Some Do's and Don'ts of Social Media

It has been said that there is no wrong way to eat a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup, there is, however, a wrong way to do social media.  The good news is when mistakes are made, there are ways that Public Relations Professionals are able to counteract them!

- Don't Take Short Cuts:

A huge mistake made today is professionals forget one of the main purposes of social media: to help build a brand.  According to Simply Social, " Businesses must embrace the opportunity to engage in the lives of consumers. Social media provides an open forum to which everyone is invited to collaborate and share ideas, experiences and interests."  By taking shortcuts in social media and putting out a false brand, you are essentially tricking people into thinking that you are a well-liked brand.  Any knowledgeable social media user will be able to look right past this.  Stephanie Frasco wrote an article recently titled "How I Increased My Twitter Followers By 30% in 6 Months" which summarized how she was able to boost her following on Twitter.  She did this by not buying any followers and didn't follow - unfollow.  

- Do Create a Plan:
A great tip from Lohas is "Random acts of social media do not work.  A clear aim is the key to reaching [your] destination... Without a proper identified goal and direction, your company would likely propel at a slower pace, if at all.... 'random' is not a word to include in your social media marketing."
The diagram below I found through an article written by Oliver Busmann titled 4 Powerful Social Media Shortcuts That Will Surprise You! Check it out for more great tips in being present on social media.

Photo Credit

- Don't Be A Ghost:
A crucial part of being present on social media is being active... The more you put in with social media, the more you get out!  Some great advice from MediaTrust is  "The audience need to see regular activity on the page or else they will lose interest, so the amount of staff time really depends on what your strategic aims are.  You may also want to get more than on person feeding into the page."  It is important to create a team with a unified goal of correctly branding the product.


What are some of your tips on social media?