A very large insurance company found out on Sunday, 17 June, how quickly social media can damage a brand.  Whilst there is no doubt that the social media space is vital for marketing in this day and age but when things go wrong they can quickly spiral out of control and it is very difficult to have a strategy in place that anticipates all of these issues.

South Africa is also a very tricky audience and with our difficult history it is important that social media managers and teams have a very clear understanding of the sensitivities that the population may have about content.  One of the most powerful aspects of social media is the immediacy of the medium, however that is the aspect that can get people into the most trouble because sometimes an advertising campaign should be thoroughly examined and dissected before it is sent out on behalf of a company.  It may also be that social media departments in companies are not as experienced as the advertising agencies that are hired to deal with a company’s conventional media releases.

Companies should be very careful about the way that their social media departments are structured and the “signing off” powers that they have to represent the company on social media at large.  Ultimately the brand will have to take responsibility for the content that it posts and blaming a “junior employee” for mistakes is not really fair to anyone. A very clear social media policy should be developed before any companies decide to venture into the social media space.