In a previous post, we talked about the importance of social media, and why a lot of businesses should get on board with using (if you’re not already). When using social media, there are some important rules to keep in mind:

 

 

 

 

• If at all possible, create your social media content in-house. Think very carefully about hiring someone on the outside to do your tweeting or Facebook posts. Only you, or someone who works directly for you, truly understands the message and tone of your company. If you’re wondering what could go wrong, consider Chrysler’s social-media fender bender.  To be sure, creating social media content takes time. So does any other worthwhile business task. But it’s a reflection of you and your company. Schedule it into your business’ activities.
• Use keywords to make it easier for people to find topics of interest. (Here’s a tool to help.)
• Keep it short. That’s why Twitter is such a success. People are busy, but it doesn’t take much to get through 140 characters. Use bullet points in longer copy, like blogs and newsletters.
• Use a lot of caution when discussing personal topics, whether yours or your customers. Keep the tone lively but professional.
• Be very careful with humor. Humor is a tough thing to get across in a medium where the face-to-face interaction is absent.  What you might think is a funny joke or reference might be viewed as thoughtless, dumb, or even offensive to a reader. It could inadvertently cost you good will—or even some business.
• Never post any content when your angry, and try not to post anything when you’re really tired. Keep this in mind about ill-considered Internet content. It’s a bit like plutonium:  it can be toxic in ways that are hard to understand, it will be around for a long time, and it’s hard to bury it where no one can find it.

If you keep these rules in mind, chances are good that you’re social media efforts will benefit your business in the long run.

Written by Terence Finan of http://hightechmarketing.us.com and Desiree Scales, CEO of Bella Web Design, Inc.

Tags: business, social media