For maximum online visibility, it’s all but required now to maintain your business’s presence on social media platforms. Whether it’s Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or LinkedIn, potential customers look for businesses on social media now more than ever. Unfortunately, it’s no secret that business social media accounts don’t always do well. Either they don’t get enough attention, or they attract the wrong kind of attention.
In our internet-driven world, presenting a professional image through your business’s social media accounts is absolutely critical to success. While there’s no rigid set of guidelines to professional social media, we can learn a few important dos and don’ts from general trends. Let’s take a look at the best ways to present a professional image through social media.
Your business’s social media should be just as professional as your face-to-face interactions with customers. Click To Tweet
Don’t Let Mistakes Slip Through
As plenty of brands and individuals alike have discovered, a potentially embarrassing or offensive social media post can be avoided with a simple check for spelling or grammatical errors. Aside from the potential for looking silly, you could cause people to doubt your business’s abilities. After all, if you misspell words regularly online, how do your clients know you won’t be similarly careless elsewhere? Before you put anything on your business’s social media account, double-check it yourself and have another proofread if you’re able. Don’t let any mistakes get through.
Pro Tip: Using a social media scheduler, save your posts as drafts ahead of time. Later, review the drafts for any common errors.
Listen to Your Audience
Social media receives plenty of feedback, and not just in replies. How many likes, shares, or clicks is each post getting? Too little engagement could mean either that you aren’t promoting your online image enough, or that your content can’t keep your audience’s attention. Keep an eye on which of your posts get the most attention and continue producing similar content to appeal to your targets.
Be Careful What You Promote or Criticize
This principle is twofold. First, regardless of your personal beliefs, you have to recognize that not everyone will agree with you. Keep political, religious, or other polarizing social media content to a minimum. The last thing you need is people associating a hot-button controversy with your brand and damaging your online reputation.
Second, be mindful of which occasions or people to use in your online promotions. As Cinnabon learned when Carrie Fisher passed away, the death of a beloved icon is not an invitation to promote your brand or product while ostensibly paying homage. Be mindful of your audience’s taste and avoid coming across as insensitive when dealing with serious events.
Social Media Professionalism
When potential customers search your business’s name, the first page of results will often promote your various social media presences. Along with your website, these are often a customer’s first impression of your company and values. It’s always in your best interest to present a professional, approachable online image to encourage customers to trust you.
Do you want to learn more about maintaining a professional image on social media? Connect with us for a detailed analysis of your online presence.