Every now and then, something happens that shows just how connected the world really is. And for businesses like yours, these little reminders demonstrate how incredibly impactful your online presence can be.
Oh hai Donald Trump!
Last week the bazillionaire and wanna-be president showed us all how to put our foot in it and alienate an entire demographic in a matter of days!
The wind-swept mogul has spewed some pretty sexist comments over the years, but when he and GOP debate moderator Megyn Kelly squared off during, and in the days following the debate, there was no doubting that social media is a place where you want to be careful about what you say.
Image is everything
Now Trump doesn’t exactly have the carefully-crafted image of a guy who participates in rallies for womens’ rights or spends his weekends feeding the homeless; but he’s still trying to win favour of a few million people – half of which are women.
And really, being a heel on a reality television show is one thing, but when you want to be leader of the free world and take those kinds of comments to Twitter, you’re inviting the wrath of the whole world.
How to not ruin it
The whole debacle gave me flashbacks to an awesome presentation by public relations master Grant Ainsley at this year’s NLCA annual conference. He talked for about an hour on the topic of why your company needs a social media policy.
It’s something most companies probably don’t think about, but whether you’re responsible for posting to the company’s social media channels or whether you’re posting to your own; you’re representing a brand that was carefully crafted. A brand that can be destroyed with one inopportune comment.
In the case of Donald Trump, he forgot he’s not just representing himself, but also the Republican Party. In other words, he wasn’t just hurting his chances on the ballot for president, but the party’s reputation as well.
Going Global
In his presentation, Ainsley used tons of examples of major corporations and their employees using social media in positive and disastrous ways.
We all must remember that social media isn’t a small local community, it’s not a national TV spot. It’s a window to the world so it’s important to choose your words carefully. It’s also important that the people who represent you – your employees – know what’s appropriate to post online; because it’s one thing for your sales reps to post a photo of them having a few beers on their personal pages and it’s quite another to see their album of Nazi memorabilia.
Talk to your employees about social media and its impact on your company and if you don’t have a social media policy and you’d like to talk about what should be in one, contact us. With years of experience representing our clients and our own brand on social media, we can help!
