Basic rules of social media etiquette that every businessperson should remember

Social media business is not very different from real-time business. People have a list of rules and principles that should be followed, and if they ignore it, they won`t achieve success in any sphere. Of course, everyone thought that rules could be broken or ignored, but that`s not right. If you will break the algorithm, the system will crash. So, in this article, we`ve collected the most important social media etiquette rules that every social media businessperson should remember.

1. Don`t be a robot.

First of all, remember – you are a social media user, too. Of course, you are working with business projects and other important things, but you shouldn`t ignore other people. If you are working with clients, you should pay attention to their activity, how they react on the content you post, what comments they write. Yes, we all remember about chatbots and how effectively they can work, but nothing can replace the communication between real people.

You should avoid automation in any social media platform you use (Direct messages on Twitter, private messages on Facebook or comments on Instagram).

2. Respond to comments, fast.

If people are writing comments under your posts, it means that they are interested in what you are doing, or they just enjoy your content. However, you shouldn`t ignore such comments and give quick answers to them. Even a short phrase like “Thank you!” will be an appropriative answer. Even if you don`t know what to write, just like that comment (like on Instagram) or put an emoji there (like on Facebook). Such activity is equal to a respond.

3. Read the room.

Using social media without knowing your audience is like going on a blind date and immediately bringing up a polarizing political issue. Social media is about two-way dialogue and your business needs to be a good conversation partner.

To understand your audience, you should make a deep analysis and find out:

• What people are interested in?
• Where are they from?
• What content is the most valuable for them?
• How much time they spend in the social media?

With answers to all these questions, you will understand what content strategy you should use, what kind of content should be used, what topics should be discussed etc.

4. Don`t badmouth your peers

Playing nice with competing brands on social media goes a long way. It can not only help you to establish a professional working relationship with other businesses in your field of activity, but it also improves your online reputation in the eyes of your followers, as well as your competitors` social media audience.

However, it doesn`t mean that you should keep mum if other brands call you out in social media. Find time to respond on their comments as if these comments were from your customers – especially if most of these comments are negative.

5. Tame your hashtags

People use hashtags to increase visibility of their content in social media. However, they can look distracting and desperate if you will you too many of them.

The main principle of this social media etiquette rule is that you need to choose your hashtags carefully. With them, you will be able to join a larger discussion or target a specific audience, without forcing your audience to reconsider their decision to follow you.

6. Be careful mixing professional and personal

You should check all content you post in the social media. If your profile was created only for business tasks and nothing else, your content should be dedicated on it. Even if you want to add personal information in your timeline, make it very careful – don`t write something that other people shouldn`t know.