Reflection #2

6 Rules of Social Media for Businesses

1) KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE

This is a very basic and obvious rule for a company, but it may very well be the most important. With social media sites like Facebook and Twitter offering user analytics, companies can use that to their advantage by following the demographics of their customers. These analytics allow businesses to see the age, gender, and location of their audience, and also their likes and interests. This can be a great tool to make sure that consumer interests fall in line with who the company’s target market is.

2) BE ACTIVE AND ENGAGE WITH YOUR AUDIENCE

The primary use of social media is for interaction, and businesses should always keep that in mind. In order to build a stronger relationship between the company and customers, it is vital to constantly engage with them. Lack of interaction could potentially diminish consumer interest. While it may be impossible to reply to every customer, businesses should try to respond to customers feedback as much as they can. Companies can also increase interaction by reviewing what posts received the most engagement, find the similarities between them, and frequently post similar content.

3) CHOOSE THE RIGHT PLATFORM

With the great abundance of social media sites today, it is important that companies choose the platform that will benefit them the most. This decision should be made based on the intended audience the company is trying to connect with and what the company wants to share through the site. Accessing as many people in the company's target market is the main reason why businesses use social media, and in some cases using multiple platforms can be effective and needed in order to reach the target audience.

4) CONNECT WITH SOCIAL MEDIA INFLUENCERS

Social media has given people the power and ability to create a name for themselves on the internet, as many individuals have built loyal fan bases through various social media platforms. Companies should look to connect and build relationships with these individuals if their following falls under the company’s target audience and they could potentially be interested in the company’s product. Doing this could give the company exposure to a new and already established audience.

5) QUALITY OVER QUANTITY

While it is important for companies to remain active on social media platforms, having an abundance of posts that lack quality can be detrimental to a business. Every post must be important and serve a purpose or else customers may grow tired of a bunch of meaningless posts and lose interest. Companies must look to post content that is amusing, thought provoking, and that customers can relate to.

6) ACTIVITY ALIGNMENT ACROSS SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS

It is very common for businesses to use more than one social media platform. If a company does decide to use multiple sites, it is important that the content and activity on each platform are all aligned with each other. Companies must make sure that posts on their Facebook account are not contradicting posts made on their Twitter account.  

Kaplan, Andreas M., “Users of the World, Unite! The Challenges and Opportunities of Social Media,” Business Horizons (2010) 53, 59-68

Gunelius, Susan. "10 Laws of Social Media Marketing." Entrepreneur. February 16, 2011. Accessed February 28, 2017. https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/218160.

O'Grady, Natalie. "3 Ways to Grow Your Business With Free Social Media Analytics." Entrepreneur. February 27, 2017. Accessed February 28, 2017. https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/289668.