Social Media for Companies: Seven Golden Rules

More than 30 million people in Germany have signed up to one or more social networks, with almost a billion people doing the same worldwide. Web 2.0 has become ubiquitous throughout every level of society, but, despite the fact that personal networking is now standard both in private and business environments, a lot of businesses are still struggling to get to grips with social network services. Studies have shown that the majority of companies are interested in expanding their social media activities but are unsure about how to do so. XING has compiled the following tips intended to answer the questions most frequently asked during the first steps in a social media environment.

Define goals: At the outset you need to define the goals you want to achieve. Ask yourself why do you want to do this? Do you want to improve your reputation, improve customer loyalty, acquire new customers, or boost your image as an employer?  In what kind of environment do you want to reach people - within a business or private context? There are various platforms available depending on what your goals are - XING is primarily aimed at business networking whereas other networks are more for private use and entertainment. Your goals will then determine how you proceed from there - Simply diving into the realms of social media without any goals will not get you anywhere.

Get involved: Social media offers a vast range of opportunities! Your business already has an online presence as nowadays it’s considered the norm to use the Internet to find out more about companies and service providers. You have the freedom to choose whether or not you want to get involved in the discussions that take place online. To start with, it’s best to gain an insight into what goes on there by finding out which networks, blogs, and forums your customers, clients, and decision-makers use to share information with one another. Check whether existing contacts from your business card collection or email account are already registered on any of the social networks. If they are, send a contact request to give you a good start to your online activities.

Listen and observe: It cannot be said often enough: Social media represents multi-facetted communication. Web 2.0 can provide you with praise and support as well as criticism. Either way, you will always get a wide range of feedback. Make sure you handle this constructively: Take criticism seriously and don’t just bury your head in the sand. Observe the trends that are occurring. Which channels are best received? What qualitative feedback do you get (friendly tone, high level of customer satisfaction)? Keep your eyes peeled with regard to new tools or developments. Follow what’s going on with your competitors. But make sure you don’t start writing direct or derogatory comparisons (also known as bashing) as this is usually not well received.

Be authentic: Make sure your approach is authentic by avoiding marketing superlatives. Specialist terminology is of course perfectly acceptable and it’s a good idea to add a personal note (“Just back from the trade fair - tired, but got loads of new ideas.”). Let people know which tool you’re using. You can use abbreviations, e.g., on Twitter (“^jd” for John Doe at the end of tweets). The XING Company Profile includes an overview of personal contact persons. Never use fake names to post comments in external blogs as someone is bound to notice this and it will only cause you problems.

Mastering a crisis: Use crisis situations to show that your company listens to its customers and acts upon their feedback. Differentiate between fair comments and offensive insults, and only react to the former. Provide people with the opportunity to give feedback, such as comment fields publicly available in blogs. Stay confident and don’t be drawn into endless detailed discussions. If you as a company have reacted in some way (e.g., by publishing an update), make sure you point this out to critics in a friendly and polite manner.

Use the power of networking: Your employees are probably already active on one or more social networks, so use this to your advantage. Your employees and customers can recommend your company and spread its messages using share buttons (available as an add-on for many content management systems) or manually. Provide employees and customers with these possibilities, but don’t pressure them to push your company via their network(s) as you will demotivate them and cause their messages to lose face and authenticity.

Connect both online and offline: Social media is just a single part of corporate communications, it does not replace existing channels. In addition, you can use existing communication activities such as your company’s website, trade fair visits, to make people aware of your social media work.