Community Management: When is Best NOT to Engage

While it can be a common assumption that the more content a brand produces, the better the engagement levels, it is important to be aware of the key instances in which withholding engagement is actually a better social media community management strategy to uphold a positive and respectable brand reputation. This blog will outline some of the vital indicators that should serve as a red flag to remain dark on social media in order to improve and maintain community management tactics. 

Inappropriate Content 

While somewhat self-explanatory and seemingly obvious, it is of utmost importance to avoid social media engagement when it involves inappropriate or explicit content. This rule of thumb goes that when in doubt, refrain from posting. While some brands have taken to a modern approach of keeping with trends and rhetoric of a younger audience, this has skewed negatively for some companies who have taken these too far and fallen short. For example, take a look at the following tweet in which a brand utilized explicit vocabulary, evoking a confused and unamused response from their followers. In contrast, take a look at this tweet, and notice how this brand uses a modern trend to their advantage while still keeping the tone appropriate for their audience. In order to avoid getting stuck in a position where your brand’s reputation is permanently damaged or deemed less respectable, it is always better to avoid content that is questionable and stick to what is reliable.   

False or Unnecessary Information 

Another key point to remember when determining if an engagement on social media is warranted, has to do with the information that is being presented. Brands should always be sure that they are presenting their audience with accurate and timely information regarding their products or services, and with this, brands should be engaging with content that is informed and reliable as well. Further, it is critical for brands to avoid promoting content that is based on falsified information, even if it is regarding the brand itself. In summary, it is essential for brands to create content that is not only beneficial and informative but is competent and trustworthy. This will ensure that your brand maintains a professional and informed image going forward. 

Promoting Competitors 

It is also key for brands to avoid unintentionally promoting their competitors through reposts or their own produced content. While a common social media strategy is to share or emphasize content regarding the field or topic of a brand’s work, it is important to carefully filter through these relevant posts to ensure that  content is helpful to your brand’s site, not counterproductive. Engagement with general posts or brands outside of competitors can still increase excitement and information but avoid all posts that emerge from other brands of the same industry and caliber. 

Monitoring Auto Responses 

Another hugely important aspect of social media engagement for brands is the monitoring of auto responses. An auto response is essentially a pre-crafted, automatically sent message to those who mention or directly message your brand. While this tool can be quite helpful to engage one on one with followers and show acknowledgement, this can also be a dangerous game as you can never be sure what kinds of people will reference your brand or what they may say. Many organizations including the New England Patriots have had mishaps with auto tweets specifically, responding to inappropriate individuals when the system is merely responding to all mentions. Therefore, if your brand chooses to opt into auto responses, this is a great place for community management to be heightened by monitoring more closely to ensure responses only go to those intended. For more information on how engagement with followers can boost a brand’s social media presence, take a look at this Bright Age Blog Post. 

Haters 

One final point of avoidance when it comes to engagement on social media has to do with the infamous social media nuisance, the haters. We all know them, and every brand, digital creator, or influencer has them. However, how you respond to such comments, tweets, or posts makes all the difference in the image of your brand moving forward. While responding to constructive and concerned posts or comments can help show a brand’s commitment to excellence as well as their customers satisfaction, replying to hate comments with the goal of self-defense almost never bodes positively for brands. Take a look at this interaction between one of our clients and a follower of theirs for a great example of positive engagement. In addition, here you can see another well-crafted response from one of our clients, to a dissatisfied customer on Facebook, for an example of how to engage properly with negativity on social media! To sum it up, the best way to remain professional and respectable in your brand’s reputation is to avoid emotion driven responses to hate, and instead reply with calm concern, or in extreme instances of malice, simply ignore the comment all together. 

Ultimately, restraint is essential to the positive image of a brand with a wide and engaged presence on social media. You can further review this Bright Age Blog Post to see just how social media community management impacts the overall behavior of the brand’s audience. However, it is just as important to a brand’s success to know when it is not an appropriate time to engage or post. Walking this fine line helps brands to remain at the cutting edge of information and engagement, while avoiding many of the negative factors and perceptions that a social media presence can garner. All in all, this blog should serve as a friendly reminder that there are instances where restraint on social media outweighs positives that may come from constant and unrelenting engagement. Bright Age can help you stay on top of community management, check out our services today!