Never use
the same account for your business and personal connections. Always create
separate profile for your business purposes and only add there business related
people.
Fill out
your online profile completely with information about you and your business. Use
your real name and add a profile picture. Having a picture on file does make you
look more reputable and professional. No any party pictures - unless this is
your brand. Use the same photo on all social media sites for professionalism and
continuity of your brand.
Edit down
your gallery to a more manageable number. Remember that in this case, quality is
better than quantity. And also don't forget to put the best shots first, just in
case the person who is watching doesnt have so much time to make it through the
whole album.
Always offer
your audience information of value. Don't talk just about yourself and your
company. Remember the 80/20 rule - Entertain and inform your audience first,
sell to them second.
Share interesting material several times a day, but space out your posts every few hours.
Do not
over post or over tweet. Your audience will become very tired of you and your
information may not be taken seriously and perhaps will even be skipped over.
Review your content. Don't put anything on the Internet that you don't want your boss, client or potential clients to read.
Always check
grammar and spelling before posting anything.
Never post
when you're overly tired, jet lagged, intoxicated, angry or upset.
Be sceptical
- Forward and post only information that has been verified. If the information
you post is misleading or wrong, it can easily undermine your reputation and
credibility. In worse scenario, it might
lead you in court. Therefore, always check the facts out of a post before
forwarding it any further.
Do not
overuse capital letters. If you post all letters in caps, it's hard to follow
and people tend not paying attention to you. Plus, you could easily become the
target of a trolling campaign.
Do not send out requests for birthdays, games invitations or other
timewasters for those using the site. It is not professional and you will
quickly lose credibility.
Check out the people who want to follow you or be your friend. It is
important, as others will judge you by the company you keep.
If someone does not want to be your friend, accept their decision
gracefully. They have the right to make that choice and you have to accept it.
Use direct messaging for private conversation, but never go too private.
Always bear in mind that social media tools are a PUBLIC medium.
Engage with your audience. Start building conversations by including
other people in your posts. Just broadcasting what you think and what youre
doing (unless you are a celebrity) wont win you many followers. Instead,
interact with the people youre following and who are following you through
retweets (posting what someone else has shared), replies (answering a question
or giving an opinion on someones update), and mentions (tagging other users in
your tweet, which makes it more likely that theyll see it). As with anything,
use restraint, you dont want to end up spamming your connections.
Use comment in moderation. Commenting on other peoples posts is a
fantastic way of getting noticed and building up online friendships, along with
a good following. But do not focus on individual accounts all the time, as this
could look more sinister to the other users. For example, if you keep
immediately posting on a models page saying: "You look stunning"
every time they post up a picture, this could make you look like
an over obsessed fan or a stalker.
Use promotional posts wisely. Do not continuously post something that
focuses on a specific individual, product or app. Your audience might get
quickly tired of these posts, as well as there is a risk for your account to be
flagged as a SPAM.
When marketing use a first name. If you want someone to actually respond
back to you, you need to make your connection more personable. Using their first
name is a great way to start! Plus, use first person plural when talking about
your company brand (We, Us).
Respond to all questions and comments as quickly as you can (unless they
are hurtful comments)
Dealing with hurtful comments online. The first, and easiest, option is
to simply not respond and ignore the message. If you do feel the need to
respond, take some time to think about what youre going to say. Then read your
comment out loud to see how it sounds: Sometimes what makes sense in your head
doesnt come across the way you intend. You can also easily un-friend the person
who wrote hurtful comment or even block him from posting on most social
platforms. If it continues to be an issue and you feel the service provider
should be alerted to it, report. In some countries this can be regarded as a
criminal offence, so with the very worst cases, you might even have to report it
to the Police, but don't get worried about it, as it is very rare that this type
of things get that far.
These are just a few etiquette tips that are meant to be reminders. There are obviously many more. Just be thoughtful, kind and use common sense; the rest will come naturally.