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Keeping Emotions Out of Social

This may sound like a weird title. Isn’t social about sharing your thoughts, ideas, and emotions? The answer to all of that is, yes. Of course. But, when it comes to social media for your business, please pay attention to this. We know what we’re talking about.  

If you’re posting on your private social media account, you can pretty much do whatever you want. We’ll warn you (as I’m sure your mother has since 7th grade) that once something is on the internet, it will live forever. So be careful with your words, the pictures you choose to share, and basically anything you ever post. We know you’ve heard all of this before, but it can never hurt to be too careful; especially as social media has pretty much taken over 2020 – even more than we thought possible. 

When you’re posting from a business account, you cannot do whatever you want. This is not your private account. This is a business. Even if it’s your business, you should think about the consequences of a simple action. It’s really easy to think to yourself, “Wow, this customer is a real POS.” What you should not do, is then turn around and tell said customer that they are, in fact, a POS. Once you post it, you cannot take it back. This is why we ask that you keep your emotions out of social. 

Imagine you post something on Facebook from your personal account and someone disagrees with you. Would you respond and tell them they’re wrong? Or would you simply let it go? This is your choice and you can handle the situation however you choose. Now, let’s imagine the same scenario from a business account. Your response here carries a lot more weight than the previous one. Whether you respond or not, you must put thought into it. Yes, it’s important to respond in a timely manner; but it’s even more important to respond correctly. Depending on the topic, the controversy it holds, and the subject it’s about, your response can make or break a customer. Keep in mind, as difficult as it may be, sometimes the best response is silence. 

If your marketing, namely social media, in this case, is done in house, it’s increasingly important that the social media coordinator (or whatever their title) understands this. It’s important that he/she understands the implications of negative comments online. When you work in social media, your voice is the first, and oftentimes the loudest, when it comes to brand identity and communication to your customers. This sounds like a lot of pressure, but the right person will be able to handle it. 

If your social media is done through an agency, like Smarter Searches, we implore you to let us handle the comments. We support you, your company, your brand image, and anything else you can present to the world. One advantage that we have is that, while we will do whatever we can to make your company successful, we don’t have the emotional attachment that you do. That is not to say that we don’t care or we don’t want to help, we mean that we can take a step back, look at the situation from a different perspective, and handle the chaos. This is the exact reason that we offer reputation management services alongside our social media bundles. We know the correct way to handle a disgruntled customer, an unhappy spouse, or even a troll. This our job and what we get paid to know. So, please, let us put our experience, our unbiased perspective, and our knowledge to work for you. 

If you’ve ever struggled with finding the right thing to say or simply don’t have time to keep up with every comment, question, or idea thrown your way via social, contact us today. We’d love to help you keep your company in the right light.