To say that the last few weeks have been a minefield online would be the understatement of 2022 for small business owners. Whether you’re using your social media platforms to make your voice heard or not, things get extra complicated for people who also use their social media to promote their goods and services. 

On top of being expected to post regularly, entertain, educate and create connections, there is often an added expectation to either post—or not post—when tensions are high across all platforms. 

I’m not here to tell you what you should be doing with your business profiles because, at the end of the day, you should do what’s best for your audience and for your business. However, I did want to check in with a few things I encourage my clients and students to avoid online. 

1. Avoid Obscenity/Profanity/Swear Words 

As much as you might want to use some choice words online, it’s a good overall rule to avoid obscenity on your social media platforms for your business. Unless your brand voice includes profanity on the regular, of course—like a local favourite, Classy Cards, who pulls off profanity in a deeply relatable way. 

Your social media presence is your first impression, and it should be a reflection of your brand values. While you might swear in your everyday life, and you want to be authentic online—it still might not be the best idea to drop cuss words everywhere if you’re hoping to connect online. 

2. Avoid Unrelated Ranting

We all love a good rant once in a while; Someone cuts you off in traffic, or your coffee order was wrong, I totally get it. Sometimes you really need to just vent about how your day is going and how you feel online. 

However, rants that are unrelated to your business should be saved for coffee dates and dishing with your friends instead of using your business's social media platforms. 

The last thing you want to do is portray yourself as a negative person or mix up the messaging you’re putting out online. You shouldn’t take the chance that the first time someone interacts with your business profiles, they’re getting a rant about your day instead of content that will educate them on how your business helps solve their problems. 

Make those personal profiles private and rant away—but keep it off your business accounts. 

3. Avoid Religious Posts

This one causes a lot of controversies, but I stand by it when I say: Your business profile is not a place for your religious beliefs unless it relates to your business. 

There are only a few instances where posting about your religious beliefs is widely appropriate. Those are: 

• If you’re representing a religious organization and posting on their accounts, so all of your followers have opted in for this kind of content

• If your religious beliefs are a core part of your brand voice and story and they have been published in the about sections of all of your platforms, so your audience has consented to receive this content. 

• If your product or service is related to your religion. 

• If you’re posting on your personal account. 

When you are representing a brand that doesn’t have religion as a part of its target demographic, it’s best to keep it as non-denominal as possible to avoid alienating anyone in a way that could be seen as discrimination. 

4. Avoid Posting Insensitive And Offensive Content

We’ve all heard about scandals where the only defence available was ‘I was joking,’ right? Or ‘They took what I said out of context.’ 

A lot of people use humour to diffuse a situation or make themselves feel comfortable with a situation happening around them. But if your statements can be screen-capped or taken a different way out of context, best to avoid them altogether. 

In the same vein, racism, sexism, anti-lgbtqia2s+, anti-religion-of-any-kind and any other forms of discrimination have no place on your social media feeds. 

Say it with me: ‘I will not post offensive content on my business feeds no matter what I think or feel at any time. And that includes sharing anything that supports offensive beliefs.’ 

5. Avoid Drug And Alcohol-related posts

While many people occasionally post about kicking back with a glass of cider at the end of a long week, this shouldn’t be a regularly occurring post. (Unless you’re selling wine or spirits, in which case, Salut!)

Many people on social media struggle with addictions, and it’s best to be as sensitive as possible on your business social media. This is another post to save for your private accounts.  

6. Avoid Posting Negative Opinions Of Others (Your Boss, Politician, Co-worker, Friend, etc.)

The news coverage of someone saying something, being published online, and getting fired is so common these days, it should be a given that using your public social media platforms to badmouth another person can very quickly lead to terrible consequences. 

For your professional feeds, avoid talking about other people. You don’t want your brand to be seen as one that will bad-talk things publicly online. Even if you’re responding to an unwarranted bad review on one platform or another, make sure you’re responding in a calm, unemotional manner, as other people will judge your business on your interactions. 

7. Avoid Poor Grammar

We all make grammar mistakes when we’re interacting online, but it does contribute to the perception of your brand when you make them all the time. 

Especially if you’re mixing up simpler things like: ‘There’, ‘Their’, and ‘They’re.’

Here’s a handy list from Hubspot on 30 grammar mistakes we have got to stop making this year to keep handy when writing for social. 

8. Check For Poor Spelling

Similar to #7, poor spelling is right up there with poor grammar in making you look bad online.

Here’s a list of 100 commonly misspelled words, proving that you’re not alone in questioning if you’ve used the right word for your latest tweet. Just make sure to use a spelling/grammar checker like Grammarly prior to hitting send. 

9. Never Post Threats

In case this needs to be said—don’t write threats online. This goes for both personal and business accounts as well. Even if you’re saying something as a joke, if it can be taken as a threat out of context, scrap it and post something else.

If you find yourself in a situation where you want to post something vaguely threatening online, take a deep breath and call someone instead. 

10. Avoid Confusing Your Business Account with Your Personal Account

This is vital if you are handling social media for a brand or business. Especially if that business is not owned by you. 

All of the things mentioned above are generally more acceptable for a personal account. No one here is saying you can’t rant about your personal feelings on your private personal pages. 

However, always be very careful when doing so that you are, in fact, posting privately. Many platforms are giving more power to users to privatize their accounts, so if you’re posting any of the above, look into how to secure your private pages and then make sure you’re checking when you post to them. 

The Golden Rule

If all else fails and you’re not sure about what you’re about to post, I always tell my clients and students these two things: 

• If you don’t feel comfortable saying it to your grandparents over tea, don’t post it.

• If you wouldn’t put it up on a billboard with your picture, don’t post it.  

Getting your business online is more important than ever, and like all good things, it takes time to build a really strong and resilient presence. There aren’t any shortcuts or quick ‘make-it-go-viral’ fixes should you ruin your profiles and have to start under a new name.