Why social media etiquette should have a seat at the table

But when it comes to posting as a business – whether that’s your own venture or repping a brand – how you interact with your audience (aka potential clients) via social media will determine whether your company is #cancelled or invited to the online party.

At Aruga, we’ve seen our share of cringeworthy posts and horror Stories. Luckily, our social media specialists are experts when it comes to crafting a killer social media strategy that will keep your brand trending for all the right reasons.

These simple social media etiquette dos and don’ts will ensure your business or brand never has a major misstep on a public account.

Do

• Keep messaging positive, authentic and compassionate to promote positive interactions and engagements.
• Use ‘we’ or ‘our’; never use first-person when communicating as a brand or business.
• Always use correct grammar and punctuation – spell check is your friend.
• Always use correct spelling, unless using brand-approved slang words or puns.
• Remain gender-neutral – remember, the message is from the brand, not an individual.
• Always review the context of the post to ensure it’s appropriate to the brand and is consistent with the brand tone of voice.
• Respond to comments or messages quickly. In a 24/7 online world, people expect a quick response – aim to reply within 24 hours or earlier if possible.
• Give credit for content – a no-brainer; always tag or credit the original poster or creator.

Don’t

• Trash your competition – obvious but worth repeating as nothing is unseen on the internet.
• Use too many hashtags. Just because you can use up to 30 hashtags doesn’t mean you should. Do your research to find the most relevant hashtags for your industry or brand as hashtag stuffing can look spammy.
• Use a trending hashtag or repost a meme without knowing the meaning. Research thoroughly to check if a particular hashtag is relevant to your brand and whether adding a social movement hashtag is ‘being part of the conversation’ or jumping on the bandwagon.
• Be overly promotional and appear to always be ‘selling’. Showcase your brand’s authenticity and share posts and information that provides value to your audience without being transactional.
• Overshare or cross the line – remember it’s a brand, not your personal Snapchat.
• Over-post and flood your followers’ feeds. While there’s no magical number, quality over quantity will result in higher engagement and your ideal post frequency will vary per platform.
• Ignore negative comments or reviews. Failing to respond to negative comments will only fuel the fire and attract trolls. Take the time to respond to both positive and negative comments from genuine clients, and consider creating a community management matrix if you have hot-button topics to address on an ongoing basis.