Being active on social media is almost required to run a successful business these days. We also know that it can be difficult to gain and maintain an active following. This is why it is extremely important to make sure you create and approach your social media accounts in a professional manner.
Creating Business Social Media Accounts
One of the most important things to do when creating profiles for your business is to use a business email address (for example: marketing@companyname.com). Do not allow an employee to use their own email when setting up social media accounts. We’ve seen companies let go of employees and lose access to accounts because they hadn’t been set up using a business-owned email address.
Employee retaliation can even result in the account being deleted with no option for recovery. This means you would lose access to the audience you worked so hard to build up. You’ll have to start all over which can be a large waste of time and money. Make sure to use a company email and keep track of your passwords!
Posting to Your Business Social Media
Nowadays, there are too many social media platforms to keep up with. It is time-consuming to jump from platform to platform and make individual posts. Thankfully, there are tools available which make this process much faster and easier. Using a program like Hootsuite helps by enabling you to schedule posts to almost any social media platform from one location, all at the same time. It will also allow you to schedule posts out for days when you aren’t going to be at the office. Scheduling ahead like this also gives you time to proof each post before it goes live. You can even send the draft around internally to get another set of eyes on it before any embarrassing mistakes go out to your audience. If Hootsuite isn’t your cup of tea, there are many other alternatives for you to choose from.
Having Social Media Guidelines
Making sure you have a company social media policy in place is important. Your social media policy should outline that an employee’s online activity reflects on the company and employee. It should remind employees of your company’s privacy and confidentiality rules. Setting rules in a policy ensure that nothing gets posted that shouldn’t. Your policy should educate and train your employees about using social media on behalf of the company while presenting a consistent corporate image. Keeping your posts on-brand and relevant will help them stand out from the crowd.
Conclusion
To maintain the security and longevity of your social media accounts, make sure they are created with company credentials. Use a scheduling program like Hootsuite to plan and proof posts before they go live. Lastly, have a clear social media policy in place to ensure the appropriateness of the content being posted. You can always call in a professional to handle your company’s social media. Appletree MediaWorks has an on-staff Social Media Specialist that is experienced in managing social media accounts for businesses like yours.
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