How to Mess up your Social Media – Part 1
I was asked to do a 20 minute presentation at the last Mercurious Networking Meeting and true to the hostesses form (Belinda from ABC accounting) she didn’t want boring, she didn’t want preachy, she wanted different and slightly crazy!!
So my first official networking presentation …. Nothing standard then. No worries, I can do different and I am slightly crazy, I stepped up to the plate and ran a workshop based on “Social Media Mess Ups”. Not your top 10 ways to do well on Social Media, the ways you can really mess it up and make sure your time and effort isn’t worth it and doesn’t pay off.
The presentation received some excellent feedback and I couldn’t have been more pleased (and neither was Belinda …. Phew!) and because of this I have decided to run the presentation as a series. So starting now each week I will explain ways you can mess up your social media.
As always feel free to comment and feedback!!!
Number One – Don’t train your staff
Why would you want to make sure your staff are aware of what is expected of them on Social Media, what you do and don’t expect them to talk about? How could this possibly not go wrong?
Well your staff could be talking about the business, your business, online and not be considering the larger implications this could have.
Two examples. The first …. are you having a quiet business day, it’s near the end of the month, it’s usually quiet at this time but you keep that to yourself as a business owner as you don’t feel customers need to know this information. But as a member of the team is a bit bored they’re not utilising the time refreshing their skills or doing a job for the business – they’re online, on Facebook or Twitter complaining about how bored they are due to how quiet work is right now. What impression is this giving of your business to her connections? How do you feel about this taking place?
The second …. A customer complains about the service / product you’ve provided. You deal with the complaint effectively face to face with the customer but they were abrupt to a member of staff initially before they calmed down. The member of staff takes to social networks to complain about the customer who upset them. This to the employee is a harmless way of venting about their day, however, the complainant is a friends family member and now your business is linked to being rude and disrespectful to a customer who left your business content with your response …. Until they heard about this attack from a member of your team.
Both are simple unfortunate mistakes that could take place by a member of your team without considering the wider implications.
What you need to do!!
- Train your team, make sure they are aware of the implications their social media activity could have on the business they work for and potentially on their future employment.
- Formalise through agreements or policies what you are happy for employees to disclose, discuss or promote online
- Consider who has access to your business Facebook page, Twitter account etc and make sure they know what you expect and what your plans for the Social Media plans are.
I hope that’s useful as Part 2 is coming next week 
…. and as always if you need a hand with your social media, or want to chat through your current your staff training arrangements get in touch with me Karen, on 07730525349
