Why Employees Shouldn’t Run Social Media

The Dangers of Letting Your Employees Control Your Company Social Media

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The Dangers of Letting Your Employees Control Your Company’s Social Media Management

In this modern world, social media has become a crucial part of business. It’s is an excellent tool for promoting your business, building relationships with customers, and creating a specific brand. It showcases the character of your company and creates a personality people can relate to on a platform they love.

The majority of America has experience with social media these days— especially the Gen X, Gen Y, and Gen Z generations. It’s tempting to let your employees develop your business’s social media presence. After all, they’ve been navigating the world of social media for years. But writing social media posts for a business is a whole different ballgame.

There are many complex parts involved, such as research, analytics, target audience analysis, strategic messaging, and tone. And if your employees haven’t been coached in these subjects, they might strikeout.

There’s a very real danger that a mix of personal and professional sentiments will end up on your business’s social media feed. Instead of lecturing you on the dangers of letting employees run your company’s social media accounts, we’ll show you some of the social media marketing train wrecks that damaged businesses’ reputations and lost them thousands of customers.

 

Social Media Posts by Employees Gone Wrongkitchen aid tweet

During one of the 2012 presidential debates, the multimillion-dollar kitchen appliance brand, KitchenAid, posted this shockingly derogatory tweet.

This unprofessional tweet, insulting President Obama and his late grandmother, lost KitchenAid masses of followers. Any supporters of Obama or people who thought that the tweet was a low blow were seriously deterred from shopping at KitchenAid ever again, costing the company money as well as followers.

Next on our list is a series of tweets from a British music and film retailer called His Master’s Voice (HMV). HMV is the title of the painting they adopted as an icon for their company.

These embarrassing tweets show what can happen when disgruntled employees manage your social media accounts and are out to get revenge.

HMV probably shouldn’t have had the same employees they were firing running the company social media accounts. This is a solid example of personal conflicts damaging the professional reputation of a company.

Letting someone who works closely within the company manage the social media accounts is a serious risk because if tensions get high, the employee can broadcast their grievances with the company to the entire world. HMV should have kept its social media under higher security and changed the passwords before issuing pink slips.

That’s why it’s always a good idea to have a third party manage company social media accounts.

Last but not least, we have a tweet from the tech company Razer, challenging Apple’s MacBook Pro for its lack of an SD slot.

This cheeky, underhandedly obscene tweet offended thousands of people. After it was met with masses of negative responses, Razer took it down. This is an example of an inappropriate, joking tone that might be acceptable for a personal social media account, but is definitely not acceptable for a business social media account.

 

Your Business’s Social Media Presence is No Joke

When it comes to your business’s social media presence, one mistake can cost you hundreds of customers and damage your reputation permanently. That’s why putting your business’s delicate public image in the hands of your employees is a huge risk. Instead of trusting employees who don’t have the proper training to manage your business’s social media, hire the professionals to look after your company’s carefully crafted brand.

At Catapult Creative Media, we research your target audience, get to know your brand, and analyze your competitors to craft a brilliant social media plan that is specifically tailored to your company. We use data analytics and creative advertising strategies to promote your business and build your brand. To top it off, all of our social media posts are reviewed by you before they are published so you can ensure we are hitting the mark every time. We come up with a creative message, but you have total control over what gets published.

If you’re in need of a talented team of experts to manage your company’s social media. Call Catapult Creative Media today to schedule a consultation with our team.

 

Jessica Smith is a Writing Intern at Catapult Creative Media. She is a senior at LSU concentrating in Political Communication. She has also studied at universities in New Zealand and Indonesia. In her spare time, Jessica enjoys listening to live music and exploring the great outdoors.

Work with Catapult Creative Media Inc. Catapult Creative Media Inc. is a digital marketing and design agency serving south Louisiana and headquartered in Baton Rouge. Founded in 2007, Catapult provides digital, social and mobile marketing solutions backed by relevant strategy and measurable results. Catapult works the web to their clients’ advantage, launching them to their next level of success.

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