Should your business share opinions on social media?

Key takeaways

Should a business share opinions on social media? Yes, about its own field, where it has expertise and evidence. Views on how the work should be done attract buyers who agree. Views on politics and unrelated social issues rarely help a small business and can cost customers and staff goodwill.

• Opinions about your own trade attract buyers who share them.
• Opinions on politics rarely help and often divide customers.
• 3 questions decide whether to post a view.
• False statements that harm someone's reputation risk a defamation claim.

What kinds of opinion are there?

There are three kinds. Professional opinions concern how your work should be done. Industry opinions concern rules, standards and practices in your sector. Social and political opinions concern everything else. The first two are where a business has standing. The third is where the risk sits.

• How to create social media content that attracts the right customers

Which opinions attract the right customers?

Professional opinions attract the right customers, because they show what it is like to work with you. 'We will not fit a kitchen without a site survey, and here is why' tells a careful buyer you are careful. It also deters buyers who wanted a shortcut, which is useful.

• Thought leadership for small businesses, minus the waffle
• Content that politely repels the wrong customers

What test should a view pass before posting?

Ask three questions. Do we have real expertise or evidence on this? Does it help our customers decide something? Would we be comfortable discussing it with any customer face to face? Three yeses mean post. Any no means leave it, or keep it to a personal account.

• Expertise: do we actually know this subject?
• Relevance: does it help a customer decide?
• Comfort: would we say it to any customer in person?

• Brand voice guidelines for social media

Should a small business comment on social issues?

Usually not, unless the issue is central to what the business does or stands for and it is prepared to act on it. Customers and staff hold a range of views. A statement with nothing behind it reads as opportunism. Local causes you actively support are a different matter.

• Should your business follow social media trends?

What are the legal risks?

The main legal risk is defamation. Under the Defamation Act 2013 a statement is defamatory if it causes or is likely to cause serious harm to someone's reputation, and for a business claimant that means serious financial loss. Criticising a named competitor or customer is where small firms go wrong. Stick to practices, not people.

• Social media policy for UK small businesses
• ASA rules for social media advertising in the UK

How do you handle disagreement?

Expect it, and welcome the reasonable kind. Reply once, calmly, with your reasoning. Do not argue at length in the comments. If a post draws abuse instead of debate, follow your moderation rules. A measured reply in public usually does more for your reputation than the original post.

• How to respond to negative comments and reviews
• When a post goes viral for the wrong reasons

What does this look like in practice?

A pattern we see with UK owner-managed firms: the owner's personal views and the company's posts share one account. Separating the two, and keeping the business account to professional opinions, removes most of the risk without making the business bland.

• See client work
• Social Media Marketing for UK businesses
• The right-customer content scorecard for social media

Opinion post checklist

Before posting a view.

• It concerns your own field.
• You have evidence for it.
• It helps a customer decide.
• It criticises a practice, not a named person or firm.
• A second person has read it.
• You are ready to reply to disagreement calmly.

Next step

Write down three things you believe about how your work should be done that not everyone in your trade agrees with. Those are your safest and most useful opinions.