Social media presence and marketing has become a must for most businesses these days, and you can’t have a complete branding and marketing strategy without at least one social media component. However, what many aren’t aware of are the many dangers you are facing when having a social media profile.
Malicious imposters can use the platform to steal your credentials and access important metrics about your business or pose as you to hurt your reputation. That’s why you need to have a social media security plan in place to make sure that you mitigate these risks and act quickly in case you are a victim. Let’s take a look at what you can do to protect your brand on social media.
Have a Clear and Solid Social Media Policy in Place
You should have clear guidelines on how social media is being used in your organisation. You can’t leave what is acceptable or not to interpretation.
This will not only ensure that your team members have a clear understanding of what can’t and can be done on social media, but it will make them accountable in case something happens. Your policy should include things such as your brand’s voice and vision, social media goals for the organisation, and who is allowed to represent and speak on behalf of your company online. There should also be clear regulations, rules, and privacy guidelines that should be followed, as well as consequences for violating them.
Make Sure You and Your Employees are in Tune
Attacks from within should be one of your main concerns. If there are things brewing with the company, or if employees feel disengaged, they may use social media as an outlet.
This is why you should give them a platform for them to voice their concerns. Make sure that you have an open-door policy, and allow them to speak to you offline about their issues. Also, allow them to report dissension or suspicious behaviour from other employees anonymously.
Do Some Social Listening
There are no barriers to what can be said about a business online. It’s essential that you monitor your brand’s reputation and possible attacks on it. There are over 87,500 tweets being sent every single day online, and without help, it will be impossible for a human to catch everything that is being said on social media.
One option would be to work with online brand protection services for businesses. These services will be able to gauge whether there are people trying to smear your brand by creating false profiles or using these profiles to get information from your clientele. These services will allow you to know when possible fraudulent profiles are being set up fast, and let you know. They’ll also be able to identify credential theft through malware and block them by disrupting command servers.
While social media can be a great way to build brand awareness, and reach thousands of people quickly and at a low cost, it pays to be cautious. Make sure that you follow these few tips and always try to find ways to tighten up security, plug holes, and make sure everyone’s onboard in your organisation.