Protecting your brand is harder than ever in the digital age. Social media gives everyone a “voice” and provides a platform for users to say anything they want about your brand. And, as was the case a few weeks ago, malicious users sometimes take it a step further—not just saying things about your brand, but providing a “rebranding” you hadn’t counted on.
Take these recent cases of Twitter hacking. Burger King (@BurgerKing) and Jeep (@Jeep) both had their Twitter accounts hacked; both were rebranded to a competitor brand and overtaken with a barrage of obscenities and otherwise unseemly messages. And those incidents were not limited to social media. Many media outlets, including the Associated Press and Mashable, reported on the hacks.
So how can you protect your brand against being exploited? Here are a few ideas:
▶ Safeguard Your Passwords. This includes creating complex passwords for your social media accounts, as well as regular updating of passwords as needed. For example, did someone who had access to your social media accounts recently leave your company or the agency that managed your company’s social media accounts? Or is your password simply YourBrand123? Institute a rigorous password protocol that will help safeguard your company against possible hacks, and keep a current list of everyone who has access to your accounts.
▶ ABM: Always Be Monitoring. In the age of social media, hacking can go viral in a matter of minutes. While the recent episodes of hacking were against large national brands, there’s no guarantee that your company’s brand might not suffer the same fate. A number of cost-effective tools can minimize the time and money you have to put toward monitoring your brand in the social space.
The minimal resources it takes to regularly monitor are a smart investment given the potential brand risk. Diligent social media monitoring can help ensure you will become aware of issues as soon as they arise, minimizing the amount of time a rogue hacker might have control of your message and your company’s brand.
▶ Know the Risks, Even if You’re Not Active on Social Networks. Just because your brand isn’t active on social networks doesn’t mean a social media crisis can’t arise. Even if you don’t have an established social media presence, anyone could create a fake account and use your company’s brand in an unflattering way.
Take this “Hacking Light” case we recently uncovered for a client: The company itself did not have a very proactive social media presence, but a user created a Twitter account using the company’s brand as his handle. He was in no way affiliated with the company, but for some reason chose to hide behind the company’s name. The messages he was sending were vulgar, and certainly nothing with which the company would want to be affiliated. When the company was searched on Google, this unaffiliated Twitter account showed up alongside legitimate corporate announcements. So, even though the company had nothing to do with that account, any investor, customer, prospect or reporter who searched for the company also saw that bogus Twitter account—and the unpleasant items being sent from it. Our client is working to try to deactivate the rogue account and undo some of the damage. Nevertheless, it’s a good reminder to reserve your company’s name on various social media platforms even if you have no immediate plans to activate the account.
▶ Develop a Social Media Crisis Plan Before Anything Happens. What happens if your brand does fall victim to social media hacking? Having a plan ready—before anything happens—will ensure swift and comprehensive handling of the situation. The last thing you want to do is be forced to make decisions on the fly without weighing the consequences, or neglect to address an important audience or platform because you were moving too fast.
Consider adding a social media protocol to your company’s crisis preparedness manual or creating a decision tree to help you determine the best plan of attack if your company’s digital presence is compromised.
You may also want to create a checklist of what to do if and when you find yourself in the position of activating your social media crisis strategy, just to ensure you don’t forget anything in the heat of the moment.
The good news is that a little foresight and planning, coupled with regular social media monitoring, can help to inoculate your brand against Twitter hacking. PRN
Contact:
Lisa Zone is customer communications practice leader at Dix & Eaton. She can be reached at [email protected].