- [Instructor] Because social media
feels like a place where people can just be themselves,
people say things they wouldn't often say in public.
As a brand, you have to rise above that,
you need to set limits on what you post,
but you still need to come across as authentic.
One trick I use is the New York Times test.
Just before I'm about to publish something,
I ask myself,
would I still be comfortable with what I'm saying here
if I saw this post plastered over the front page
of the New York Times?
One other thing to think about is
on the internet you don't know who's in the audience.
If the person you're responding to or someone watching
turned out to be related to the CEO
do you feel like you'd be able
to justify or explain this post?
Say it out loud,
if you stumble on the words or it sounds boring or needy,
or something is wrong,
it probably will be wrong in text form them too.
Write like you speak and it'll be much more relatable.
These are a few topics to avoid,
I call this the danger zone,
violence, sex,
profanity, religion,
race, politics.
Some brands can talk about these topics
and you have to approach them carefully,
but usually you just want to steer clear from them
unless you have direct approval from the CEO
or someone high up to post what you're posting.
Another thing I recommend is to have a copy
of the company values ready for when you're posting.
If you go through your company values
and if they are well-written like Airbnb's for example,
you can actually test your social posts
against the values of the company.
So for Airbnb, you can say,
be a host, care for others
and make them feel like they belong.
Okay, with this post,
do I feel like I'm caring for others?
Do I feel like I'm making them belong?
Well, if I'm not then maybe this is the wrong thing to post.
Spending some time on developing your social media etiquette
can make your campaigns perform better,
but also decrease the risk of a big blowup.
If your team can trust you to not cross the line,
you can safely get much closer to the line
which is where all the fun is.