Social media is the number one way of marketing your brand. But it’s also a potential minefield for your reputation. Statistics revealed that 80% of HR professionals search for names of potential hires and other companies online. Many companies have humiliated themselves in the realm of social media. It requires some thought and organization on how to do it because embarrassing yourself is easier than you may think.
This guide is going to teach you all about how to avoid messing up on social media.
Dealing with Criticism
The Internet has enabled people to connect with each other and share opinions across the globe. Unfortunately, it’s also given a platform for morons to speak their stupid opinions. Every company receives one of these people sooner or later on, social media.
You may be tempted to respond because, after all, they are completely and utterly wrong. This is a mistake. Rather than proving how intelligent you are, you are demonstrating a sneering contempt for one of your patrons. It may not be designed this way, but this is how many will see it.
The best way to handle this is to maintain your position and attempt to help them as you would any other customer. This will make you look professional while leaving the idiot looking silly. Always keep a cool head and take a deep breath before you respond.
Sharing with an Impulse
Recently, Donald Trump shared a quote from a Twitter account. Unknowingly, he shared a quote from Italian fascist dictator Benito Mussolini. This led to a lot of embarrassment on his part. He had to pass it off as claiming he knew all along what he was doing.
Sticky situations like this are always awkward and could lead to you alienating a portion of your audience. The way to get around this is to check the sources of everything you share. Don’t just click a button. Think about how someone is going to react to something.
If in doubt, don’t share it.
What Happens Online Stays Online
Sometimes companies can gain a lot of attention through sharing edgy and controversial content. This can work well if done right, but there’s a low margin for error. If you slip over the line, you can find yourself in a situation where you are on the receiving end of a major backlash.
Always keep in mind that what happens online stays online when dealing with social media. Even deleting a status update doesn’t stop someone from saving the update and re-uploading it.
Again, if you are in any doubt, don’t share it.
Is it for the Right Audience?
Sometimes you can damage your online reputation by sharing content with the wrong audience. Sometimes this can happen because you simply decided to copy and paste the same update to multiple streams. This is lazy sharing and your audience will pick it up.
Keep in mind that outside of Twitter and Facebook all audiences are specialist. Consider whether a piece of content is relevant to a specific audience or not.
How to Repair Your Online Social Media Reputation?
All companies will make mistakes. This is the reality of being human. Making a mistake doesn’t have to be the end of the world. You can turn the situation around simply by repairing your online reputation. How you go about this depends on the type of mistake you made.
In the event that you offended or upset someone, the first step is to apologize. Do this publicly so everyone can see that you are doing your best to make amends. You may even want to throw in a bonus, such as a discount coupon so you can sweeten the deal.
The next step is to perform a self-audit of your social media setup to make sure that it doesn’t happen again. Prevention is the best cure.
Apart from apologizing and doing your best to prevent any similar mistakes in the future, all you can do is allow time to heal the wound. There’s nothing else you can do. Most companies will recover from it by simply not repeating the mistake.
Form a Solid Strategy
By far the best option is to create a solid social media strategy from the very beginning. Make sure you have the right people on your team and make it clear what you want from that team. Stipulate what is and what isn’t acceptable.
Keep up a process of regular monitoring and provide feedback so your team knows where they are and what they need to do to improve.
How will you maintain your online reputation today?
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