Cocktail party etiquette is a lot like social media etiquette. In both cases if you talk about yourself the whole time no one will want to listen. Don’t loose friends and followers because you were being annoying. If you choose to continue down that path people will either walk away from the conversation or unfriend/ unfollow you.
If you are a social media marketer you must have a healthy balance between content that your customers find interesting and useful and content that is promotional. The rules are the same at a cocktail party. Don’t over sell yourself!
Here are three social media tips to remember when trying to follow social media/ cocktail party etiquette.
The 80/20 Rule
Always remember the 80/20 rule when at a cocktail party or when managing your social media page. The 80/20 rule is when you share useful and helpful content 80 percent of the time and the other 20 percent of the time you share promotional content. This rule will help you keep a healthy balance between being helpful and being promotional.
The 80/ 20 rule give people a reason to want to be your friend on social media. The goal is to provide them with information that they can’t get anywhere else - information that is valuable to them. Providing useful and great content to your customers 80 percent of the time will keep them coming back to your social media page.
Answer Questions & Ask Questions
Just like at a cocktail party when you are asked a question on your social media page, answer it. It is good to engage positively with your customers. Make them like you, and show them that your company has a helpful side not just a promotional one. Allow them to learn about you, but don’t over promote yourself. Always remember the 80/20 rule. Try to be a useful tool to them. That is the personality your customers want to see in your company, not a pushy promotional one.
Asking questions can help you deliver better content to your customers. Learning about what they need and want will allow you to understand them better. The information that you learn from your customers will allow you to deliver useful content tailored to them on your social media page. Just like at a cocktail party you learn and listen about others so that you can generate conversations tailored to what you both are interested in.
Share Content
Being able to share other company’s content is a good resource when battling the constant struggle to not talk or promote yourself or company all the time. Share content that is related to your industry or product. Share things that you think your customers will enjoy seeing. Take what you have learned about your customers and use that to your advantage.
Sharing other businesses content is the only way you will be able to abide by the cocktail party rules. Keep it interesting and fun. Mix it up be creative make your posts worth reading.
Social media marketers: if you want your social media page to be attractive to customers just remember to follow the cocktail party etiquette. The 80/20 rule will help you generate your content, always remember to answer and ask questions and don’t forget to share other peoples content. These three tips will help you score at the cocktail party and on your social media page.
