Rules for Social Media Engagement

Social media engagement – whether it is Twitter or Facebook, MySpace or YouTube, social media has become so integrated into our lives that a company with no online presence is seen as something strange.

The majority of businesses now use social media as part of their online strategy , while individual people have found many uses for the medium, from fundraising to organising a high-school walkout. But, like any medium of communication, social media has to be carefully managed, or it can backfire.

Here are 21 rules for social media engagement , as published in Brian Solis’s social media guide “Engage” and reported on Mashable :

1. Discover all relevant communities of interest and observe the choices, challenges, impressions, and wants of the people within each network.

2. Don’t just participate solely in your own domains (Facebook Fan Page, Twitter conversations related to your brand, etc.). Participate where your presence is advantageous and mandatory.

3. Determine the identity, character, and personality of the brand and match it to the persona of the individuals representing it online.

4. Establish a point of contact who is ultimately responsible for identifying, trafficking, or responding to all things that can affect brand perception.

5. As in customer service, representatives require training to learn how to proactively and reactively respond across multiple scenarios. Don’t just put the person familiar with social networking in front of the brand.

6. Embody the attributes you wish to portray and instill. Operate by a code of conduct.

7. Observe the behavioral cultures within each network and adjust your outreach accordingly.

8. Assess pain points, frustrations, and also those of contentment in order to establish meaningful connections.

9. Become a true participant in each community you wish to activate. Move beyond marketing and sales.

10. Don’t speak at audiences through canned messages. Introduce value, insight and direction with each engagement.

11. Empower your representatives to offer rewards and resolutions in times of need.

12. Don’t just listen and placate — act. Do something.

13. Ensure that any external activities are supported by a comprehensive infrastructure to address situations and adapt to market conditions and demands.

14. Learn from each engagement and provide a path within the company to adapt and improve products and services.

15. Consistently create, contribute, and reinforce service and value.

16. Earn connections through collaboration and empower advocacy.

17. Don’t get lost in translation. Ensure your communication and intent is clear and that your involvement maps to objectives created for the social web.

18. Establish and nurture beneficial relationships online and in the real world as long as doing so is important to your business.

19. “Un-campaign” and create ongoing programs that keep you connected to day-to-day engagement.

20. “Un-market” by becoming a resource to your communities.

21. Give back, reciprocate, and recognize notable contributions from participants in your communities.

If you are interested in social media engagement and how best to manage your brand’s reputation through social media, contact 4Ps Marketing .

• No Related Post