Social Media is the ruler of online businesses. If a business has the right social media connections, their social media strategy and social media optimization are operating successfully and the ongoing effort required to reach your audience and clients is decreased.

How does one get the right connections? The answer is by reaching the right market and knowing how to brand and place the business in social media correctly.

If you are a business owner and you are new to the competitive world of social media then you should be aware of any social media rules you may be breaking. This way, you can review your use of social media so that you can make connections with your business’ marketplace.

Here Are The 10 Social Media Rules to Review

  1. You are sharing posts several times a day with no connection to the product you are selling. You can share non-related posts every now and then; however, this should be kept to a minimum as it affects your brand.
  2. You share several times a day but do not space out your posts. Sharing your posts is one way to gain engagement but sharing a lot in a short period every day will make the posts seem like spam.

The rule is to post every 2 or 3 hours, depending on the day. On weekdays, the best time to post is between 7 AM to 9 AM and 8 PM to 9 PM. These are the times when people are most receptive to products and information.

  1. You do not respond to comments as quickly as possible. If there are inquiries, it is best to return to them as soon as you can and let the potential client know that your business cares.

You can use an automatic responder if you are busy.

  1. You are using more than the optimal number of hashtags. For each of the different social media platforms, there are amounts of hashtag that people deem appropriate. They are the following

                 Facebook – ZERO hashtags

                 Twitter – ONE to THREE hashtags work best

                 Instagram – more than 11 hashtags but not more than 20

                 Pinterest – no hashtags necessary at all

      Each of the platforms has their own rules and it is best to abide by their rules for proper engagement and so that your business is not restricted by the platform.

  1. You are not following the 80-20 rule on posting, which is to entertain and inform your audience first before selling them anything. Whenever you are faced with a dilemma about if you are posting enough about your business, you probably are not. The fact of the matter is that you may need to post less about you and your products and more about other things in the same industry that would be of use to your market.

For example: Your business is all about a dog shampoo which removes ticks. A good business person knows that they need to get their business out there for it to work!  But the truth of the matter is that a good social media business person would understand that they do not need to do that 100% of the time. A post that provides information for dog owners related to the dangers of ticks will engage potential business clients. This will lead to clients becoming interested in your products and services.

The trick here is to have a Products and Services page so that once you get the attention of the market you are now ready to show them what you are all about.

  1. You stuff your posts with keywords. Some of your keywords do not make sense if put together. When posting on social media make sure that your posts are all readable and easy to understand. Make sense before making sales – this is the Aston Social rule.
  2. You use links that are from sources that cannot be trusted. It is a disaster if a business shares viruses and other unwanted links on social media. Be very wary of the things that you are sharing because people will not understand that there can be risks involved.

For example; one social media account shared a fake video about a fake shooting which led visitors to a pornography site. Overnight, the social media account was suspended and it took them 60 days to get their account back. A good social media manager knows that this will damage the business’ reputation.

8.   You post photos of your business clients without their permission. This is an essential element to remember! Your clients have their privacy. Even if they share feedback on your business via private message, they may not be as accommodating to share such publicly.

For example; if you are selling deodorant and the client’s private message feedback shows how their underarm was whitened and body odor decreased.  Your excitement might encourage you to share it to your account so others know that your product works.

Do not do this. The best thing that you can do if you want to share such a testimonial is to ask your client for permission first and make sure that you hide their details.

  1. You are asking for shares comments and likes on private messages. Nobody wants to be told to provide positive feedback! Get on with your posting and do your thing but never beg for these things on social media.
  2. You are commenting on rude comments with rudeness. Let rude people know privately that they are rude. If you must defend your business, do it politely and factually.

There is one rule of social media optimization that people must conform to at all times: Do not share fake news. Fake news is false news that does not have verifiable sources or verifiable leads.

The biggest mistake that a business owner can make is to share fake news because recent studies have shown that with a fake story on a social media account, individuals and businesses lose their credibility by more than 50%.

Hence, always watch out for the social media rules that you may be breaking and keep in mind that you always need to verify your sources. This is the best way to keep your social media standing as high as possible.