All That Posts Is Not Gold

When we hit that post or send button, there is no taking it back; no do-overs or mulligans. It’s on its way to the legions of followers you have on your social network pages. Whether it was meant to be seen or not, it’s there for all the screenshots to be taken. Depending on the severity of it, it may even be on the front page of the next day's newspaper. The power of posts, tweets and the presence of social media never ceases to amaze. They have become the go to place for any news on a personal level and surprisingly, on a professional level as well.

As a business, your main goal, besides making profit, is to make your customers experience shopping with you a memorable one, so they keep coming back. Social media has done a great job of getting the customer as close to their favorite company without actually going inside the factory. Situations arise sometimes and it becomes hard to decide how much information to disclose to the public. It often gets the company in hot water, not just with its customers, but governing bodies who regulate and set rules for what information can be released. Businesses also have to deal with their employees using social media to post things about the company that was not meant to be disclosed just yet. It now puts the company in a position to have to enforce policies about the proper use of social media in regards to their company. Businesses also have to deal with their employees venting about their displeasure with work, or in some instances, about a customer who they feel stiffed them on a tip.

Proper use of social media is now more important than ever. You're no longer dealing with your own personal account when you are in charge of your company's account. Today, businesses must hold training classes on the dos and don'ts of dealing with social media on a corporate level. What social media can offer you in growth and exposure, it can also offer an unimaginable amount of negative press. Educating everyone from the CEO to the stock clerk on how to conduct themselves on social media can be the difference between a successful company and one that isn't. Someone is always watching looking to catch the slightest infraction, which could have been avoided if your company was properly trained on using social media.