Anyone in marketing knows social media is a quintessential tool in any company’s marketing strategy. This tool is incredibly useful, but only if you use it correctly. The way you use social media personally versus professionally can be starkly different, and like any marketing tool, there are do’s and don’ts to ensure you use it effectively.

DO…
Have a personality.
Each company, brand or product has a voice and it is important to convey that voice on social media. This voice makes your business relatable and more inviting for followers to interact with. Is your company’s voice friendly and down-to-earth? Authoritative and serious? Quirky and personable? Once it’s developed, it’s essential it remains consistent across all platforms. If your voice is sassy and matter of fact, you can’t decide one day to have a sappy, metaphorical post.

Know your audience.
When writing for a business account, focus on your audience: your customers, partnering brands or employees. Create content to engage and interest your audience without solely focusing on your brand. In order to create a platform that your consumers will turn to for advice, news and information, you need to integrate the benefits of your brand seamlessly into all of your content.

Stay relevant.
As you create and share content, remember to stay relevant. Stay relevant within your industry but also within the social media space. Stay keen to any major international news, hashtag trends and industry insights to make yourself prominent in the conversation and avoid being insensitive to controversial topics.

DON’T…
Use poor grammar.
Remember, this is not your personal account. For many customers, your social media is the first impression of your brand, so you want it to be a good one. Originally, texting and social media included grammatical shortcomings like, “it’s going 2 b gr8!” But now, these are something to avoid. Using correct grammar can help increase credibility and gain respect from followers.

Only think about sales.
If all you post about is your brand and your products, followers won’t see you as relatable, but more of a nuisance. People go to social media to seek out things of their interest. Social media can inherently help sales by drawing attention and creating relationships between your followers and brand, but openly drawing attention to it will drive traffic away.

Delete negative comments.
This is always a tricky one. You want to be sure to engage and acknowledge any interaction. Sometimes negative comments arise. Reacting in a positive, apologetic or corrective manner can maintain your credibility, but also show there are actually people behind the brand who are responsive and care about what you produce.

All these do’s and don’ts are the foundation for a successful business social media account, but there are endless lists of helpful tips and tricks out there. So next time you log on, remember these and you’ll be a #success.