I like to be spontaneous, interactive and a little “off-the-wall” when sharing on my own, personal, social media accounts. Often I’ll post my gut reaction to something happening live or retweet without much consideration, because ultimately I’m judge, jury, and executioner (…and victim and defendant) of any consequences due to bad personal brand management. However, if the posts are coming from anyone but me, I use the following four guidelines to ensure I am being what (or who) I should be:

Your clients social media campaign is not the place for self-promotion. Try to keep yourself as distanced from the actual content you create as possible so avoid even being accused of abusing your position.

1) Be Your Client:
You’re not just out there tweeting what you had for lunch that day. You are doing a job; make sure everything you share is in line with that. Before clicking “submit” look back at the account you’re about to speak for, does whatever you plan to share advance the objective of your clients campaign?

Don’t share just for the sake of sharing. Make sure your content is high-quality and worthwhile otherwise you may clutter up your audience’s news feed and their reaction will be to no longer receive updates from your organization. Justify each post in light of the campaign’s specific goals.

Go ahead, tell everyone what you really think… in a helpful manner.

2) Be A Tool:
Be the go-to-resource in your organization’s industry. If you want to corner the market on something, you have to not only be a part of the conversation, but control and direct it. Become the thought leader of everything [INSERT YOUR BRAND’S INDUSTRY] by being the first to share relevant news, tips, ideas, etc. even, especially if it did not come from your brand directly.

3) Be Human:
Social media is there to be… SOCIAL. Talk and engage with the people who are talking about your organization. Be involved in the discussions that include you, otherwise someone else may control the conversation. Remember to have fun.

I have to remind my clients to avoid coding jargon and to interact with the general public in a more personable level.

I don’t follow brands or personas that lack the potential to make me laugh (or smirk to myself at least), charm, or surprise me. The fact that individuals are able to engage with otherwise inaccessible organizations (enterprise, startup, or nonprofit) is the #1 feature that makes social media so impactful for PR and valuable for marketing.

Huge walls of text are intimidating and will deter users from giving your content A second glance. Spice things up with photos/graphics/designs/etBe Visual:

4)Be Visual:

This post is less than 500 words.  I represented all four of my main points visually. My audience does not want to read (and neither does yours), so I’ve made it optional.