There are topics and attitudes that should be avoided completely when it comes to your online presence as a business. Offending anyone (especially your customers) is wrong and detrimental to your business. Offending only one person could be disastrous, even though it may seem insignificant. Don’t make this mistake like Nestlé did. Sure, it was presumably harmless the way it started out, but clearly the employee didn’t know how to handle the situation or  the comments that followed. Nestle simply stated that if no one wanted to follow their rules about their company logo being altered and used as a profile picture, their comments would be deleted. Kind of rude, right? Regardless, people responded defensively in a, “don’t tell us what to do!” tone. You can read the article here. “B2b marketers believe social media is critical to organic search success. Marketers rate social media as the second-most important factor (64%) in search, behind only strong content (82%).”  – BtoB Magazine Content is important, don’t make these mistakes while interacting on social networks: 1. Negativity. Not helpful. People respond negatively to negative comments or statements.  You don’t want to ruin relationships you have worked so hard creating.  An article by Rick A Conlow called, “How much Do Unhappy Customers Cost?”  shares the statistics of the ripple effect of poor customer service.

• 25% of customers are likely to say something positive about their experience
• 65% are likely to speak negatively
• 23% of customers who had a positive service interaction told 10 or more people about it
• 48% of customers who had a negative experience told 10 or more people

2. Being sexist, prejudice or racist. This will stir up arguments and angry comments, they’re all inappropriate attitudes. It should be common sense. 3. Talking about religion. It’s another sensitive topic that should be avoided, unless you’re a church. This is pretty self-explanatory.   4. Talking politics. Are you in politics? If not, there’s no excuse for posting or commenting about the subject. If you decide to delve into politics, you have the potential to lose a large amount of followers. Why? It could cause heated arguments between fans and followers. They might even try to coerce you into arguing about the subject. It’s a safe precaution that savvy businesses and employees abide by.   5. Selling. Have you ever logged onto Facebook hoping your New Feed was filled with sales pitches? No. You should be ‘selling’ knowledge and expertise on your social media platforms. And maybe a picture of the grumpy cat that looks like gizmo from Gremlins.   6. Don’t bash the competition. This is an important rule in sales, and definitely applies to your social networks as well. Even if you get a comment on your Twitter bashing the competition, don’t respond in agreeance. Often people believe that this can strengthen your relationship and bond with the prospect, but often the opposite happens. They will often associate your competition and your company on the same level, and leave the trust behind. “Oh, supermarket A said their apples were delicious but you found them sour? Yuck. I promise our apples are sweet.” The chances are, when supermarket A was asked about their apples, they said they were sweet too. Since both companies have said their products are the great, the prospect will most likely assume that your business is just like the last. Also, bashing the competition is childish and it won’t get you anywhere positive.   7. No complaining. Period. To be honest, no one really cares about how you tripped and spilled your coffee all over yourself on your way to work. It’s not going to help your readers in any sort of way and it’s definitely not productive. If you need to talk about how someone has wronged you, look for a friend or a family member, not the vast online world of Facebook, Twitter, your business blog, etc.   8. Getting personal –  Is not for your Facebook business page. Whether you’re talking about traffic woes or what color underwear you’re wearing – no one really cares. Facebook even said it, “A Facebook Page is a public profile that enables you to share your business and products with Facebook users.”  Facebook said nothing about including your personal life.