Social media security

Social media is a great tool for SMBs to get the word out about their products and services, build their brand, and connect with prospective customers. It also offers paid marketing avenues as well, such as PPCs, marketplaces, etc., But are your social media accounts secure? Typically what happens in a business account on social media is that multiple people may have access to the account. Access could stretch across different departments such as marketing, sales, PR, HR or it could be multiple people from a single team with access rights--usually marketing. If you outsource your social media management to marketing agencies, their staff also end up having access to your social media accounts. All of these situations make your social media accounts very vulnerable. Here are a few tips to keep your social media accounts secure.

Always be aware of who has access to your social media accounts. This may seem obvious, but you may be surprised to know that many SMBs are not sure who all have access to their company social media accounts. They know the marketing department or sales team or PR have the access, but which members in the team actually do, is often a security detail that’s overlooked.

Think about who you want to give access to. Do you want everyone in marketing to have access to your company LinkedIn account? Perhaps it is not a great idea to let that new marketing intern you have known for only 3 days to get access to it. Even within a team, you need to decide who can be trusted with the keys to your social brand.

If you have outsourced your social media management, find out what are the vendor’s policies and SOPs regarding account access. If you are managing your social media in-house, make sure you have a social media policy in place. This policy should cover every detail, right from who will act as the administrator(s) for your social accounts, how often the posts are to be made, to what kind of content is acceptable and unacceptable.

Pay special attention to the administrator(s) of your social accounts. Educate them on social media best practices and password hygiene. Help them understand the importance of good password hygiene practices and ensure they are mindful of their role as your social media administrator because chances are, hackers can get access to your social media accounts via theirs.

Apart from training and educating your staff and implementing social media policies you should also invest in mechanisms such as password managers, multi-factor authentication tools, social media monitoring systems, etc., that make it easy for you to identify and prevent social media mishaps. You cannot afford to take your social media presence lightly. Social media is a powerful brand building platform that can make or break your brand and market mindshare. Your customers are out there on social media platforms judging you, your business values, and your brand personality depending on what you put up on your Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn accounts. So, it’s important to take social media security seriously and make sure it is covered in your cybersecurity processes.