The Seven Golden Rules: Social Etiquette in Social MediaBefore you can connect with someone on a business level, you have to connect with them personally. Social media is a great way to do this, and it’s quickly turned from a viable tactic in business today to a crucial component that must be nurtured and properly managed.

The art of conversing in the digital age doesn’t have to be hard; but just like you had to learn social etiquette when dealing with people face-to-face, the same applies when engaging with people online. Over time and through trial and error you learned it was rude to interrupt people when they were talking, you learned tone of voice, and how to address people politely. Similarly, on different social platforms—LinkedIn, Google+, Facebook, and Twitter being a few of the most popular, especially for business purposes—it’s important to learn what’s acceptable and what’s not.

The Seven Golden RulesTo get you started, we’ve created a social etiquette guide to social media:

1. [Be aware] Because you wouldn’t wear a ball gown to a baseball game. Similarly, you shouldn’t be using hashtags on LinkedIn (#right?) or writing in short hand (140 characters or less like you would on Twitter) if you’re posting on Google+. Each social medium has its own set of rules. Set up your profile, start following and friending those you know, and take note of the format and the way people are posting.

Here are a few quick tips for the “big four”: (with input from Gabriel Sehringer)

• Twitter—Quick, short messages “tweets” should be sent out several times a day; informal tone is generally accepted• Facebook—Less frequent, more meaningful posts with a humanizing and personal touch; pictures and videos generally do well• LinkedIn—Formal, professional posts are best; case studies and industry-related articles are good forms of content to share• Google+—Visual posts do well on Google+ and content is indexed by the search engine, making it a great platform to share any and all content you want to be known for

It’s also important to look at what’s working and what’s not. If you’ve created a popular post, look at what time you posted it, the subject, how many shares, likes, and follows you gained, and duplicate your efforts.

In terms of blogging, think about adding a call-to-action (CTA) on the page of a popular post. Doing so will allow you to garner new leads from an old post. After all, that’s a key part of generating content in today’s high touch point world of multiple social media platforms—use, reuse, and use it again.

2. [Be available] You wouldn’t walk away from someone if you were in the middle of a conversation with them. (Or would you?) Don’t do it online either. Understand that people want timely replies. If they’re taking the time to engage with you on social media, it’s worth your while to get back to them—in a timely manner.

It’s also important to realize that the majority of social media interactions may and probably will happen when you’re not at the office. Take a few minutes to respond to people every couple of hours, hire someone to help you do it, or schedule automated posts during your off-hours.

3. [Be polite] “The Cocktail Party Rule.” HubSpot (THE gurus of inbound marketing and the software that goes into supporting it) has created the 80/20 rule to remind us all that it’s important not to talk too much about ourselves.

Think in terms of a cocktail party—or any kind of social interaction for that matter—and try to remember those people who bragged about themselves the entire time. Maybe you went to school in the same state, or worked in the same industry, or otherwise had a similar experience you wanted to share as they were talking about themselves but you were never given the chance to chime in. The same is true if you do this on social media. Engage people in conversations, don’t just talk at them from a soapbox. Ask questions about their business, share their content, and otherwise foster the two-way conversation that social media is meant to be.

4. [Be relevant] ‘Hey, I just met you, and this is crazy…’ But here, let me try to sell you something. Understand that people are engaging with your brand at different stages of the buyer’s journey. Some are current customers and hopefully promoters of your brand (if you’ve developed the relationship properly), others have never heard of you and need to be introduced to what you have to offer, who you are, and how you’re going to be of service to them.

Be sure your content speaks to all consumers of your content at all stages of the buyer’s journey. The idea is that visitors can be converted into buyers through content that is relevant to them as they go from identifying they have a need (awareness stage), to weighing their options on which product or service they’ll purchase to fill that need (consideration stage), and then who they will ultimately buy from to resolve their need (decision stage).

Below is a list of suggested content for every stage of the buyer’s journey (as defined by HubSpot):

• Awareness stage—blog posts, infographics, articles (informative and used to build rapport)• Consideration stage—ebooks, landing pages, white papers (speaks more directly of your offerings or services and outlines how you can help customers’ specific problem or need)• Decision stage—how-to tutorials, free trials, case studies (gets into the ‘nitty gritty’ of your product or service and includes testimonials of others)

5. [Be searchable] Knock, knock. Who’s there? People can’t talk to you if they can’t find you. Be sure your profile and social handles are searchable by users. Avoid using random numbers and symbols for your profile URLs. For most if not all of the major social media sites, your profile URL is editable. For instance, on LinkedIn and Google+ you can change what is listed after the forward slash of the URL. For example, it’s easier to find and advertise linkedin.com/in/JohnLennon (and no, he’s not from The Beatles but it does look like he’s a guy living in NYC doing marketing) instead of linkedin.com/in/908345oikrjgbnc (this doesn’t link to an actual profile, but you get the point).

It’s also important to know that most of the time when brands are being talked about online, they’re not being properly linked into the conversation. Meaning, people are making comments about businesses without putting the “@” symbol beforehand on Twitter, for example. It’s your job to go out and see what’s being said so you can weigh in on the comments at hand.

As great as social media is for marketing, it can also make or break businesses if the bad reviews are constant and surface to the top of a search. Address criticisms head on while being professional and polite—and don’t forget the classic belief that ‘the customer is always right,’ because it still holds true on social media. If someone makes a general complaint about your service, ask them for specific details about their complaint. It’s also a good idea to apologize publically if a consumer has had a bad experience and posted about it. As a business you can ensure it won’t happen again and offer them a free consultation or product. You can’t win them all, but you do have to maintain your online integrity and reputation, or it will quickly be rewritten for you.

Not maintaining a social media presence is like having potential customers walk up to the front door of your

business and you locking the doors and ignoring them. Why would you do that? (And if you would, maybe you shouldn’t be in business.) Open the doors, greet people, and walk them through your business—and this is precisely what your website and social media handles should be doing.

6. [Be yourself] ‘Hi, my name is…’ People want to talk to you because of who you are. Don’t be bland and only retweet on Twitter or only reshare on Facebook. Sure, it’s good to do for engagement purposes—you want people to do the same to you—but don’t let it be all that you do. Put out original content that is a true value add for your followers and the consumers of your content.

In social media, people want to connect with other people. It’s always a good idea to have your business be part of the social conversation, but don’t be afraid to add in some personal anecdotes that let people in on who you are.

Things to consider adding to your profile:• Where’d you go to school?• What’s your favorite sport team?• Where can people find you on the weekends?• What’s your family dynamic like? Do you have dogs? Cats?• What’s your favorite hobby?• Where do you volunteer?

7. [Be proactive] I want to know you. When you’re just starting out and want to be known for a particular service or as an expert in a certain subject, find others like you and start engaging with them. For instance, if you’re new to an area, search within the social media platform you’re establishing and start following other businesses. Similarly, you can search hashtags (except on LinkedIn) for keywords relevant to your business. Like, if you sell insurance, you can search #insurance to see what articles have been posted for the day, comment on them, share them with your audience, and create your own original content based off of them.

There are a lot of “black hat” methods out there that allow you to buy followers in order to make it look like you’re more socially legitimate than you are. That’s

one way of doing it, but it’s not sustainable. You want an organic following that you’ve carved out yourself, one that will engage with the content and updates you post, and one that is full of REAL people that have the potential to be REAL customers. After all, isn’t that the point of getting your business on social media?

Want to learn more? Receive more tips and read more about digitally marketing your business by going to the Yoonek Concepts blog: blog.yoonekconcepts.com.

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