideally, you want to create habits within your readers, training them to return to your site because of the excellent information. Don’t be discouraged if it takes a while for the momentum to build–that’s normal. Once you have followers, reward them regularly with more and better quality content. They are telling you that they like what you offer, so give them more. If you slow down or stop, it’s going to be twice as hard to get them back to you when you need them. There’s no finish line with social media; it’s all about building and maintaining relationships.
What do you think? Do you have anything to add to the “never do this” list?
Funny….That’s what I said Emily
Some of my persona lTwitter pet peeves:
1. TWEET TINY PICTURES FROM THE BACK OF THE ROOM AT AN EVENT: If you are at INSERT NAME OF FABULOUS EVENT HERE. Please don’t tweet useless photos from the back of the room. It doesn’t make me “feel like I’m there”. It makes you look like a douchebag. Yeah that little speck down there is Chris Brogan. Big freakin’ deal. I can see him larger than life on his website any day. Instead, why not share tips, interesting information, or something you learned that day? So, please spare me a photo of the back of someone’s head. Douchebag.
2. NOT ENGAGE WITH PEOPLE: This is an addendum to #4. Don’t be a one way channel for anything including RTs. Talk to people. Start a conversation. If someone is tweeting something that interests you, send a reply or ask a question. You’d be surprised how many people want to share a common interest.
3. HAVE AN INCOMPLETE PROFILE: Add your picture and a few words about yourself and your interests. I’m not following a lot of Twitter bird default logo accounts and neither should you.
4. GURU/EXPERT/SNAKE OIL SALESMAN: I don’t care if you know a lot about everything, no one likes a know-it-all. Be humble. Be real. Share your ideas but don’t claim to be the “love guru” of interactive marketing. It’s makes me want to barf on you.
I think you covered the musts, but I would reinforce two main points: 1) add value, 2) Open conversations.
Figure out what your value proposition is, then build your posts, updates, or blogs around a theme that supports your proposition. It’s okay to dip your feet, just remember where you left your towel!
No one cares about what you can do for them, people want to know what you know. Give and you shall receive is a basic law of the universe (and the secret!!). I would suggest people/companies not hold back for fear of giving away too much. Instead be as transparent as possible. Like you said, social media has the memory of an elephant, and you don’t want to find yourself caught in a mess lies.
Nathalie-could not agree more with your comments. Especially the comment of not being afraid to give away too much. I think some companies still think if they start using social media they will educate themselves out of a job. They fail to see the advantages of building that level of a relationship with potential customers. Thanks for stopping by the blog. Don’t be a stranger!
Some of my persona lTwitter pet peeves:
1. TWEET TINY PICTURES FROM THE BACK OF THE ROOM AT AN EVENT: If you are at INSERT NAME OF FABULOUS EVENT HERE. Please don’t tweet useless photos from the back of the room. It doesn’t make me “feel like I’m there”. It makes you look like a douchebag. Yeah that little speck down there is Chris Brogan. Big freakin’ deal. I can see him larger than life on his website any day. Instead, why not share tips, interesting information, or something you learned that day? So, please spare me a photo of the back of someone’s head. Douchebag.
2. NOT ENGAGE WITH PEOPLE: This is an addendum to #4. Don’t be a one way channel for anything including RTs. Talk to people. Start a conversation. If someone is tweeting something that interests you, send a reply or ask a question. You’d be surprised how many people want to share a common interest.
3. HAVE AN INCOMPLETE PROFILE: Add your picture and a few words about yourself and your interests. I’m not following a lot of Twitter bird default logo accounts and neither should you.
4. GURU/EXPERT/SNAKE OIL SALESMAN: I don’t care if you know a lot about everything, no one likes a know-it-all. Be humble. Be real. Share your ideas but don’t claim to be the “love guru” of interactive marketing. It’s makes me want to barf on you.