by Peter Smith

Created on: November 16, 2011

While many companies are salivating over ways to incorporate social media into their business model, there are a number of risks and perils that accompany the social sphere that could be potential detrimental to many businesses. Paying particular interest to small companies with underdeveloped branding, social media can really hurt a company that chooses to put out improper material or to engage with the wrong audiences.

At its core, social media allows companies to become more transparent, and to interact with their clients and potential users. Moreover, it allows companies to monitor and manage their presence on the web. Yet, web presence is not always positive.  It is very common for brands or companies to put out information regarding their brand that consumers might view in a negative light. To draw on an example that occurred recently, a distasteful quote from Ashton Kutcher, one of the most formative figures in social media, resulted in his resignation from handling his own Twitter account. Here we have a social figure, an established brand and one of the top 10 most followed people on twitter forced to resign from the social sphere with his brand tarnished all as a result of one simple comment.  Kutcher might have even been able to argue that his tweet had all the best intentions, as he was merely defending Penn State head football coach Joe Paterno. Unfortunately he did not have all of the information before he tweeted, and came off as both socially unaware and inconsiderate.

Social Media can also spell danger for businesses that fail to have policies for their employee’s social media usage. It is imperative that any company make their employee’s aware that they are representations of their company and brand both in the office and online. Anything made public has the potential to tarnish or improve a brand, and it is important for any company to school its employees in proper social media etiquette before allowing them to post things about their company or brand.

Many companies also run the risk of expending useless time and energy developing their brands in communities that do not have any relationship with their brand. Just because Twitter, Facebook, Foursquare, LinkedIn, Reddit and so many other social media sites exist, does not necessarily mean that your particular brand exists on that site. In fact, you can do considerable damage to your brand by polluting social media sites that could be potentially unreceptive to your content. Always keep in mind that at the heart of social media is the community, and the ability for companies and brands to reach out to community members and dictate the flow of conversation about themselves. If you reach out to the wrong people or explore the wrong places you might just be creating counterproductive negative press for yourself.  Try at all costs to make your brand as authentic as possible by reaching out to the communities and brands that are in-line with your own branding and marketing strategies.

While the perils of social media are certainly great, there has simply never been a better marketing tool than social media. Today people can market and advertise their products to hyper-specific  focus groups by keying in on their likes, interests, age, gender, geographic location and just about any other piece of information made public on the internet. Yet, while the advantages are certainly numerous, companies and brands must make sure they take the proper precautions to generate content and stem discussions that are positive for their branding efforts.

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