Top 7 Mistakes Businesses Make with their Social Brand Presence Audit

It goes without saying that brand is far more than a name, tagline or logo. It’s an essential business asset that can make the difference between attracting and converting profitable customers — or watching them head to the competition. Indeed, as Advertising Age correctly notes, in many marketplaces having a strong brand is even more important than having a better product.

And so, what does this have to with social brand presence audit? In a word: everything! Businesses of all sizes that fail to keep a close eye on their brand health across social media put themselves at risk of standing out for all of the wrong reasons. For example, they may be subject to attacks from angry ex-customers, disgruntled ex-employees (and sometimes rogue current employees), unethical competitors, and even cyber criminals creating fraudulent accounts and profiles in order to harvest data.

However, despite these dangers, many businesses are making significant mistakes with their social brand presence audit. Here are the top seven:

1. They neglect to conduct an audit in the first place. Unfortunately, ignorance isn’t bliss, and it’s usually only a matter of time before alarm bells goes off. When (not if) that happens, the business must scramble into reputation damage control mode which is costly, complex and time consuming.

2. The business does not capture and inventory all of the apps and Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) tools that are attached to their social media points-of-presence (a.k.a. POPs). This leaves businesses vulnerable to major security breaches.

3. The business fails to realize that a single social media point-of-presence (e.g. a Facebook page) can have multiple URLs, and these addresses may be referenced across social media. All of these URLs must be identified and part of the audit.

4. The business does not monitor Facebook and Google+ self-generated place pages. Unfortunately, these pages can be hubs for disgruntled customers to congregate and complain. They can also be riddled with inappropriate content, including lewd language, threats, and so on.

5. The business is ignoring some (or all) third-party social media accounts, including those run by employees, channel partners, franchisees, and so on. Even if there is nothing untoward happening on these platforms and pages, the content may be inconsistent, which creates brand confusion — and ultimately, leads to losing customers.

6. The business is not aware that some links featured on its social media points-of-presence are incorrect, out-of-date or dead.

7. The business does not have a comprehensive social media governance plan that not only protects their brand (through auditing and monitoring), but just as importantly, strengthens it by ensuring that standards and voice are consistent and optimized.

The Bottom Line

When it comes to how a brand is perceived and discussed on social media, what a business doesn’t know can definitely hurt them! A comprehensive mistake-free audit is the only way to ensure that their social media journey is a rewarding, instead of regrettable.

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