The 10 rules that your social media marketing team should be following!
Managing a brand’s social media presence is a much like a circus balancing act (only I can’t spin multiple plates… not through lack of trying though!). Keeping tweets and posts polite and professional is all very well, and while acknowledging your audience’s voice, likes and dislikes while adding value or insight to social exchanges is certainly a fool-proof method.
You may be implementing all of the above and on a daily basis too but if you’re finding the engagement is a little sluggish then look no further than Jungle’s ‘Ten Commandments of Social Media’. If you’re looking to enhance your corporate social media efforts then these are the 10 rules that your internet marketing team should be following!
The Ten Commandments of Social Media
1. Thou shalt be patient and considerate
Some campaigns seem to go viral overnight. Monopoly’s ‘Save Your Token’ campaign (seen tomorrow) seemed to go viral within hours and attracted over 10 million Facebook users! It’s worth remembering that not all businesses experience overnight success and meteoric audience growth on social media platforms is something that takes time and effort.
As a social media agency, we know that there are more important objectives than chasing followers or subscriber counts. Any worthy social media strategy should include first and formost a consistent and meaningful plan to engage your audience by creating interesting content that speaks to their needs.
If you do this right, through consistent two-way conversation with your audience, will encourage a loyal and involved following, the influence of which will far outstrip that of larger, less engaged audiences.
2. Thou shalt not be indifferent to the voice of thy customer
When you engage in social media, you commit yourself to acknowledging your audience’s opinions, the includes embracing both the good and the bad!
If someone posts something unflattering, don’t look the other way burying your head in the sand, instead take a moment to objectively assess the feedback. Remember, it may very well be constructive criticism which offers opportunities to improve your efforts and appease the situation.
In other words, the goal is to create conversations, not critiques, and optimize the level of customer support and service provided to your audience. Sometimes, simply taking a moment to acknowledge others’ voices, or answer questions directly can bridge gaps that threaten to build a gulf between you and end-users.
3. Thou shalt be true to thyself
It’s essential to respect followers’ time and intelligence, but also to be consistent with your branding messaging across all social media platforms. Followers will soon know who you are and the values that your brand stands for.
4. Thou shalt think before you post
Jungle Survival Secret: Every post, tweet or status you share should add value for both your brand and audience, whether that value comes in the form of engagement, entertainment or an amusing/friendlyexchange.
Before you share or tweet anything, ask yourself this: What’s in it for them?
5. Thou shalt be brief
Keep it short and sweet on social media. You have only a few seconds to catch someone’s attention, and even less time to keep it! Give your posts some “oomph” to make sure they have immediate impact.
Don’t forget to include links and visual assets, such as infographics, photos, and videos. These will convey key information at a glance.
6. Thou shalt not hog the conversation
To enhance your social media presence it’s very important to listen before speaking as the dynamics of online conversation and behavior varies hugely. The ratio should swing in favour of spending a large part of your time proactively engaging your audience, not talking at them!
7. Thou shalt do good
Here are Jungle, we like to think of social media as the world’s biggest and loudest megaphones and the more you say the louder you will sound. A social media agency like Jungle can project your brand’s voice louder, farther and faster than you ever thought possible!
Whatever you post online should always be less promotional and more beneficial to its intended audience. Design content to help readers, help them to save time or money (always popular choices), teach them something they will need to know and offer insight and awareness.
8. Thou shalt keep it strictly business
The above rule is true in every sense but don’t be afraid to inject a little color and personality in your social media ventures! But remember, always, always, always keep personal and corporate accounts separate!
Jungle survival tip: Your audience are following your brand because they identify with it and like what you’re doing, they expect to see relevant content!
9. Thou shalt respect the hashtag
The holy grail of rules! Twitter hashtags are great for drawing audience’s attention toy our content and increasing engagement. However, some brand like to overuse them and think this will increase followers. The opposite is often true as those little hashtags can be dangerous when used too frequently or in inappropriate contexts.
10. Thou shalt not lie
This rule is one you shouldn’t need telling but some brand often embellish or inflate the truth and they should be very careful because it can easily backfire and in some cases even lead to potential legal repercussions.
Be honest with your audience. If followers have questions about a particular situation, for example, a potential PR crisis. In this situation the best answer is simply: “Apologies, but we don’t know. However, rest assured we’re working on it, and will let you know as soon as possible.”
Trust is the foundation of any relationship and its loss can have a significant impact on both your brand and customer perception.
Have we missed anything out? What commandments do your brands live by? Leave your answer in the comment box below!
