Social Media Etiquette Do’s & Don’ts

You wouldn’t walk up to a stranger in a bar and ask them to marry you, would you?  So why would you do that online?
Business owners are notorious for this behavior. Whether the owner of a brick and mortar establishment, a virtual company, a service provider or a direct sales representative, social media newbies tend to think that it’s ok to create an account and spam friends and acquaintances with requests. Think about it, when was the last time that you were added to a group or sent a ‘Like’ request right after becoming friends? It’s almost as if everything we learned about etiquette is forgotten the minute we jump online.
Dictionary.com defines etiquette as “conventional requirements as to social behavior; proprieties of conduct as established in any class or community or for any occasion.”
As we’re building our social presence online, we need to be aware of our online social behavior.  Sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and SnapChat were built for communication and fun.  In fact, Facebook’s mission is to “give people the power to share and make the world more open and connected….. with friends and family…”  And this is where we, as individuals, have a responsibility to our friends and relatives to be considerate of what matters to them.  How you ask?  Let’s start with these social media dos and don’ts….

DON’T:
Beg for attention. Despite the importance of having others engage with your posts to increase organic reach, you can’t spend your day begging users for support.

DO:
Genuinely engage with your friends and invite them into the conversation by personalizing your message.

DON’T:
Add people to private Facebook groups without their consent. Let’s face it, you wouldn’t force everybody to come to your party, so why would you force them into a group?  People like to control what appears in their newsfeed, but by adding them to the group without their consent, you’ve placed the burden to leave a group they never opted-in to in the first place on them.

DO:
Ask people to join your group and let them decide if it’s something that they’d like to be a part of.  If they join on their own free will, they’ll be a more valuable participant

DON’T:
Issue a friend request to an old acquaintance or a stranger, and upon their acceptance, send them a message to go “Like” your business Page.

DO:
Post quality content. You’re more likely to engage with a post that is interesting and entertaining, than posts that are boring, right? So post more valuable content, and amplification will come naturally.

DON’T:
Post only about business on your personal profile page.  Social Media is supposed to be social, so why is your profile all business?

DO:
Utilize Facebook ads to get in front of your ideal audience and earn the like by sharing valuable and fun information.

DON’T:
Tag a bunch of your friends on business posts on your personal profile Facebook page.  There’s nothing special about tagging a bunch of friends in a post that has nothing to do with them. Instead, what you’re doing is taking advantage of your friends by forcing their friends to see the post.

DO:
Keep your personal profile more personal and engage with others on a more personal basis so that they get to know you better.  If you want to post about business, set up a business Page.
There are much more Dos and Don’ts that could be listed, but this is a good start.
But, if I had to boil it down to one basic rule of online etiquette, it would go something like this… if you wouldn’t do it in person, don’t do it online.

For more information about Social Media, call me at 661-310-1313 or email me at Claudia@SmallBusinessBreakthrough.com. Want to learn more about social media? Sign up at SmallBusinessOwnersCommunity.com to join my free Social Media classroom.  

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