Social Media Faux Pas
Have you ever blocked someone from your social media account because you disagreed with their views? Have you ever unfollowed someone because you just couldn’t stand their posts? As a regular contributor to social media (and we should all be posting early and often), you don’t want this to happen to you! One important task when preparing your social media plan is to build in ways to avoid the big three – being unfollowed, unfriended, or blocked. Below are some Facebook faux pas you should consider when mapping out your social media plan.
Getting Too Political
There’s a lot going on in the world today – and much of it is divisive. Stay away from discussing politics or controversial world events unless it is essential to your brand.
Fact Checking
In this world of “fake news,” it’s more important than ever to fact check everything. For example, if you decide to repost something about “National Grilled Cheese Day,” first make sure it is indeed National Grilled Cheese Day! Contributing to “fake news” devalues your brand.
Creative Communication
We’ve all been the victim of the hard sell. Nothing is more irritating than the social media friend that sends you two (or sometimes more) private messages a week trying to sell you their product, or, even worse, posts advertisements for their product on your wall. Instead of the hard sell, try a more personable approach. Make sure to be in constant communication with your followers in a more organic way. Interact with your followers as though they were your friends – i.e., comment on their posts and “like” their content. And of course always respond to comments on your business page and answer customer questions promptly and cheerfully.
The Overshare
Don’t fall prey to the urge to give too much information (a/k/a TMI). Keep your posts short and sweet! Don’t complain—your customers don’t want to hear about how frustrated you are with your employees or your landlord. Complaining about things that are going wrong sends the wrong message about your business and could steer customers away. It’s important that your customers (and your competitors) always see you at your best. If you’re feeling negative or are frustrated about something, step away from the keyboard!
