You can’t have a business plan without including a plan for running social media. Having an online presence is essential to establishing your brand, reaching potential customers, and getting your company’s message out to the world. The benefits of social media are endless, but there are potential risks that go along with the reward. These tips will help you manage these risks to protect the reputation of your company while still benefiting from everything that social media has to offer.
The Risk of Brand Voice
Social media is a representation of your company online. The voice you convey and the messages you are sending out directly impact the way your audience perceives your brand. Before posting on your social media channels, figure out what you want the voice of your company to be, and make sure you keep this consistent across all of your channels. What tone and language do you want to maintain? If you have other employees who will also be posting on your company’s channels, make sure they understand that a consistent voice is key.
The Risk of Customer Complaints
When your company has an online presence, unhappy customers may use your media outlets to reach out and express concern with your service, products, etc. When dealing with customer complaints, always have social media guidelines for how to reply to these comments. These guidelines will help anyone who is managing your company’s social accounts construct a thoughtful apology to any complaint, and direct the customer to a solution. Customer complaints on social media are common; thoughtful and timely replies show your audience that you are involved and are there to help solve any problems.
The Risk of Time Management
The Internet never sleeps. Over time you will see that your audience will be commenting and interacting with your channels at all hours of the day. Running your social media channels will never be a 9-5 job. In order to properly run your social channels, you need to have the bandwidth and time to be able to interact with comments promptly. Your audience will be expecting a response and will be more understanding if they receive a reply quickly. If you are going to run your own social media channels, make sure you have the time and ability to consistently check your channels for comments from customers.
With any opportunity, there is always a risk. If you do not feel like you have the tools or the experience to run your own social media channels, try one of our social media bootcamps! Over four weeks, our classes teach you everything you need to know about running social media for your business. Sign up for our October Social Media Bootcamp today!
