Are There Any Ethics Left Within the Social Media Marketplace?

// April 14th, 2009 // Wisdom

With recent Web 2.0 and social media technology taking the world by storm, it hasn’t taken long for the hoards of individuals as well as companies and advertisers to embrace the new trend in communication. However, as we have seen more often lately, the entire trend of technology has been ballooning and evolving faster than our ability to understand where its going or how to use it correctly.

Taking the viral nature of this new paradigm into account along with its ever increasing choke hold on personal privacy, now more than ever we must take a step back and look at the big picture and consider the ethics of the usage of such personally encroaching technology. We, as business owners and consumers alike, need to start asking the questions… How do I put the full power and potential of this technology to use without negatively affecting the experience of any other users in cyberspace but rather finding techniques and strategies of using this amazing technology to positively impact the experience for each person within the online social community.

Here are a few guidelines (courtesy of the YOUmoz blog site) to keep in mind for you marketers out there concerned with staying ethical and avoiding a harsh public backlash from your honest efforts to establish social marketing campaigns:

Social Media Campaign Goals for Small Business:

1. Have people engage in positive conversations about XYZ Company

* In Social Networks, Forums, Twitter and Blogs

2. Provide useful information

* Teach people about the benefits of your products/services

* Give people useful tips to deal with problems

3. Create friendships and communities

* Develop circles and connections in the online community

* Have friends on Facebook

4. Listen to customer feedback

* Track both positive and negative feedback

5. Become a trusted source!

* You want to create so much trust that people in forums ask for your advice

Rules of Engagement:

1. Transparency

* Never post as a ‘customer’

* If someone asks who you are, tell them you are an XYZ Company Employee

2. Never fight, provoke, flame or offend

* Do not respond to criticism of the company unless specifically asked; even then, send the Marketing Manager an email first so you can respond appropriately

* Do not enter controversial topics

3. Inform – do not promote

* You should never say “try our product’

* You can suggest your types of products as long as you provide information. If someone says they have problems, don’t suggest your Brand Name Product, but give information about the products like yours– they will find your Brand Name when they search for what you told them to search for. You should also give tips that will help with their problem even if it doesn’t require buying a product.

4. Don’t insert links in forum posts – allow the signature to act as a link

5. Don’t respond to post more than 3 months old (use your judgment)

6. Don’t answer a question that has already been answered unless you can honestly add something useful

7. If you are posting as yourself or your own web personality, do it from home

via YOUmoz | Social Media and Ethics for Small Businesses.