Doing Social Media Right - Randy Bowden Speaks Out

Posted: June 17, 2014

You can create better interaction and goodwill by using various social media channels to share your business’ services or product information with other businesses and potential customers.

Using social media may seem like a no-brainer. You may even think you’re an old-pro as using it. But, even seasoned pros make mistakes.

To be successful on the platforms, learn the dos and don’ts of using social media.

Use Social media to communicate with customers to let them know what you have to offer them. But, avoid being a pest or you will lose their business and loyalty.

Follow these social media dos:

Know your customer: Use analytics to determine which social media platform customers use so you can get your messages to the right people on the right platforms
Be active on your page, but don’t be spam-like. Posting too often can crowd newsfeeds. People who feel annoyed or overwhelmed are likely to block your page if you overdo it
Post messages with up-to-date information, stories about your successes, and demos of your product or service
Know when your customers are likely to be online. Analytics will provide you with this valuable information so your customers will actually see your feed on their ever-changing walls

Also learn to finesse your use of social media to avoid potential pitfalls.

Abide these social media don’ts:

Don’t like or favorite your own posts. It is tacky and readers will be put off. Instead ask your staff to like and favorite so their friends will check out your page
Don’t create a page and then walk away from it. Keep active, post at least a few times a day and respond to comments and complaints in a timely manner
Resist the urge to delete negative comments. Complainers will see that and come after you—hard. Instead, use the negatives for good customer services opportunities and to educate customers

Automation will keep your social media active, but be careful how you use it. These dos and don’ts will help you use automation more effectively.

Automation is a mixed bag, so naturally the dos and don’ts are mixed, too:

Mix auto posts with personal posts to keep content fresh and real
Pay attention to your tweets and posts. An auto post at an inappropriate time can damage your reputation, such as a humorous post when there is a national crisis
Schedule promo tweets and posts in advance to prevent missing lost opportunities
Don’t autopost too much. It can become annoying quickly and cost you potential customers.

Randy Bowden is a Principal Partner of bowden2bowden llc, a marketing and branding consultancy firm. Specializing in developing targeted marketing solutions, exceptional creative executions and solid branding strategies that give clients a real competitive advantage.