Social media is a great place for people to find out about companies, offering great opportunities for businesses to interact with and market to their customers.
For those that want to stay ahead of the curve when it comes to the opportunities that social media presents for connecting with consumers, it's important to realise the importance of social media etiquette; that is, the dos and don'ts of running and managing social media channels for your business.
It's essential that businesses carefully consider the social channels they choose to become a part of. If you are not going to be able to interact and communicate with your social followers on a regular basis, then social media may not be for you - or you may need to get some help and support in order to make the most of it. It's much better for your business (or a trusted someone on your business' behalf) to engage brilliantly with consumers on a few select channels, than engage poorly on a vast amount of channels.
Because social is all about the sharing, it's important to post relevant, engaging content regularly. Just remember not to plagiarise content or pretend that it's yours when someone else has done the hard work. You're likely to drum up negative engagement and risk the work you've put in to building a community of loyal followers if you're seen as untrustworthy or disingenuous.
While social media automation can work for your business for scheduling your social posts on different channels, don't forget that automation is not a replacement for real human interaction on social media. Respect the fact that people have taken the time to interact with your businesses and engage with them regularly.
With all of this in mind, we pulled together our latest infographic on the Dos and Don'ts of Social Media for SMEs to help businesses to harness social media as an integral part of their marketing strategy.