As a business executive, it’s expected that you’ll represent your company with professionalism, respect and maturity. Sure, it’s easy to make sure that’s all reflected in your LinkedIn headshot, but that doesn’t mean you can’t dig into the trenches of social media and engage with your consumers. In fact, it’s encouraged that you do.
When connecting with consumers on social media, it’s important to look beyond the simple appearance of your profiles and post content that’s thoughtful, valuable and engaging.
Here’s a list of dos and don’ts to follow when it comes to social media for the business executive:
Do: Acknowledge your audience. If someone comments on a link you’ve shared, follows you on Twitter or mentions you in a post, try your best to acknowledge it. Give the person a quick, “Thanks for the follow!” or follow the person back. You never know who you might learn from.
Don’t: Ignore or delete negative comments. This is a tried and true rule for companies, but it also applies to company leaders. Consumers who complain on social media aren’t always looking for a resolution – sometimes they simply want to be acknowledged. You can respond to a negative comment with a simple “I’m sorry that happened. What can we do to fix it?” and then pass it off to the communications team for follow-up. And, understand it can help make your business better.
Do: Remember you’re a human, too. It’s ok to stray from pure business talk on social media. Keep it clean and professional, but feel free to share thoughts, opinions and funny things with your audience. After all, some people might find it very interesting what you ate for breakfast this morning
Don’t: Trash talk. The Internet is an easy place to throw shade, and some corporate business leaders take it upon themselves to use social media as a way to intimidate the competition. While it’s all fun and good to banter with your competitors, make sure you keep it lighthearted and don’t enter that “this could get me fired” territory. Focus on the value you add, not on keeping up with the rat race.
-Meghan Roesner is assistant PR/social media specialist at Milwaukee-based Core Creative.
