People do not understand when it is time to, well, shut up. Most of us have encountered people who talk incessantly, never tiring of words and always annoying everyone around them. Just when you think it is all over, they are back with their army of words to haunt you and scare you until you try and leave the place somehow.
Shut Up is an ancient proverb
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King Solomon had once stated that “Too much talk leads to sin. Be sensible and keep your mouth shut”. Even in ancient times, human beings were not free from the curse of having to listen to chatterboxes, it seems. Back in 2013, when everyone uses Twitter, Facebook and multitudes of social networks, it is easy to understand just how true King Solomon’s Proverb 10:19 really is. Every other day we hear about a company being chastised for saying something wrong, or an employee being fired of badmouthing a company he or she works at.
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Certainly, not knowing when to shut up is not a sin that is unique to 2013 but has existed for millenniums. However, the fact that words can travel so far and so fast, and the fact that they remain accessible forever unless they are deleted, make words very dangerous. When small companies and brands begin to use social media, they should not think about how much to use a particular social network, but instead must think on the lines of how less they must talk, and when they must shut up.
There are a number of situations which may help a company of small brand to learn when to shut up. Here are a few situations:
• People begin to unfollow you when you update
• No one ever retweets or comments on your links or updates
• You feel you are talking to yourself
• You use too many social media automation software programs
• You do not engage in conversations
While all these scenarios are way too common, companies need to know that there are tools which will help them to shut up:
Sayonara and SocialBro
These two tools are exc3ellent to know who unfollowed and when. They let you know each time someone unfollows you and you can sit back and analyze if that happened because you were tweeting too much.
No social engagement
If your followers and fans do not engage with your updates, there really is a strong possibility that you are alienating your audience by tweeting or sharing way too much.
Images and videos
While you may think it is cool to share all those images from the office cake party you had last Friday, your followers and fans may not think so. They may just get annoyed and move to the next brand because you are bothering them with intrusive social media behavior.
Your competitors engage better
If you see more retweets and likes from your competitors, closely follow what they are up to. They will most certainly be engaging better and posting less. No one likes to read a barrage of social media updates even if you think your brand or company is the best.
You are full of yourself
No one likes to listen to a person who speaks about themselves. A person who is full of himself or herself will always alienate his or her friends. Engage with your audience and share useful information that is not only about your brand or company. Prove to your audience that behind those social media accounts, there are people working who genuinely care about the audience.
While it is easy to hire a social media manager who knows what to update and when, it is equally important that as a small company you cut costs. Small brands and companies may not be able to hire a full time social media manager. In such circumstances, knowing how much to tweet and how less to update will help you to save your brand and image. Social media & marketing depend on your online behavior and knowing how less to tweet or update is an important facet of that. Sometimes, when it comes to social media or anywhere else in life, less is more.
