What are your tips for social media business etiquette?

Both Jim and Len have provided outstanding insights. It's important to remember social media is really about the conversation. I've generally been struck by the level of politeness--sometimes too polite in various discussion groups. Often more polite than in real world discussions.

As has been mentioned---listening is key, being open to other points of view, challenging them politely, learning from them--it increases the value of the discussion for everyone.

People who are dogmatic, or solely out for self promotion are generally not impactful or effective. People who take themselves too seriously struggle. The quality of the contribution is generally more recognized than the quantity or volume (meaning noise level).

The most effective promotion is actually no promotion, but thoughtful participation in the discussion.

The simple answer is that the same etiquette you use in the real world when socializing and networking holds true for the virtual social media world.

- Don't talk about yourself constantly
- Share information which has value
- Be accessible and responsive
- Help others for the sake of helping others
- R-E-S-P-E-C-T others (competition or not)
- Contribute to the conversation for the sake of the conversation

Just a few off the top of my head...

Regards,
jim

One answer not covered: Respond to people. I find it incredibly rude when I go out of my way to respond to people on G+ or Twitter . . . and hear crickets. If you were at a cocktail party and someone struck up a conversation with you, would you walk away?

Here's one: Like useful comments. I don't see that enough. Thank your customers for their participation. Acknowledge how its helped your business and improved your performance. Be specific and personal in your interaction. Almost all feedback is valuable to the enterprise. Honor that.

These are all great suggestions. However, I'd like to add that in my experience the most off-putting behaviors on social channels are the result of terrible decisions by senior management more than thoughtless or boorish actions of community managers.

These neo-luddite executives throw the absolutely cheapest solution they can muster at the “check box” they call social and move on. Leaving the consumer with a distinct sense the brand could careless about their interest should the consumer try and engage in a human conversation with the brand about, god forbid, the brand. Here are four fundamental “Don'ts” that consumers will read as disrespect:

* Don't have non-employees manage your social channels. Do have passionate employees, who know the product and company, manage and be the face of your social platforms.

* Don't staff your social channels only during YOUR business hours. Do be present when your customers are active, and that might mean evenings and weekends.

* Don't hobble your social manager's ability and options to address issues, thus relegating them to mere sniveling apologists. Do give them responsibility and power to respond to the majority of customer issues and resolve them quickly—which is the winning recipe to turn unhappy campers into brand champions.

* Don't be boring because you have limited time/resources to find interesting things to say. Do give people unique reasons to comeback and engage with you on that channel, e.g., spend the time and money to reward them, praise them, and make it fun to talk about you.

I've always been taught that you should refrain from talking about politics or religion in polite society, and this is likely a good piece of advice for when you're promoting your business online. I've been vehemently and personally attacked by other posters when I've answered political questions. Logic and facts seem to go out the window in those "discussions". It's easy to get sucked into a downward spiral this way; the old adage about never arguing with an idiot, as people listening will start to wonder which is which, comes to mind. :-D

No matter what subject you engage people on, never take it personally and always have a sense of humour. Especially be able to laugh at yourself! I once made a joke on Twitter about how we consider Santa's workshop at the north pole to be in Canada (his postal code is H0H-0H0 - no kidding). I got a tweet from a gent who wasn't too impressed with Canada claiming the pole. My reaction was the key here. Had I chose to be petty and indignant, the result would have been negative. I chose to reply with humour and he laughed along with me. I told him the elves vacationed in Muskoka north of Toronto and I often played volley ball with them. :)

The only real control you have in this life is how you react to any given situation and that is a key thing to keep in mind online.

Regards,
jim

If you wouldn't say it in person, don't say it online.
Don't argue with others or push self-serving agendas.
Contribute not sell.
Be authentic.
Genuinely be willing to help others without expecting an immediate return.
Avoid topics that are divisive; i.e. politics and religion. These things are just too polarizing.

I like it when people are respectful, fun, generous in sharing information and avoid pitching me.

Don't annoy people. You're there to make friends and build trust, so keep that in mind. The more value you create, by sharing relevant content, asking good questions, etc, the more people will flock to you.

Treat others as you would treat them, be polite, respond when asked a question, say thank you when you get an answer. Treat everyone as a valuable person.
Realize that things may be taken totally out of context so make sure it makes sense.

On the other hand, don't take it personally if people don't respond, it's probably not a personal slight that they missed your comment in a long stream of posts.

E-mail is a great media for work and play. Business E-mail should not include all capitals. All caps is yelling. I believe if the E-mail has gone that far then the conversation should be verbal. What is said in the E-mail and how it is said can be misunderstood.

I wrote an article on social media netiquette for Competitive Intelligence Magazine a couple of years ago. While social media has advanced a fair amount both in sophistication and usage in the intervening years, the DOs and DON'Ts are basically the same. HTH

http://thebisource.com/pdfs/EtiquetteforSocialNetworksCooperativeCommunicatio...

Hi Alan,

Every question requires answers my friend. Ignoring questions means you are missing an opportunity to share your knowledge and experience and learn from others.

I think Doug already explained why he asked the question...because he is crowd sourcing an article. We are here to share insights and experience and we should go that extra mile to make people feel completely welcome to ask any question. I think the thumbs ups on the answers make it clear that it's not as obvious to everyone as it is to you.

It's great that you have an intuitive understanding of social media and can draw a comparison between it and the analog world. The more people we have who can put that kind of knowledge into the right frame of reference, the better.

If I misunderstood you, please let me know.

Regards,
Jim

Steve,

You're 3rd point about hobbling your social media managers is a very good one. If your CS effort on social media is just lipstick on a pig, you are doing more harm than good to your brand.

You might find a post I wrote on this very subject a while back interesting:
http://hugehead.ca/2011/08/19/social-media-customer-service-do-it-right-or-no...

Regards,
jim

Treat others as you would have them treat you and, when in the company of trolls, do NOT feed the trolls.

Can agree Pat, treat people so as you would like to be treated yourself. But political and religious questions should not be discussed and argued about as anyone can have their own opinion that should be respected.
Also agree Barbara that never say in social networks something that you would not say in real life. Respect have to be kept always.

Great comments. And you might find my piece Online Business Networking Manners adds some more to this to consider. http://www.all-about-becoming-a-life-coach.com/social-business-networking.htm...

This is a great conversation and very helpful. I do not have any more to add other than what has been said, but I would repeat that one of the most irritating things is to be ignored when you engage.

In relationships always deliver more value than a person anticipates they will get from knowing and associating with you. I learned this from Brandon Burchard, and I love promoting him because I know that people who come across his social sites will be happy they did.

Most spammy stuff is that way because it is about people seeing what they can get rather than give. Rudeness is thinking about yourself more than with whom you are conversing. You get the picture.

Most of everything I should know when marketing myself or my brand in social media has come through this post and subsequent comments. Some had already been ingrained in me through my experience in interacting on social media. Of course knowledge will continue to be added but so far so good.

The 'Don'ts' have reached me not just through the listing on some of the comments but in the manner the people have interacted and written their thoughts. Reading between the lines here I see how people react to the way the question is put up, the kind of people that participate on social media, their expectations, percentage of people who are positive vs negative, and the fact that the best form of social media is continued interaction and how it should be done.

Thanks not just to you Doug for giving me the opportunity to learn through listing and from reading between the lines, but also to each and every one of you for increasing my knowledge, whether it was intended that way or not in your comment.

Love you all.

I hope by writing this comment I've also contributed in some way to adding further to your knowledge; to find that out how, you have to read between the lines ;)

We can hide so much behind social media. We need to respect others even if they did wrong. They are human too. I am not saying the person should get away with what they did. You can still respect a person and discipline them.

I think:
- Be more interesting than aggressive.
- Keep in mind people's topics.
... and I agree with everybody, that we must to be respectful and responsive.

Hi Peter,

We are veering towards a thread hijacking here and I share responsibility fully in that regard. I didn't try to claim any moral high ground -- there isn't any here to plant a flag on in any case. I simply suggested that claiming someone was on drugs (as you did your reply to me) if they held a certain view was counterproductive to an exchange of ideas (however, everyone has their own style and sense of humour). If you balk at me referring to it by the technical debating term or if I simply misread your post, then I offer my apologies.

Allow me to clarify on one specific point, I don't agree with using LinkedIn to share anything across your network such as the example you gave. Those people may have had the best of intentions, but as you pointed out, this practice can be very annoying, especially if you have a lot of contacts.

Regards,
jim

PS: DOH. I meant to reply to you and not post a new response. Me culpa. I hope Spanish is OK with you? :) Sorry couldn't resist.

Thanks everyone for their excellent answers!
The crowdsourced piece is now posted on the new Salesforce.com SocialSuccess site:

http://www.salesforce.com/uk/socialsuccess/social-media/social-media-business...

Check it out (and the other good stuff on the site -- excellent eBook, etc).

I find it amazing that the question required answers, or that it was asked. The answers are obvious, but can be summarized as "treat others as if they were face to face with you.

RULE 1 is "Don't Spam People".

This question was sent to anyone Doug had met via his LinkedIn bulk spam setting.
When I made a pointed comment about this, he failed to understand.

But successful networking is about relevance. That means talking to people who actually want to hear what you have to say. And listening to what they have to say.

That takes a lot of effort.
We've all been trained by email marketing that marketing is a numbers game - send it to everyone and repeat it until they buy.

That isn't how social networking works.

So find the people you can help and help them.

Don't just interrupt everyone.

There is another major fraud going on which is at best poor etiquette, at worst deceptive and immoral, which I'm surprised no-one has come up with.

Ardath Albee wrote an excellent article on it: http://marketinginteractions.typepad.com/marketing_interactions/2011/12/are-y...

It is offering incentives to get social testimonials, likes or joins. It is fundamentally deceptive as people who don't know what is going on believe your site is popular on its merits, not because you've bribed people.

It is becoming widespread as this boasting article about running a sweepstake to get Facebook members by Joe Chernov shows:
http://www.dhcommunications.com/2011/12/joe-chernov-from-eloqua-dishes-on-new...