What Your Business Should NOT Be Doing on Social

Networks

Ahsan Khan
September 30, 2009

No matter the social networks your business participates in on the web, there are a handful of faux pas to take note of.  Just like with in-person professional networking, manners and common sense apply on the web.

Don’t forgo a profile picture
Many “social media experts” say you must have a picture of a person within your social networking profile. While you should be transparent within social networking, only post a picture where it makes sense.
For example, if your Facebook account is managed by several staff members, you may be better served to post a logo as a profile image and then post pictures of staff and your professional community within the photos section of your account. By doing it this way, you remain transparent but don’t align your account with one particular person.

Don’t repeat yourself over and over again
If you have an incredible offer, you should tell your social networks about it. However, do so sparingly. You would not walk into a room and repeat yourself over and over again, so don’t do the same within your Twitter stream or your LinkedIn updates, for example.

Don’t ignore numbers
It is tough to attach a number to your social networking branding efforts, and it is tough to quantify sales made because of social networking. However, it is easy to track communications and link click-through rates.
Assign a staff member to monitor your company mentions within social networking sites, and make sure someone within your company is responsible for responding to those mentions as well. Likewise, every link you post on a social networking site should be “shrunk” using a resource such as BudUrl.com. This way you can keep track of the number of click-throughs.

Don’t forget to be human
There are two ends of the social networking spectrum. On the right you have social networkers who only talk business and never interact with others. On the left, you have social networkers who talk about their breakfast, their kids, their boss, etc. As a business on a social network, it’s important to find your space in the middle of the spectrum.
Talk about issues relevant to your industry, but do so in a way that is conversational. Join online social networking groups, become fans of your vendors, and talk to your customers through social networks, but leave the details of your breakfast at home.
Learn more about social networking etiquette from the ICM blog. Click here to read more.
http://mashable.com/2009/02/27/social-media-for-business-2/