Like most people reflecting on their high school days, I can’t help but cringe over the bad haircuts and the poor fashion sense. However, my high school cringe-worthy moments don’t just stop at awkward, gangly stage. Starting when I was fifteen, I became a target of various bullying and cyberbullying attacks from a group of stereotypical mean girls in my grade. While the incidents continued all throughout my sophomore year of high school, I was able to break away from the relentless teasing and taunts by graduating high school at 16.
Although the experience taught me so much about myself and gave me incredible opportunities, one of the biggest lessons I learned from this was regarding my social media use. Having malicious and embarrassing comments splattered across the internet can easily make someone afraid of posting or engaging in social media. However, given the nature of my job, I have rekindled the fire of love with me and my social media accounts but now I apply the knowledge I’ve gained from my cyberbullying experience to be the best PR professional I can be.
Social Media Can be a Blessing or a Curse
Here’s the thing, social media isn’t going anywhere. It isn’t a fad or a temporary thing that all the “young folk” are doing. Social media platforms may come and go (sorry MySpace) but there’s always a new one to take its place.
With that said, social media can definitely be a tool used for both good and bad for your business and brand. There’s nothing more cringe-worthy than a brand with a terrible social media execution or nothing at all. It’s vital to developing important customer and brand relations.
On the opposite side of the spectrum are the brands that have an engagement-driven social media plan (I’m talking about you, Victoria’s Secret) that interacts with their fans and customers positively.
With the acceptance that social media is here to stay, we can start using this for our advantage. Social media has given me opportunities to build relationships with friends, family and my co-workers but when used irresponsibly, social media became my personal nightmare. Just like with my own cyberbullying experience, irresponsible use of social media can damage your business and brand efforts while positive social media interaction can generate leads, sales and customer-relations.
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Social Media is Powerful
As stated above, there really is no escaping social media. It’s pre-installed on our phones, it’s how we connect with each other and send our favorite cat videos to friends and family. Social media is incredibly powerful. We can share our favorite things so easily now, but we can also share negative things. Case and point, the scariest part of my cyberbullying attacks is that it didn’t stay with just the other girls that were doing it, it spread throughout the whole school.
And here’s the scary part for businesses: more and more people are trusting websites like Yelp!, Angie’s List and bloggers to determine whether or not to make a purchase. This means any negative review you receive can easily be shared among friends and potential customers. In order to combat those nasty reviews, you should have a solid, customer-orientated social media plan that addresses the problem and remedies it.
Social Media Can Make or Break You
With more and more people looking at brand’s websites or finding them via social media, developing a quality social media plan is crucial for generating leads and sales. In high school, my cyberbullying attacks influenced the way that others treated me. Think of having a poor social media program as a way that your peers and customers will judge you. What you put out there about your brand is what others will know about your brand and business.
Instead of avoiding social media like I did, make sure that you utilize to your fullest potential. This is your opportunity to show your brand the way you want it to be shown. Don’t let social media hurt your business, use it as a tool to help you create a favorable image in the eyes of your customers.
I love what I do because I understand the importance of it. I have found myself on the negative end of social media, and have since then grown to love and respect what it can do for yourself and your business.
This month, a portion of our proceeds from the Key Pointes Program will go to benefit Pacer’s National Bullying Prevention Center and their anti-bullying efforts. To learn more about their organization, please check out their website here. To learn more about our Key Pointes Program and how we can help you avoid social media calamities, click here.