Think Before You Post: 5 Questions To Ask Before You Hit Publish On Social Media

When social networking first started gaining popularity, it was hard to imagine a company losing business or someone getting fired over a Facebook post. Now, if you search the phrase “fired over a Tweet”, you will find over 30 million results on Google.

There is not one magical way to publish the perfect content on social media every time. Depending on your industry and type of businesses, your company could post different things from another business depending on your audience. But if you want to avoid getting in trouble with your boss, your company losing a following, or potential legal fees, it could help to set up a short editorial process before you click “post”.

Here are 5 things to think about before you publish content on social media:

1. Will this be valuable to my followers? We already know not to spam our audiences with too much content, so the content that we do post has to be immediately and obviously worth it. If you are retweeting or sharing an off-brand post from another content source, ask yourself the same thing: How will it relate to your followers?
2. Is this post contributing to our mission? Know your company’s mission and live it out through the work you publish. Everything that you do should have a point and a goal. If your boss or a consumer were to ask you why you posted what you did, you should be able to defend it and how it aligns with your business.
3. Is this the right channel? If you have multiple social media platforms, determine the right channels to publish on depending on the content. A picture of your employees at an event might do better on Instagram than on Twitter.
4. Am I optimizing this network’s capabilities? Does this platform allow you to use hashtags to gain more attention? Can you upload a high resolution photo to accompany the text? Find out how to tag other companies or people relevant to your post so that they can “like” and “share” it to their followers.
5. Am I posting this at the best time? You should have a plan for the types of post you want to publish in advance. Take into consideration what day of the week or time of day your posts have the most engagement. Also think about what timezone your audience may be in. It is helpful to look at other competing businesses to see what type of content they’re posting, and when. Finally, pay attention to the world around you and current events in the news. Don’t post something that could be offensive or insensitive.

Always have someone else read your post before you publish to get a second opinion and to help you find any mistakes or typos. If you’re in doubt, ask. Look to those around you for guidance, and happy posting!

Source:

Hootsuite

This post was written by your BBB Serving Central Ohio's Content & Communications Coordinator, Jordan Abbruzzese.