One of the most popular needs we hear from the business community are for guidelines of what they should and shouldn’t be doing on their social media profiles. After experiencing how local businesses interact (or sometimes don’t interact) with their followers, it seems some businesses understand successful behaviors in online communities, while others could use some pointers.

Below are a few bits of advice for Twitter that I give to any business we work with. I’m using Twitter this time around, because we have an extremely active Lawrence community on that specific network. However, this advice could be applied to any other social network based on its features.

First, anyone who follows me on Twitter may have seen similar comments before, so I apologize if these seem redundant. Even if I sound like a broken record, remember that the magic word in all of this is “social.” Just being in the space isn’t enough when it comes to social media.

So, here goes, some very basic but important pointers:

Engage your followers. Never ignore an @ mention or a direct message (unless it’s spam, obviously). Acknowledge positive comments, address negative ones and never leave a question unanswered. You wouldn’t ignore a customer standing in front of you in your business, so you shouldn’t do it online either!

Don’t limit yourself to trying to “sell” your followers. Daily specials and discounts are great things to share – but those shouldn’t be the only things you share. Social media (Twitter especially) is about dialogue. Listen and respond as much – if not more – than you talk.

Don’t treat online relationships differently than offline ones. If you wouldn’t say it to your customer in person, don’t say it to them online.

It’s not a popularity contest. Who you follow and how many followers you have are not the ultimate mark of success. Compare an account with 1,000 unengaged, uninterested followers to an account with 100 loyal, relevant and local followers. The second community is worth more in the long run. Make your focus quality, not quantity.

Don’t spam your community. That’s a great way to lose followers and damage credibility. Don’t post misleading information or links. Don’t use trending hashtags that aren’t relevant just to gain more eyeballs. Unless you’re actually at a live event or part of a topic – don’t use its popularity to get exposure. It will most likely result in a backlash.

Remember, every Tweet that your business (or those openly associated with your business) sends out affects your brand and your reputation.

If you’re responsible for an account, make sure you keep tabs on everything being posted. Be sure you know what is being said on your behalf and monitor how you’re being represented in the online community. One poorly judged update can do significant damage in a short period of time.

Do you have other guidelines that you Tweet by? Leave them in the comments.

Ben