This is something that has been discussed as of late in dance forums and groups as well as something that has irritated me in the past as well so I figured why not blog about it?
Do not tag people in your photos or posts unless they are the ones in them. I’ve seen a rash of this lately and it’s just not done. What you are doing is alienating your customers and in some cases your colleagues. Not only can they remove the tag but they can report and block you. So you are ensuring that not only their but their friends- could be a huge possible client base- never seen your post again.
Here are the 4 reasons why you should and can use tags:
1. The person is in the flyer. If that person is coming to teach a class near you or in your area, then by all means tag them. Let them know that you are supporting their event or if you are hosting, then a way for them to get the flyer to share. tagging someone when it’s their photo is completely OK.
2. It’s an all dancer alert of some kind. Did someone’s costume get stolen? is there a costumer that 6 mths ago took your money and didn’t send a costume? Things like this can result in tagging dancers to increase the awareness and get the word out. You’d be surprised how something in Texas can show up in New York!
3. They have taken classes with you. If you tag your students so they know when the next class is in order to make sure it comes up on their timeline with Facebook recent algorithm changes, fine. But make sure these are also people who wanted to know or who signed up for your mailing list to find out. An email newsletter is a good option too!
4. You have gotten permission ahead of time. In this instance, the person has agreed to cross promote with you from time to time and has said it is OK for you to tag. This could be in reference to events or workshops that would be of interest to your respective client bases. Of course, this also means that you should allow them to tag you in theirs in return.
I hope this post has been useful for you. Feel free to comment with your own rules or suggestions. The more we put the information out there, the more educated everyone is and the less annoying tags we will get!