There are multiple reasons that it’s a smart move for a company to stake out a social media presence. Through the use of social media, brands and organizations have been given the opportunity to communicate and increase a customer base and build a reputation unlike ever before. However, with the opportunity to reap huge rewards comes the risk of potentially harming your brand as well. Below we have outlined five things you should never post on a professional social media platform.

1. Copy & Pasted Posts

Modern-day social media management tools allow business owners to quickly and easily automate social media content. It’s a beautiful thing; one can write a single tweet or Facebook post and publish it to every one of your social media channels – multiple times over if you so choose. However, while social media scheduling is a powerful tool that allows you to stay ahead, as well as plan holidays and upcoming sales well in advance, it can also be dangerous if not used properly. Avoid automation of posts that post state same content over and over again to multiple social media platforms. Each platform serves a unique demographic and audience, and should be catered to that specific platform.

2. Sharing What YOU Find Funny

As the team at The Burnette Agency knows - it’s not easy to manage the social media platforms of business accounts. It’s important for posts across business platforms to be engaging while still remaining professional, consistent and on-brand. That being said, memes that don’t relate to your business or services and reposts of irrelevant topics can alter the overall branding of your business. A professional social media platform should be conducted professionally. If you really want to share what you find funny with your friends, do so on your personal account.

3. Controversial Topics

It may seem like common sense that you shouldn’t post racial, religious, political, or expletive posts on social media platforms. But when it comes to social media - common sense often goes out the window. Branding on social media focuses heavily on the values held by the consumer. Companies spend billions of dollars and countless hours on research to understand why a customer buys its product or services. Whenever you hear about a backlash in the media, it’s because a company acted out of alignment with stakeholders’ values. If your corporate values aren’t aligned with your stakeholder’s values, you risk hurt or potentially destroying your brand.

4. Negative Posts Targeting Competitors

We know you’ve wanted to do this before, and we don’t blame you - it’s so tempting. Social media marketing can be intense and extremely competitive, and all you want is a little engagement on your own platform. However, the social media experts at The Burnette Agency strongly advise against bad mouthing your competition. Although it’s easy to do and seems comical, it’s important to maintain your self-control when you want to post something that begs for a rebuttal. Even if true, the tone behind a targeted post can come across as petty, and they never work. These posts make you look unethical and give your competitors a chance to retaliate. For this reason, we recommend avoiding a potentially dramatic clash of competition.

5. Stock Images and Graphics

At The Burnette Agency, we are strongly against using stock images for professional social media platforms. (This is why we have an in-house photographer). What’s so bad about stock images, you ask? You’ve heard the saying, “A picture is worth a thousand words.” When it comes to branding your business on social media, why would you want those words to be someone else’s? No matter how professional the stock photo may appear, it is always going to be someone else’s vision. With an in-house photographer, essentially you have a personal photographer that gives you full control over what your social media platform conveys about your brand and business.

Ultimately, the positives outweigh the negatives when it comes to making your business social, but there are precautions you can take and items you should avoid. If this seems like too much to remember and you’d like help managing your professional social media platforms, please don’t hesitate to reach out. We’d love to help you grow your brand and manage your social media presence - email The Burnette Agency at info@theburnetteagency.com or give us a call at 404-850-2081.