Social Media Etiquette For Businesses In Kenya

August 18, 2022by Jackie0

In this day and age, no business in Kenya can afford to ignore social media in their marketing strategies. Social media is also an avenue of communication with existing and potential customers.

Almost half of the world population is using social media and as time goes by, more people are joining and are using these social media platforms more frequently than ever before.

Customer preferences are shifting…

Social media has become a preferred way for customers to directly interact with businesses or brands that they patronize. For a business owner or manager, it is therefore important that your customer service team is constantly monitoring your social media pages.

Customers are now seeking companies more on social media and beyond that, they expect a fast response to their questions or concerns.

Statistics have shown that almost 100% of Instagram users follow a business account followed closely by 66% of Facebook users who follow a brand. Therefore, there is a high chance that the first interaction with your business for a potential client could be on social media.

With this in mind, social media etiquette is paramount for any business. In almost everything we do, there are rules on how to behave or how not to behave in certain areas of our day to day lives; Elbows off the dining table, no talking with food in your month, RSVP for an event that an invitation has been extended to you and so on.

This also applies for social media because when you act poorly, people will view your brand the same way.

Let us explore some social media protocols that will help ensure your business is respected, valued and welcomed in the social networks.

  1. Separate Your Business Account from Your Personal Account

In Kenya, it is quite common to see a majority of businesses start from a personal social media account but as time goes by and the business keeps growing, it is important to separate the business from the personal.

This ensures that:

  • Your customers get to know your business for what it offers and not as a person.
  • Your able to separate your personal posts from the business posts.
  • You avoid spamming your potential as well as your existing clients with unnecessarily personal posts.
  • You get to build awareness of your business or brand.
  •  You are then able to correctly track analysis and engagements for your business.
  1. Complete and Update Your Social Media Page and Profile

Take time to carefully fill in your business profile information. Remember you want to create a lasting impression on your customers and your social media page will be their first digital impression of your business.

Your profile information should include what your business is about, contact information, location if you have a physical shop and ensure to upload quality pictures for your profile, cover photo as well as the pictures on the feed.

For Instagram for instance, you could have highlights that address information pertaining to your business such as prices, opening and closing hours and FAQs.

  1. Before You Post, Think

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Give as much value as possible

Posting something that is incorrect or inappropriate for your page can be damaging for your brand. Get to understand who your customers are so that you put out content that appeals to them.

Keep in mind that what you post becomes a representation of your business and with time there is an image that you are molding which customers will associate with when it comes to your brand.

Before posting content, have the person in charge of posting answer the questions:

  • Does this have value?
  • Does it align with the business mission?
  • Is this the best format for the post?
  • Is this the best time to post?
  • Are you going to include visual assets?
  • Have the assets been optimized for that particular social media network?
  1. Post Consistently

Posting consistently enables you as a business owner to increase awareness of your business, become an industry leader and trusted among your customers. The number of times you need to engage with your customers online mainly depends on the type of business and the industry you operate in.

To progressively build your brand awareness, test different types of posts and timings. It is however important to note that excessive posting can come off as spamming which may be annoying to your customers.

  1. Ensure You Have the Correct Grammar and Spelling

Social media is often a relaxed environment but even so, that doesn’t mean that you should ignore the grammar and spelling rules. To help avoid those embarrassing moments due to grammatical errors, ensure that you prepare your social media updates on documents that provide spell checks.

You could also consider asking someone else to proofread your update, a fresh set of eyes may catch what you may have missed. The accidental grammatical and spelling mistakes may happen but these should not turn into a pattern.

  1. Aim to Inform More Than Sell

Though the aim for any business is to make money, that should not be the main focus on your social media page. For instance, try to remember a brand that you now patronize but when you started checking their page, you may have been skeptical of the authenticity of their product or service or even the business itself.

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Make a Customer, Not a Sale

The famous 80/20 rule also applies to social media, with valuable information taking the 80 percent while the 20 percent accounting for the sale of goods or services that you offer.

In order to make a sale, it is important to build trust among your target market as well as in maintaining your existing clientele. You can earn your customers’ confidence by consistently showing that you care about them. You can achieve this by:

  • Explaining or showing how your service or product is able satisfy a need.
  • Sharing helpful information for free e.g. A shop that sells children toys could offer information pertaining the growth stages of a child or illnesses to look out for at a certain age of a child.
  • Interact with the customers as you would a friend this will help build a more personal connection with your audience.
  1. Address Criticism or Negative Comments

It is quite disheartening having to deal with a negative comment about your business or a product/ service that you offer. Easy as it may be to ignore these comments, it is better to address them.

This just goes to show your customers that you care about their concerns and if it is indeed an error on your part, it shows the rest of your audience that you own up to your mistakes. If a customer posts a dishonest comment, it is advisable to request the customer to reach out to you directly to clear up the issue.

Always exercise calmness in such situations, avoiding overreacting or becoming defensive with the customer online. Work towards resolving the issue and once a solution has been arrived at, inform those who cared about it online that the matter has been resolved.

  1. Sharing Same Content Again and Again

While we have encouraged consistent posting of content, sharing the same content over and over again comes off as lazy and can be quite boring for your customers. Your audience keeps coming to your page because they enjoy the content provided, it could be informative or entertaining.

Regardless of what motivates them, if you keep posting the same thing you will make your audience disinterested and they may stop coming to your page. If you want to revisit a prior post, consider repurposing it or using a new image.

  1. Research First Before Sharing

It is quite tempting to want to share something we have seen on another page because the social media networks have provided buttons that make it quite easy to quickly share. With so much content now available on social media, you may get carried away and share information that comes from questionable sources.

It is therefore important to first verify the information and the source of the information because sometimes, you may not want your brand to be associated with certain businesses. Often, sharing someone else’s content is viewed as an endorsement, so be careful with whom you would want your business to be linked to.

  1. Always Give Credit Where It Is Due

When sharing an interesting article, reel, image or tweet from another page, ensure to credit the author or photographer. Make sure to find out the owner of the content and make a point of mentioning their handle or account on your post.

As a business owner, this ensures you stay on the right side of social media etiquette and your business stands to make more connections when you interact respectfully with others on the social media scene.

  1. Use Hashtags Correctly

Including a hashtag to a post you have made will be associated with other similar posts and hashtags which helps to conveniently search for content on social media. Your business stands to gain visibility in the online space as well as gaining more followers by applying the hashtags appropriately.

However, go easy with the hashtags (#), do not turn every word into a hashtag. If you use it in surplus, the post looks busy, may come off as a spam post and will in turn become ineffective.

Also note, the hashtags do not work on emails or blog posts, no need to apply them there.

 

  1. Use of Emojis

Social Media Etiquette Tips
Social Media Customer Service

Emojis have become increasingly popular not only for personal social media accounts but for businesses as well. Many companies are using emojis to interact with customers while building their brand visibility.

The use of emojis as a way to communicate feelings, play an important role in the conversations with the customers. Research on the use of emojis has shown that engagement tends to be high on comments or captions that use emojis.

However, even as you make use of emojis take note to:

  • Know the meaning of the emojis you intend to use.
  • Use emojis naturally – they are meant to convey feelings but in a pictorial manner. Let it be as clear as the written message.
  •  Do not use emojis excessively – It comes off as unprofessional and will have a negative impact on your brand.

Here are a few more key points to remember…

  • Chat with your followers – Social media helps connect businesses with their audience and build meaningful relationships. Take time to respond to a customer’s comments. This makes your followers know that they are seen and appreciated. In case the chat is private, remember to acknowledge the customer by their name, this should be accessible from their social media handles. Keep the conversation professional and when done, end the chat by thanking the customer.
  • Don’t write on all caps – Regardless of the situation, whether a customer made a complaint or posted a wrong or negative comment, refrain from using all caps. Capital letters depict anger and shouting, always keeping a leveled tone.
  • Set your brand tone – It is best to have one person handling the social media accounts so that you can keep the tone consistent all through. However, if multiple people handle the accounts, then it’s important for all those involved to understand what tone is acceptable for your business. Let the tone still be professional as much as social media has a relaxed feel to it.
  • Don’t ask your followers for re-tweets, shares or likes. Instead consider posting shareable content or content worth sharing that your audience will share willingly.
  • Refrain from putting other businesses down or posting negative comments about other brands or businesses.
  • For anyone who manages social media accounts, remember that you are posting on behalf of a business so avoid captioning or commenting from a personal point of view. Don’t use “I” to mean that the business will do something instead say something like “We shall deliver” We shall look into this” We thank you for your business” etc.

by Jackie

Over the last 16 years, Jackie has built a remarkable career in Customer Service in different capacities and industries. As a Customer Experience Trainer, her mission is focused on helping businesses make more and retain more customers through unrivalled Customer Experience. She has an in-depth CX understanding that stems from personal experiences, learning & research all fueled by my passion and commitment to see customers happy and organizations thriving. She is the Co-founder, CEO, and Senior Consultant at Customer Centric Kenya, the consulting and training firm of choice. Her tailor-made training-approach has been a key strength. The companies she has worked with have appreciated some key aspects: → The well-researched and packaged modules. → The depth of training and tailoring. → The applicability and follow up. If You Want to Stay Current with The Latest Customer Service Insights, News, Trends and Predictions, Join her Newsletter. → GO HERE: https://rb.gy/qucj4k To Book or Get More Information on Training write to us: jackie@customercentric.co.ke info@customercentric.co.ke

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