Top 10 social media do’s and don’ts for your business

Written by Lynsey Campbell

It’s 2024 – you don’t need us telling you that social media in business should be considered when reviewing your digital marketing strategy. No longer exclusively for B2C companies, social media is a crucial tool for sharing valuable content, reaching a broader audience, and creating meaningful connections.

No matter your industry, no matter your audience’s preferences, we can bet at least some of your potential customers use multiple social media platforms daily, giving your business the opportunity to meet them there. Sound good? Great.

But before you start, take the time to consider your social media etiquette. You’d hold the door for the person running behind you to catch a lift. You’d apologise for accidentally bumping into someone on the street. You’d let someone finish their sentence without interrupting. We hope so anyway.

So how do manners and etiquette translate to social media? And how can they affect your success online? Apart from the obvious – loss of followers or a decrease in engagement – poor social media etiquette can severely damage your brand image, both on and offline.

Not to fear, we’re here to help. We’re sharing the top 10 do’s and don’ts to help you navigate social media effectively and efficiently.

However before we do a deep dive, it’s worth mentioning that if you don’t have a solid social media strategy in place, you should start there. Posting sporadically with no real plan in place isn’t going to drive meaningful results from your social media presence. Ensuring you’ve completed a thorough audit and delved through the data for accurate insights will place you in good stead for creating a social media strategy that supports your broader marketing goals.

Social media do's for business success.

So let’s get started then. We’ll begin with five key practices we believe should be maintained to elevate your social media etiquette and shape results for your business.

Do #1: Engage with your audience regularly

Social media should be about creating conversation – after all, it’s in the name.

No matter which social platforms you use, ensuring you focus on positive interactions in all online conversations is crucial. It’s a lot easier for you to quickly like a comment from a follower on one of your social media posts, but this kind of throwaway interaction isn’t going to build any valuable relationships.

Instead, take a minute or two to create a thoughtful response that will help build trust between your page and its online community. Did a customer tag a friend in your post? Thank them and engage with a new potential follower. Did a team member share a company post on their LinkedIn account? Take a second to celebrate them and engage with what they’ve said.

This approach works both ways too. Not only should you be reactive to any activity on your platforms, but actively engage with other social media accounts you’re connected to online. Whether it’s a supplier, a partner or a key figure in your industry, social media marketing provides an opportunity to build meaningful connections and create positive interactions.

“Positive” being the key word – social media etiquette should echo how we act in real life. Good manners, decency and generally treating others how you wish to be treated are at the core of social media etiquette. It’s simple stuff, but seemingly easy for some people to muck up.

Do #2: Provide valuable insights with quality content

Next up – content. Without engaging content on your social media feeds, chances are you’ll have a hard time building an online community in the first place.

Again, your social media strategy should dictate what you’re sharing on each social media platform and why. Reactive posting is totally fine (and absolutely encouraged!) when there’s something for you to be reacting to. It may be an awards event you’re attending, behind-the-scenes content or exciting news you’ve received and want to share – reactive posting has the added benefit of genuine authenticity, often utilising a less-polished approach that builds trust.

But a great deal of what you share across social media should be planned and prepped to deliver visual appeal and engaging copy to the right audience.

And this is where some businesses fall short. Social media marketing isn’t a vanity project.

We repeat: social media marketing isn’t a vanity project.

So whilst it’s tempting to share content that you care about, it’s time to take a step back and think back to those meaningful connections from Do #1. Your social media presence should be tailored to your audience and what they want to see – not the other way about.

Yes, share your business successes, but put yourself in the shoes of your audience – what do they want to see from your business? This is a crucial part of sharing content that succeeds on social media and should be at the core of your strategy.

Do #3: Maintain a consistent brand presence

Consistency is key. It’s a well-known phrase for a reason.

Maintaining your online image across multiple social media platforms is all about showing up online and being consistent with your brand presence. And we don’t just mean throwing your logo onto an image and sharing it with your followers – branding is a lot more than that.

Your brand is everything. From your logo, your colour palette and your typeface, to how you talk to your customers and build relationships, your brand should remain consistent across many platforms and touchpoints.

Take Nike as a reliable branding example. We all know the Nike tick, but it’s more than just that – the strength and proactivity that permeates through everything Nike says and does is what makes their brand consistent.

Consider your tone of voice, the language you use, the visual assets that accompany your posts and how you retain your authenticity online.

Do #4: Focus on analytics to guide your strategy

They say content is king but without the data to back it up, it’s the joker at best.

Every social media platform will be able to provide you with its own level of insights and analytics – it’s up to you to delve into the data and discover the best practices that deliver results for your business online.

Whether you’re looking at Facebook page insights in Meta Business Suite or analytics and activity in LinkedIn, there will be key post information you can analyse to enhance your future posting and engagement strategies.

X, formerly known as Twitter, now only offers account analytics to those with X Premium, so if you’re willing to fork out £8.40 a month, you’ll be treated to your account metrics to understand how you’re performing.

Data analysis should be a key part of all marketing efforts for your business, meaning understanding Google Analytics 4 should also play a large role in your wider marketing goals. Awareness of which social platforms are driving customers to your site can influence your online strategy and ensure social media success.

Do #5: Respond to messages, reviews and feedback

If you’re doing all of the above steps correctly, you’ll hopefully be building relationships and speaking with customers online. It’s situations like this that provide the opportunity to make social media etiquette important and an ongoing aim of your presence online.

Responding to positive interactions is easy, everyone likes doing it. Maintaining your brand presence and tone of voice, you’ll find it easy to stick to the rules of social media etiquette when the exchange is a cheerful one.

If you’re engaging with someone who has differing opinions from your own, they’ll hopefully avoid the personal attacks and steer clear of any drama. But if things go south, it’s important to remain cool, calm and collected. Your business reputation is on the line, after all, so maintaining the highest standards of social media etiquette is crucial to turning a negative situation into a positive interaction.

The language you use, your tone of voice and an engaging approach can help make a disgruntled customer feel seen, heard and valued.

Social media don'ts to avoid pitfalls.

Okay, now we’ve been through the good, it’s time to talk about the bad and the ugly. No one’s perfect, we’re all human after all (apart from good old ChatGPT), but keep the below in mind and you’ll be well on your way to social media success.

Don’t #1: Ignore negative feedback

A huge part of perfecting your social media etiquette is how you deal with differing opinions on each platform. Managing the reputation of your business on social media is more than just the content you’re sharing with the world – it’s also how you choose to respond to messages or comments on your posts that might not be the most positive interactions. How your business handles negative reviews can turn these around into a positive. It’s a basic fundamental of business – your customers and clients should feel heard. So if users have chosen to share their thoughts and feelings online, you need to make sure you’re responding to them to help create a solution. There’s nothing worse than a negative review that’s been left without any message or response – make sure you’re replying with authenticity, avoid any personal attacks and keep social media etiquette at the forefront of your mind at all times.

Don’t #2: Overpost or spam your followers

Sharing content is fun, but oversharing isn’t. There are social media etiquette rules to follow to ensure your followers aren’t spammed by posts across your business platforms. There are the basics – don’t share personal information or content that isn’t intended for a professional audience. Yes, behind-the-scenes footage builds trust and helps share the culture of your company, but there’s a line. It’ll likely differ for each business, and you’ll know how your brand should approach this. Then there are the grey areas – oversharing covers quantity too. Sharing content and engaging with your community is only worthwhile when it’s valuable to your audience and not spamming them across every channel. Commenting, liking and sharing is great, but keep everything in moderation. A consistent posting schedule is something that your social media strategy should detail – if it’s not been fully considered before you start sharing, we recommend taking some time to fine-tune one. Avoid mass-posting, mass-following and mass-commenting – remember, if you wouldn’t act a certain way in person, you likely shouldn’t act that way online either. Social media etiquette is really just remembering your manners. Easy stuff.

Don’t #3: Be too promotional without adding value

Whilst we’re on content – give it some thought. Again, with a strong strategy in place, this will go without saying, but shamelessly sharing content that’s purely promotional with no value for your audience is a big no. Whilst it might not be a personal interaction on the internet, social media etiquette and rules remain – your content should share value with your users. That could be a post sharing insights into how your industry is developing, or a video sharing top tips to solve a common problem faced by your customers. Think of your presence on each platform like your attendance at a networking event. Yes, selling your services is part of the goal, but listening to others and offering value should be considered to make sure you don’t irritate everyone in the room.

Don’t #4: Engage in controversial topics without a clear strategy

Social media can be a bit of a minefield, so proceed with caution. If you exist in an industry that’s highly regulated with stringent compliance laws, this one’s absolutely for you, but we can all learn from it. On a personal basis, it’s often that we want to get involved with conversations online concerning big-picture stuff. But take a second to think about the reputation of your business online and how you can maintain this. It’s a subjective one that will be dictated by your strategy and your brand, so just take a second or two to make sure if you’re getting involved, you’re on the right side of the conversation.

Don’t #5: Neglect to proofread posts for errors

It’s last on our list but by no means least important. Whilst each distinct social media platform may require a tweak to content or tone of voice, grammar and sense checking should be global rules that are set up to ensure your message is consistent and correct. Typos not only make you look unprofessional but on the flip side, can cause confusion on social media platforms if your message isn’t getting across properly. We’re not saying now’s the time to get that English Degree, but with AI and multiple tools available online (hello Grammarly), there’s really no excuse to share content with mistakes.

Summing it up.

So there you have it. Social media etiquette and your performance online can be critical to your company’s overall marketing endeavours, so taking time to set up some rules around your strategy will be key to seeing results on social.

Social media can be engaging and exciting and something fun for your business and team to get involved with, but without a strategy in place, things can fall apart pretty quickly.

Need some help?

If social media etiquette, posting frequency and data analysis all fly over your head a little, we get it.

Luckily, we have a team of specialists who are here to help with all things marketing – including social media.

Focus on scaling your business – let us take the reins on managing your social media success. Reach out today to discover how we can enhance your social media presence.

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