Personal vs. Business Social Networking: Five Simple Rules

Social networking is an incredibly potent tool when it comes to marketing your business and your brand. It gets your logo design and core values out into the public eye in a way that is fun, friendly, and, best of all, free. However, many small business owners find that their social networking sites end up being more of a detriment than a benefit, because they allow the public to see sides of you that may not be congruent with your business’s professional image. Here are five simple tools for using Facebook, Twitter, and other social networking sites in a way that benefits your company and build your brand.

Monitor personal revelations. There is nothing wrong with having personal information on your social networking sites; in fact, it may build your brand as customers will increasingly see you and your business as human and likeable. However, be very careful about what kind of personal information you post. Pictures of your children in Halloween costumes may be appropriate, depending on your brand, but picture of your drunken misbehavior at a Halloween party likely will diminish your business brand and your professional image.

Watch your language. Even a well placed and seemingly appropriate swear word will offend many of your customers, and the nature of the internet guarantees that this one slip will be ‘out there’ in the public view for decades to come. Using offensive language doesn’t say a lot about your vocabulary skills, either. Similarly, being critical or snarky may not be complimentary to your professional brand. Censor yourself carefully to create a positive image that customers will see as both professional and likeable.

Be politically correct. Unless political or other activism is part of your business brand, don’t include it at your professional site. Most businesses will not benefit from being controversial or overly opinionated. It will only alienate that larger-than-you-think portion of your customers who don’t agree with your personal beliefs.

Consistently update. Customers will stop returning to your page if you don’t routinely update it and add new information. This is a chance to present your brand to the world, so make sure you have a constant flow of relevant information that increase your market’s engagement with your brand while encouraging traffic to your business.

Maintain good branding principles. This basically sums up the preceding four rules. Small business branding isn’t just about logo design and color palettes, although these are certainly important. Every communication and addition to your social media pages needs to be a brand-builder, not a brand-buster. In the end, you didn’t create a social networking presence so your customers could see your weekend party picture; you did so to market your small business brand.

If you have questions about how to brand your company using social networking, or if you don’t really have a brand at all, talking to a branding consultant can get you started on the right path. Don’t let this opportunity to present your brand and your logo design to the public slip past you, and certainly don’t let it become a detriment.