In general life, social media has been a blessing and a curse. It’s a wonderfully powerful tool to connect with others and share information instantly. At the same time, it’s a breeding ground for trolls and misinformation.

From a business point of view, social media has been mainly positive. It has opened up a new marketing channel for companies to exploit, with many businesses generating a lot of revenue thanks to their social media strategies. 

With that in mind, there are good and bad ways to use social media for your business. Below, we go over what you should and shouldn’t be doing: 

The Right Way to Use Social Media

The best way to use social media for your business is to generate a large following across multiple platforms. It begins by selecting the platforms that will be most relevant to your company. Sometimes, this means you have accounts on every platform, while other times you only need accounts on a few. Working with a social media agency can help you identify where your target market is likely to be, so you can set up accounts on the correct platforms. 

Then, it’s a case of building your following by creating good social media content. Interact with followers, ask questions to gain feedback, and post links to your website. Most businesses will use social media as a form of customer service, and you should too. It’s not all about marketing your business – although social platforms are a good place to build and establish your brand. Providing customer service on social media can give your customers a quicker way of having problems resolved, which they will appreciate instead of needing to call you on the phone. 

The Wrong Way to Use Social Media

On the other hand, the worst way to use social media is by creating a terrible brand image for yourself. What I mean is that you are constantly doing or sharing things on social media that make your business look bad. This can include sharing conspiracy theory tweets, saying controversial things, and being rude to customers that have complaints. You have to remember that social media is a public forum where anyone and everyone can see what you’re doing and saying. All it takes is one bad thing to completely ruin the public perception of your business. 

Again, this is why many companies work with social media experts. You put your social channels in the hands of people who know what they’re doing, rather than letting random employees manage them for you. It reduces the chances of bad things happening, which would reflect badly on your company. 

It must be stressed that social media and social media marketing are two crucial things for every business to utilize. You need to tap into the social media market, and this means you have to develop a proper social strategy. Focus on generating a following, creating content that’s meant for social media, and interacting positively with your customers/followers. Avoid controversies and don’t do things that can paint your business in a bad light.