What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas. But what happens online stays online for a long, long time!
Follow these tips to make sure you’re not inadvertently killing your social media reputation:
Consistency
Consistency is the key to maintaining a positive social media reputation. You should strive to be consistent in your frequency as well as your voice. If you’re sweet as pie one day, but ranting and raving like a lunatic the next day, your audience will likely be confused. As for frequency, an unexpected spurt of activity may cause a loss of followers. (Note: Never, ever spam your audience!) Conversely, long periods of inactivity will hurt your reputation too. Try to be consistent with the subject matter as well. For example, if you’re a small business blogger who often writes about unrelated subjects that don’t tie into your field, then your followers will become confused and your reputation will suffer. Stick with your area of expertise.
Two-Way Street
Avoid speaking in monologues. Social media should be interactive, not a one-way broadcast. Give people opportunities to comment on your posts. If comments are few and far between, ask direct questions to encourage interactivity. For example, a good question to ask readers of this post might be, “Have you encountered any other social media reputation killers in your experience?”
Branding Consistency
Keep your brand in mind at all times, but don’t be afraid to add a personal touch from time to time. For instance, when I was in New York City recently, I saw a great piece of furniture in a store downtown and just had to write about it. Now, my audience expects me to publish business content, and on the surface this piece of furniture had nothing to do with business, but I really liked the branding used by the artist. And so I wrote about the lovely piece of furniture and tied it into branding. There is always room to add a personal touch and differentiate yourself from others in your niche, but the key is to tie it back into your area of expertise. Otherwise, people may get confused.
Unique Content
On the other hand, too much of a personal touch can also damage your social media reputation. Don’t focus on “me.” Your content has to be primary about “you” (with “you” being your audience or your customer). How can you support your customers and help them have a better life? What kind of unique content can you provide to your audience? Keep your brand and your customers in mind at all times.
