So often someone posts something that they think is harmless.  But in reality, it could potentially cause the biggest faux pas of a companies life.  Recently an article got me thinking about how you must be judicious in what you say on-line, how you say it, and to whom, because what you say will always be there.

Early in my days of participating in an on-line forum, I discovered that having a “battle of words” with another person is fruitless. No one wins. AND that discussion could stay there indefinitely.  As business owners we want to avoid that potential at all costs.

Remember the commercial that says “What you do in Vegas, stays in Vegas”? Well that isn’t the case on social media.  It has staying power.  Yes you can delete posts that you make, but someone somewhere could retrieve that and it may come back to haunt you.

This is why is ultimately important that the person managing your social media has a firm understanding of your brand and it’s image. Whatever is posted needs to be on point/mission always. Planning helps solve that issue, but you can’t always plan for outside injections of comments. When someone posts on your page or a review site, it is important to respond in a positive way to help resolve an issue as rapidly as possible. Taking down a negative comment doesn’t show people that you wish to resolve issues.  In some cases, if you have a very loyal fan base, they will take care of the negative comments for you by offering up an alternative point of view or flat out defense of you as a business.

Just don’t let an issue languish thinking that it will be forgotten.  In my former life in retail (before the internet), one of the training programs said – a pleased customer will tell 2 people, an unhappy customer will tell 10.  With 24/7 connectivity over the internet and social media, that unhappy customer could tell 10’s of thousands or millions before you have had your morning coffee.

What are some of your experiences?