During the second #SocialChat for the month of May, Alan K’necht and Michelle Stinson Ross hosted an enlightening conversation with guest, Hugo Guzman, about basic Twitter etiquette and how businesses can avoid some of the common missteps in the social space. Please enjoy this recap of the conversation from May 9, 2011
Guest: @HugoGuzman, professional online marketer with nearly a decade of experience on everything from startups to Fortune 100 corporations. He’s worked as both an in-house marketer for companies like CBS Broadcasting and also have years of agency experience. His main area of expertise is with interactive marketing strategy and execution for enterprise-caliber organizations. – from HugoGuzman.com
Q1. What is the biggest faux pas that people generally do when engaging with other through social media?
@HugoGuzman: “For me, it’s people that drop into a conversation to promote their content, product, etc. without having any prior engagement. It’s just bad form and can lead to a permanent bad mark on a person or brand’s reputation.”
Along with the major misstep of going right for the sales jugular, other participants on the chat these basic mistakes:
- Automated DMs (Direct Messages) for new follows
- DMs that make an unsolicited offer
- Viewing social media as another broadcast channel
- Failure to truly engage
@HugoGuzman: @aknecht networks of consumers get turned off by brands, big and small, all the time because of these intrusive approaches
Q2. What is the most important thing to keep in mind that is different between personal tweeting & tweeting for a brand?
@HugoGuzman: “That really depends on the nature of your brand (and employment). Some people like @lisabarone have the luxury to tweet as they please and it connects with her audience.”
@AlanBleiweis: Social success for me = trust + value + respect
Generally, the agreement was that, when tweeting for a brand/business, it is best to maintain a reasonable degree of professionalism. The human connection and conversation is important, and it’s not wise to become overly stiff or robotic, but there’s no need to pour out your hear to your customers, either. Whatever happens in Vegas will stay in Vegas so long as no one posts it to a social media outlet.
Q3 Do you need to interact differently between Facebook vs. Twitter Followers?
@HugoGuzman: “If you set that expectation (e.g. Twitter is for sharing deals while Facebook page is for customer service feedback) then sure, but I don’t think it’s an absolute necessity. To me social channels are like any other communication channel.”
As it turns out, several of the participants do use Twitter and Facebook differently. The difference in the mediums does cause differences in the way most people communicate on them. Many of the participants admitted that they use Twitter more for professional purposes and use Facebook for personal/family reasons.
@AlanBleiweiss: @KyBedard @melgallant I agree – each channel needs to be recognized for its uniqueness & treated accordingly
Q4 You show in your blog post, A “real life” Example of Social Media Marketing, how a small business properly engages both online & offline? What are the lessons for big brands?
@HugoGuzman: “The big lesson for big brands is to remember that real life customer interaction fuels social media activity, so make sure it’s real good (whether in person, on the phone, via email, etc)”
Q5 We teach our children to say please & thank you – do these basic lessons help build brand equity in Social Media?
@HugoGuzman: “Absolutely. Everything I needed to know about social media I learned in Kindergarten ; ) Please and thank you are the cornerstone of engagement. That and giving more than you expect to receive.”
@aknecht Gang! We all agree that Please & Thank you are important on Social Media, so why do so many forget to do it?
- How about: The First Rule of SoMe – If you suck in real life, you will suck in SoMe
- we use the character limit as a big excuse not to go the extra mile
- It’s not as ingrained in us as it is for face-to-face interactions
- Some can suffer from the disconnect there.
Q6 If people are to take away & implement 1 single thing from tonight’s chat which item should get the highest priority?
@HugoGuzman: “Take time to engage with folks and build a bond (online or in real life) before you try to sell or promote something.”
@LovelyLu Be polite, be the best version of yourself online!
Social Media is, at it’s core, about building relationships with other people. Those relationships can be leveraged to great business benefit, but not until the relationship is well established. Proper etiquette and all the social niceties will, of course, go a long way to reaching out and developing those vital friendships.
Next event: Monday, May16, 9:00pm EDT
#SocialChat will be discussing
-
Twitter and Breaking News, What Does it Mean for Business
Featured Guest Hollis Thomases – @HollisThomases
Join us!
