Don’t Throw Up On Yourself…

Have you ever been to a party and found yourself talking with someone you didn’t know, and all they did was talk and carry on about themselves? You can’t get away from them fast enough. Social situations of any kind require a certain amount of etiquette to remain comfortable, enjoyable and mutually beneficial. Not surprisingly, many of the same time tested rules of etiquette found in traditional social settings also apply to the new online social media environment.

As in face-to-face situations, companies need to be careful not to violate social etiquette rules on their Facebook fan pages or by doing so risk losing “friends.” Here are some dos and don’ts:

1. Don’t Throw Up On Yourself. Ok, this never goes over well at a real party, but I’m speaking figuratively now. Throwing up on yourself on Facebook means all you do is talk about how great you are or how wonderful your company is. As in any social situation, it is important to be slow to talk about yourself and quick to show interest in others. Being a good “listener” is a valuable social skill in both face-to-face and online social situations. A good rule of thumb when posting to a company fan page is to ask, “Is this post self serving?” If the answer is yes, it’s probably not a good social media post. However, often with a little thought and effort any post can be tweaked to make it socially appropriate. For example, instead of posting a link to a press release announcing a new product, ask your fans to comment on the new product or ask them for advice on how to improve it. Always remember, it’s not about YOU.

2. Do Share. Being social is also about sharing. Think of creative ways to share socially via your fan page. Share information with your fans before it goes public, offer discounts only available to fans or think of creative ways to give to charity. Recently, Applied Systems announced they would donate a dollar to the IIABA InVEST education fund for every new follower to their Facebook fan page. In just a few days they added over 500 followers, donated over $500 dollars to a worthy cause and got the attention of Insurance Journal, who invited Applied to do a podcast about their Facebook fan page. (To listen to the entire Applied Systems podcast, click here: The Wise Use of a Company Facebook Fan Page)

3. Do Be Transparent. It’s inevitable. At some point, someone will complain or post a negative comment about you, your company or your product on your own fan page. Instead of running from the comment, deleting it or pretending like it didn’t happen, fan page administrators should publicly address the problem and provide a resolution. Most reasonable people recognize that we all make mistakes. It’s just human. What we appreciate and value are organizations that face mistakes head on and fix them. When your fans watch you publicly take responsibility and find solutions, it builds confidence in your brand, and often they will come to your defense.

4. Don’t Sell. There is nothing more annoying when meeting someone socially than when they immediately start pitching you. We have all experienced it and it’s the fasted way to hemorrhage friends. We’ve already almost ruined email by filling it full of SPAM (Something Posing As Marketing). Lets not do the same to social media. Our Facebook fan pages are about being social with our customers—not about selling them stuff. Having said that, anyone in sales recognizes that building relationships with the customers is absolutely essential to the process of establishing a long term sales relationship. Use social media as one of your best tools in building long term customer social ties.

Just because social media takes place online, doesn’t mean good social etiquette is out the window. (Well, except I guess you can probably wear that comfortable tie-dyed t-shirt and your favorite red velour sweat pants and no one will ever know.)