The Fear

With so many companies jumping headfirst into social media this year and with headlines detailing the horrors of online identity theft, bad blogs, CEO's Facebooking things they shouldn't etc. I thought it appropriate to write a quick post about the state of affairs since staying away from social media out of fear isn't really an option anymore.
Think of the side affects of social media like flossing. Regular attention to your content portals will keep them free of spammy comments, old content, and incorrect information.
1) There are predators, thieves, and competitors reading your content as well as your customers. Be aware that a bad review isn't the worst thing you can get online and protect yourself and your brand. Don't create a Facebook page for your brand and let "anyone" friend you. Facebook is pretty good about keeping their site relatively free of scammers and spammers but you should keep an eye on your own page. Some people simply should keep Facebook to a minimum. My doctor asked me about having a Facebook page or a blog and to be honest, I think that if your business depends on your personal reputation, you'll need to be extremely careful about what type of information you're putting out there.
2) Monitor comments on your company blog closely and keep an eye out for both scammers and extreme ill-wishers. Erase their comments but don't engage.
3) Transparency is a good thing. Your customers want to hear from your brand and want to tell you ways to better your business and what their experience with you is. Negative reviews are not really so bad and I have had clients make great changes to a product based on customer comments with markedly different reviews post-change.
4) Don't leave social media to the interns. No offense, we love our interns but allowing the first person in the company who wants to start a company Twitter feed to do so isn't a great idea. My advice? Gather ideas company wide. Some of the best social media ideas could be formulating in your accounting dept. or at the front desk, just make sure that when you implement them that it's being done by someone who is very familiar with the company culture and that all of the messaging is consistent with what you want your public perception to be.

~~ Caitlin