Australian owned business, Frank Body, recently demonstrated that you shouldn't be afraid to lay down the law on the rules of acceptable communication on your corporate social media platform.

Although only a few years young, the body scrub and skincare products business boasts an impressive 657,000 Instagram Followers (@frank_body). There's no doubt that they know how to make the most of social media to spread brand awareness with their customer base!

A recent Instagram post by Frank Body acknowledged that there was an issue with some of the content that their audience and general Internet trolls posted on its Instagram posts as well as images posted by other consumers who had branded their posts with the Frank Body endorsed hashtags: #letsbefrank and #thefrankeffect.

In the interests of full disclosure, I'm a fan of Frank Body products and follow the company on Instagram so when I came across their recent post on social media etiquette I thought it was a humorous way of getting their message out, and something that would be useful for other businesses to take note of.

Frank Body shared the cheeky Instagram post below, with the comment: "people often seem to forget their manners when it comes to the online world. So I've put together a few rules to live by. Head to my blog to learn more. #letsbefrank".

People were directed to the company's blog which listed Frank Body's 10 commandments for acceptable social media discourse. The post appears to have been well-received by followers, achieving in excess of 6000 'likes'.

In previous blogs, we've looked at various case studies where businesses have dealt with specific incidents on social media that had the potential to either make or break a brand's reputation. In some instances businesses have done particularly well in dealing with a potential social media crisis, on other occasions the ball was dropped a little.

Many social media savvy businesses have implemented appropriate strategies and policies geared at educating employees on the rules of engagement in the online world. Sadly, businesses haven't been as successful in communicating these same rules to consumers engaging through their social media platforms.

This is concerning when you consider that Australian courts have held individuals accountable for their posts or comments on social media in circumstances where the offending content has been established as being defamatory. I'm fairly certain that you wouldn't want your business being perceived as endorsing any form of online defamation, harassment or bullying so it's a given that you should be a step ahead and take all necessary steps to minimise the risk of exposure in what third parties post on your corporate social media platforms.

Frank Body was able to use humour to communicate to its audience about where the line in the sand is drawn - needless to say the tongue in cheek approach (and more specifically the use of the 'poop' emoji) won't necessarily align with your business' branding or image. However, the underlying principle of setting a clear standard on what type of consumer communication and engagement is acceptable in your online environment is something that your business should do.

What you should keep front of mind is the focus on discharging your corporate responsibility to those who wish to engage with your brand via social media, and minimising the risk of exposure to your business. If you can find a memorable or playful way of getting your message across to social media users then from where I'm standing this can only be a positive for your brand.

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