Social Media Etiquette
Social media is a very powerful tool that should be in every business owner’s tool bag. People and businesses post anything and everything on social media, from funny cat videos to their political leanings but, if you’re a business (please) consider these social media tips before hitting that share button.
Business Social Media Accounts
We all get excited when we make a post that we think will make a difference on our business pages, but what happens after that post is the most important. If someone comments on your post, you must not only like the post but, you must also comment back. Not only will this help your business page ranking but it will also let your audience know that you are listening to what they are saying.
When you respond to their comment, it also allows your audience to see this as a real relationship between you and your client and will thus help your organic reach, especially when running sponsored content.
Sharing Business Posts to Personal Accounts
It is a smart strategy to post on our business accounts and then share to your personal accounts to get the most exposure without running sponsored content. However sharing too many business posts may result in people unfollowing your business or even worse…unfriending you. If you are posting on your business accounts every day, you shouldn’t share every single post to your personal page. Save the sales for your business pages, select just one or two posts a week that have the most value and share those on your personal accounts.
How many times should a business post?
Most businesses, unless you are a restaurant or have daily specials at your store, should post on their business pages one to three times a week. You want to post valuable content so your audience is more inclined to share the information. If you are posting too much, you run the risk of people not paying attention to your content.
Always use the less is more approach and ALWAYS use images.
Facebook Live vs Video
Did you know that most people look at Facebook while at work? This means, that most people are scrolling and not able to listen to your Facebook Live posts. Adding text to your videos is key. While Facebook Live is a great tool, it does not have a feature that lets you to add text to your Live post. Most people, on average, watch a video 12 to 16 seconds. However, if the video has text, they will watch on average 30 seconds because they are able to read your captions when they cannot listen.
Personal Accounts Regarding Business
As a business owner, understanding the importance of your personal social media accounts can make a difference for your business. Even though you are posting on your personal accounts, your audience can still find your personal posts and may judge you based on what you are posting. Political or off-color postings CAN result in losing clients. Supporting a cause is admirable but you must understand the possible negative consequences. Post personal messages or photos but, when you are posting you should ask yourself, “Will I offend anyone with this content?” If they answer is yes (or even possibly), then please refrain from posting.
Engaging with your audience is important and how you do that on your personal accounts is just as important as how you do it on your business social media accounts. Everything you post and respond to does matter. Try to always have a positive spin on whatever you are posting about to create a neutral and valuable experience for your social media audience. Happy posting!