Social Networking and security. . .or lack of when promoting your brand.

The internet has made the world a smaller and a very well connected world. 

There are currently about 2,405,518,376^[1]  people who are connected to the internet. Out of these Facebook alone accounts for 1.2 billion users^[2] . Adding users from other websites will probably sum up to a huge number. Hence when one thinks about the best way to promote his/ her brand, the most natural course of action is to recognize and use the potential of the already existing social networks. There are many other reasons like the low cost to reach a potential customer, to prefer promoting brands over Social Networks rather than through other channels.

While doing so it is necessary to understand that different platforms will have different audiences having different tastes. Promoting your brand on the right platforms is important and will have a direct bearing on the return on investment.

Case in point - "Pepsi was one of the first few brands to use social media to raise brand awareness. When the company decided to overhaul its entire brand, including the logo, PepsiCo adopted a slightly non-traditional approach. Instead of sending out a press release, PepsiCo opted in some 'select blogger' and delivered a bunch of cans showing the way its design had evolved since its launch. These influencers then blogged about the new design, increasing brand awareness in the process. The real time nature of the social media and the fact that these brand advocate in turn influence their followers to be more receptive to the change worked brilliantly for the beverage company"[3]

This demonstrates how the focus is shifting from the normal channels to social media /networks.

A coin will always have two sides  -

It takes months to gather a following (Facebook Groups) .However something as simple as a disgruntled customer posting on such public forums can tarnish the reputation of the company. It is not limited to disgruntled customers. Disgruntled employees / reckless comments / posts by employees can have a huge impact on the image of the company. Take the example of an employee who posted the following on the Social Network website named Twitter.

“I just posted a funny video of myself frying a rodent at the restaurant where I work.”  -Employee at  well-known, nationwide fried chicken company in 2008 [4]

This tweet whether true or false will definitely make customers hesitant before they decide to visit the place next time.

Additionally if the Social Network account of the person in charge of carrying out the brand promotion is hacked then all of the hard work that has been put in can be washed away within a day or two.The security aspects when using Social Networks that need to be understood and taken care are -

1. Hoax emails asking for some critical information.

2. Posting rogue URL's which will redirect to websites which can then grab information or install rogue software.

References / Source -

[1] - "Internet Usage Statistics,The Internet Big Picture,World Internet Users and Population Stats" ,Internet World Stats ,June 30 2012, http://www.internetworldstats.com/stats.htm

[2] - "Social Networking Statistics", Browser Media and Socialnomics, 12th November 2012, http://www.statisticbrain.com/social-networking-statistics/

[3] -  "The Impact of Social Media Influencers on Brands", Syndicated Author, 23rd May 2013, http://www.ronsela.com/the-impact-of-social-media-influencers-on-brands/

[4] - "Social networking and security risks", Dinerman Paul  - http://www.gfi.com/whitepapers/Social_Networking_and_Security_Risks.pdf