Social Media Do's And Don'ts - Tips From An Internet Marketing Virtual Assistant
Netiquette: The Dos & Donts of Social Media
Who wants to spend time and energy establishing a social media presence only to ruin it by committing social media faux pas?
Before engaging in any social media activity, be sure to conduct yourself like the decent person you are so that your efforts will be worthwhile. Social media is all about engaging and connecting with your target audience. Only through genuine engagement you will really experience the full potential of social media. By following the tips below you will not only make great connections but you will maintain or enhance the way others see you and keep your online reputation squeaky clean.
So, enough with the babbling Here are my top 34 social media dos and donts.
1.Do not be overzealous to start sharing.
Take a little time to familiarize yourself with the different social media sites, their rules and policies. Start sharing only when you feel you have familiarized yourself with these.
2.Do not start without a plan and a clearly defined goal.
Delay your social media initiatives until you truly grasp the concept of social media and you have a strategy for your product, service or brand. Put some thought into what you hope to achieve through social media and keep the this question at the back of your mind to guide you through everything you do in the social media realm.
3.Do not start if you cannot commit.
Once you understand what social media is all about are you are ready to begin, be prepared to dedicate time to the process. You do not want to start, develop a following and have your initiatives fall by the wayside because you do not have the time to keep up with the continuous engagement process needed to succeed at social media.
4.Do not be a phony.
No one likes a phony and they are easier to spot than you may think. Do not hide your real identity. Social media is all about engagement and relationship building. How many valuable relationships do you know that have been built by anonymity? Just be your nice, sharing, intelligent, thoughtful, charming self and you will be sure to achieve your objectives for engaging in social media.
5.Do not spam. Now why would you want to engage in activity that is not only counterproductive but could get you banned or blocked from your friends or followers? Spam sucks. Remember, social media is all about engagement. Not annoying others. No one wants to read tweets or other content stuffed with keywords or receive some automated update every five minutes on your product or service. Engaging in excessive self-promotion can also cause your friends and followers to see you as being too spammy. Spamming is a sure-fire way to get blacklisted.
6.Do not be a stalker! Yes, people do actually stalk others on Twitter, Facebook and other social media sites. I do not believe that these people set out intending to stalk others, they just may be a bit sensitive or easily offended. So, if you invited someone to become your buddy and they declined the invitation, just let it slide. It is nothing personal, I bet. If you become insistent that they befriend you and keep resending the invitation you run the risk of tarnishing your reputation. After all, you do not want to know as that stalker guy!
7.Do not accept friend requests from people you do not know or know well. Ever heard the saying show me your friends and I will tell you who you are? The same pretty much applies in social media. When accepting friend requests be sure you know the person you are accepting them from or at least check out their profile. Do not just accept request from every Tom, Dick or Harry that wants to befriend you. Do some screening. You do not want to befriend someone who is not interested in sharing but you want to spam you with stuff you have no interest in.
8.Do not be mean. If one of your friend puts up or shares something that you do not particularly like or agree with, say nothing if you cannot say it nicely. The last thing you want is a war of words. You will end up looking foolish if that person retorts in a nasty way and an online fight ensues. This sort of behavior will cause your professionalism to be brought into question.
9.Do not engage in malicious behavior. Do not gossip, tell lies on others, assassinate the character of others or post pictures or things that are likely to embarrass others and make you like an immature jerk online. It is not nice and you will not only hurts others you will tarnish your image. Remember the golden rule: do unto others as you would like them to do unto you. It also applies in social media.
10.Do not behave like a psycho. As my English friend Sadie would say, do not be a nutter. No one likes to be in the circle of someone who comes across not so right in the head. Social media is not the place to curse out your ex, tell your roommate how much you hate her or explode on the chap from the sandwich shop who put too much mayo in your Panini this morning. Sharing how you may feel is fine if it is done tastefully and in moderation but social media is not the place to for going on a rampage getting things off your chest.
11.Do not be a snob. Not responding to comments on your posts or replying to others is a guaranteed way to come across looking like a snob. Yes, you may not be able to respond to all or respond at all sometimes but the objective is to engage not alienate.
12.Do not come across looking salesy. It is all well and good to share on a product or service that you think others stand to benefit from but at all cost avoid coming across as if you are peddling stuff. When promoting your service or products, do not come across as an overzealous car salesman. People are turned off and quick to de-friend others who are too gung-ho about sharing their affiliate links or pitching some product, brand or service.
13.Do not be manipulative and do not befriend other just to have them in your circle or on your list if you do not intend to share or interact with them.
14.Do not be fail to be engaging. You come across something worthy of a commendation or sharing, by all means, feel free to vote, ping or retweet it. Do not just vote for, retweet and share content from your friends or people you like. Social media is all about sharing and if it is worthwhile, then by all means, share it.
15.Do not over-automate. Do not set up an account on Facebook or Twitter but never login in and; participate there because you have automated all your post through Ping.fm or some other means. You want to spend time on the sites you are submitting content to and interact with others over there. Doing this helps boost your credibility and helps others get to know you.
16.Do not assume social media marketing will turn everything you do to gold. If your product or service is mediocre, engaging in social media will not change that. It may just make a mediocre product or service more obvious.
17.Do not be narrow-minded about the views of others. The objectives of social media are interacting and sharing. If you have submitted an article or blog post and someone made a valid point or brought to your attention something worthy of mentioning, thank them for their comment. Do notget offensive or defensive and act like a know it all.
So you thought that was it, huh? Now why would I give you to Do nots and not steer you in the right direction with some some things you should do?
1.Be cordial and courteous. Remember, the aim is to be social. Treat your virtual pals as you would treat those you have face to face contact with. Do not be sarcastic or a smart aleck in your tweets and posts. It does come through to the reader. Also, do not type in all caps. Not only is it hard to read it comes across as shouting and no one likes being yelled at.
2.Do submit original content. It is all well and good to share interesting content from others that is worth sharing but ever so often make it a point of duty to put together and share something original. Not only is it a great way to promote yourself its helps your credibility and if your content is really good, others could potentially see you as a thought leaders or expert.
3.Participate actively. Do not be shy! Get out there and participate. Share insightful thoughts and give well spirited, constructive criticisms. You see a great post or article, let the submitter know how much you appreciated it. Comment on blogs, post to forums, submit articles to ezines, produce compelling videos and have fun while doing it all.
4.Be you. Let others see your personality. This gives others a reason to follow you.
5.Do limit the number of forums, board, groups and other social media groups you get involved in. It makes no sense getting involved in too many groups if you cannot actively participate and have your presence felt. Perhaps it may make sense to just start with groups that are specific to your niche or where you target audience may be found.
6.Do consider what you post or share. You do not want to look silly by posting about what you had for dinner or things that do not really build a meaningful conversation. Make your time and efforts count for something by sharing things worth sharing. Social media is all about sharing, connecting and engagement. Use it pass on information that matters.
7.Do inspire and encourage others. Make someone feel happy for joining your circle, share something that encourages and lift inspires, give a freebie to your friends or followers. It does not have to be anything fancy. It could be a PDF guide on some burning topic. Get creative and use your imagination.
8.Do use social media to share your expertise and skills with others. Say one of your Twitter pals asks a question on a topic you are knowledgeable in, jump in and share your answers. This builds engagement and conversation. Remember, social media ids all about being social.
9.Do check your spelling and grammar You do not want to look like you are careless or not so sharp. Take the time to read what you are submitting.
10.Do maximize your reach Submit your blogs, articles, videos and other content to various channels and directories out there. If you are not sure where to submit, do a search on the internet or ask your followers or friends where are the best places to submit various content. A surefire way to get a conversation started!
11.Do repurpose your content. Do not let that great blog entry on the 10 ways to reach client using social media sit on your blog. Repurpose it into a tips list and send out a tip a day to new subscribers to your newsletter, or share some of the salient points raised in the post in a YouTube video or a podcast.
12.Do address negative comments or criticisms about your product, service or brand. Online reputation management is a big thing in social media. Do not let negativity go unaddressed and be sure to remember others are looking on so do it in a professional, non confrontational way that will earn you the respect and admiration of others.
14.Do set boundaries. It is imperative that you strike a balance between official and personal networking. Because social media exists on the premise of sharing it is used for both personal and business purposes. Just remember to set a barrier between personal and professional use. When sharing for business purposes your tweets, chats or posts should not cross those lines ad it can project an unprofessional image. It may be worth considering separating your personal and business account if you think you may have a hard time setting that line of demarcation.
15. Do project yourself as an expert or thought leader. Let others see that you are knowledgeable and they will seek you out for your nuggets or wisdom and advice.
16. Do integrate search engine marketing into your overall social media marketing plan. Submitting great content and participating actively is all well and good but if you cant be found it would be like firing a shot in the dark. The potential of missing the target I great and you want your target audience to be able to find you.
17. Do have fun! Remember, social media is all about being social. Do not tweet, participate on Facebook or engage in social media just because of the business potential. Have fun with it!
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