The Importance of Avoiding Social Blunders

The Importance of Avoiding Social Blunders

As a Chicago FranchisePublic Relations Agency, we understand that social media can be a double-edged sword.  In a matter of second, your 140-character tween could have your brand ‘trending’ for better or worse. Since the beginning of social media, several companies have fallen victim to the all too familiar rogue tweets and communication blunders.  This often times happens by accident because company or organization social media accounts are linked to personal accounts and the administrator forgets to switch usernames before posting.

For example, Cynthia Soledad, the head of KitchenAid, made a large Twitter error after the presidential election in November 2012.  She tweeted her negative thoughts towards the election referencing President Obama’s deceased grandmother from the KitchenAid Twitter instead of her own.  The company quickly deleted the offensive message and issued a public apology, but the tweet went viral in seconds and was retweeted numerous times.  This mistake required a strong Chicago crisis communication agency like All Points Public Relations to help render the blunder.

While many people may be shaking their head and wondering how something like that could happen, it actually happens quite frequently in Chicago social media and elsewhere.  Our PR agency has come up with a few tips for you to consider in for you franchise public relations agency to prevent any social media mishaps in your PR campaign. 

Think before you tweet: It is important to remember you are protecting and building an image.  Social media pages should mirror the company's brand. Keep your franchisesocial media professional, and if it sounds like something you wouldn't tell your mother it is probably not the best status to post.

Always log out: Blunders often happen because an employee thought they were posting on a personal page.  Once the mistake was realized, the post had already gone viral. General rule of thumb, always log out and your company won’t be in need of our Chicago crisis communication agency.

The world is watching:  Knowing your audience is key and with social media, your audience is the world.  You need to be up on current events and remain empathetic/neutral to sensitive issues.

No posting after hours: There is a saying that nothing good will happen after 2am.  Well, in social media, nothing good will happen after 10pm for any PR campaign.  Your online persona could be tarnished by a regrettable 'retweet,' a sarcastic joke or an unflattering photo.  It's best to save the social media updates for working hours and working hours only.

People do make mistakes: Nobody is perfect and mistakes will be made.  If in need, you can depend on All Points Public Relations as your Chicago crisis communications agency.