The immense opportunity offered by social media is not without its risks. Brands now carry the responsibility that accompanies an “always-on” presence on social media. With the appropriate strategies, your growing brand can be active on social media without falling victim to brand-damaging events.
Social media security threats continue to grow year over year. Scams on social media grew by 150 percent across Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn in 2016 (Hootsuite, 2018). The risks of not being secure on social media include eroded brand trust, revenue damage, and a decrease in return on investment. Crucially, the biggest risk is “doing nothing at all”.
Identify and remove neglected social accounts
By identifying and shutting down accounts that don’t add value to your business, you can ensure a consistent brand voice across all your social channels.
Update your password policy
Everyone using your organisation’s social accounts should be subject to this policy, which should include at least the following minimum requirements: complex passwords, two-factor authentication, and single sign-on functionality.
Create a social media policy
By creating a social media policy, you establish a set of processes and protocols for your brand channels. Most importantly, you make all employees accountable for protecting your brand from malicious behavior.
Train your employees
The new reality of bringing your own device (BYOD) policies significantly increases security risk. That’s why all employees should undergo basic social media awareness training, regardless of whether they use your organisational accounts or not.
Set up an approval hierarchy for social media outreach
All of your company’s branded social accounts should be protected by a clear approval system to ensure nothing goes on social media without the right approval. This significantly reduces the risk of human error
Use social listening
Social listening sets you up to address complaints, negative brand sentiment, or spammy messages before they escalate. It’s an excellent way to uncover new opportunities, but also an important aspect of protecting your brand on social media.
By making brand protection a priority for your social accounts, you can stop harmful behavior, minimise the cost of brand incidents, and stop disasters early. Invest in a secure future for your business.
