Recent years have shown just how powerful social media can be when it comes to marketing – and not just for large businesses. Small and medium-sized companies who successfully harness the potential of social media marketing can achieve great things. However, anyone who’s spent any time on social media platforms knows that dealing with constant spam posts can be a real pain – and the same applies to companies.
Here are a few tips on how to prevent social media spam from harming your brand.
- Think before using auto-follow tools. Many small businesses make use of bulk auto-follow tools to follow dozens, hundreds or thousands of other accounts at the click of a button – the rationale being that at least some of those accounts will follow you back, increasing your social media audience. The reality, however, is that alongside a few genuine followers, you’re likely to sweep up a load of bots and spam accounts. Being followed by thousands of fake or spammy accounts will do nothing for your brand’s reputation or reach.
- Report fake reviews. It’s an unfortunate fact of doing business that some of your competitors may resort to dirty tricks to try to tarnish your reputation. Whether it’s on a mainstream social media channel such as Facebook, or a dedicated review site like Trustpilot or Yelp—if you suddenly find your business spammed with fake one-star reviews, report them as such. Genuine bad reviews from unhappy customers (whether you feel they are justified or not) should be allowed to stand, but most websites will at least consider removing reviews that appear to be fake or malicious.
- Turn off comments on social media posts. If spam on your posts is becoming a problem, some social media sites allow you to turn off commenting. Social media marketing tools – such as Agorapulse – also allow you to block comments with particular keywords or phrases. Use such facilities judiciously; stopping spam is important, but you don’t want it to be at the cost of genuine engagement with actual customers.
- Block and report spammers every time. Spam is a common issue in the online world of the 21st century. Unfortunately, we’ve become so inured to it that the usual response is to roll our eyes and scroll on. If you really want to tackle spam posted to your page or in response to one of your posts, block and report the account. It only takes a moment, but it is a positive step forward in keeping your social media presence as clean and spam-free as possible, allowing you to concentrate on real customers and commenters.
Spam can be the bane of many businesses when it comes to online and social media marketing, and consumers find it equally irritating. By following these few tips, you can begin to reduce both your exposure to spam and the likelihood of your audience associating it with your brand and its marketing messages.
The social media and pr marketing experts at Beyond Fifteen are armed with the tools and expertise to fight spam while protecting your brand. Call us today for a consultation.
