Chispa Marketing

Did you get a kick out of this week’s blog video? It may be cute and funny, but there’s a lot of truth behind the humor. Social media seems so easy from the outside looking in, especially when your kids seem to have mastered it so well. But it’s not as simple as knowing how to enter a status update or post a picture. Especially when the face of your business is at stake.

The part that gets neglected far too often is the realization that social media is an integral part of your overall marketing strategy. And it’s as important as all the other pieces, too. As such, an understanding of your message, your clientele or customer, and your overall brand, are just a few of the ‘must haves’ when it comes to managing your social media presence.

You don’t have to look far for the remnants of social media scandals that rocked the face of corporations – and government offices – to the core. NY Rep. Anthony Weiner and his self-taken nude photos led to his eventual resignation, Gilbert Gottfried’s insensitive post-Japan tsunami jokes got him canned by Aflac, and Kenneth Cole’s flap that said the Egyptian protests in 2011 were in response to the release of the clothier’s new spring collection landing them in trouble, too.

What’s at stake if you mess it up? One wrong post or response, or a photo in poor taste can do irreparable harm to the credibility you worked so hard to create. Social media just isn’t child’s play.