Social Media and Ethics for Small Businesses

Hi Everyone. This is my very first blog post, so please be kind.

I would like to see some more discussion about Social Media Rules and Ethics.  I work for a small company which is open to social media, but we don’t entirely get it.  We attempted a social media campaign last year, but after a few months of work it slowly fizzled into just me posting a few pictures on Flickr every week.  One of the major problems has been knowing when and where we could actually promote our products.  We thought we were playing by the rules, but a few sites/people called us out as marketers.  In my effort to educate myself and everyone involved in the campaign on how to use social media correctly, I developed a set of rules for social media engagement.  Please let me know what you think and what you would do differently.  And I apologize for some of the awkward wording that resulted from removing information directly related to my company.

Social Media Campaign Goals for Small Business:

1. Have people engage in positive conversations about XYZ Company
   • In Social Networks, Forums, Twitter and Blogs
2. Provide useful information
   • Teach people about the benefits of your products/services
   • Give people useful tips to deal with problems
3. Create friendships and communities
   • Develop circles and connections in the online community
   • Have friends on Facebook
4. Listen to customer feedback
   • Track both positive and negative feedback
5. Become a trusted source!
   • You want to create so much trust that people in forums ask for your advice

Rules of Engagement:

1. Transparency
   • Never post as a ‘customer’
   • If someone asks who you are, tell them you are an XYZ Company Employee
2. Never fight, provoke, flame or offend
   • Do not respond to criticism of the company unless specifically asked; even then, send the Marketing Manager an email first so you can respond appropriately
   • Do not enter controversial topics
3. Inform – do not promote
   • You should never say “try our product’
   • You can suggest your types of products as long as you provide information.  If someone says they have problems, don’t suggest your Brand Name Product, but give information about the products like yours– they will find your Brand Name when they search for what you told them to search for.  You should also give tips that will help with their problem even if it doesn’t require buying a product.
4. Don’t insert links in forum posts – allow the signature to act as a link
5. Don’t respond to post more than 3 months old (use your judgment)
6. Don’t answer a question that has already been answered unless you can honestly add something useful
7. If you are posting as yourself or your own web personality, do it from home