You wouldn’t turn up at a networking event with soup down your front. You wouldn’t record a radio campaign when you’re full of cold and barely comprehensible. Yet, time and again, we see brands – sometimes big brands – making inappropriate comments, spelling words wrong and confusing their personal and corporate identities on social networks.

I want to talk reputation with you this week. I’m always staggered by how many businesses understand the need to get professionals in when it comes to web design, PR or advertising, but seem happy to hand over their social media activity to the most junior member of staff with no guidelines, no policy and no protection whatsoever. In an age when Facebook or Twitter are often someone’s first experience of you as a brand, this communication channel is so important to get right. And yet it’s so often done badly.

We often get calls when it’s all gone wrong: “I never thought they’d post anything like that!”, “How do I stop people retweeting this?” and “What on earth are people saying about us online?”. Reputation management is vital, so it’s time for some honesty:

Do you have a social media policy in place for your staff?

Has the person in charge of your social media channels been properly and professionally trained?

Are you monitoring what is being said about you online?

Do you have brand guidelines in place?

If the answer to any of these questions is no, you need to think carefully – and quickly – about taking control of this situation, before disaster strikes. Successful use of social media has three things at its heart – strategy, safety, and measurement. We’ve spent lots of time here talking about strategy and the importance of tracking results. It’s time to talk about brand protection.

Being clear on your values as a company is a good starting point. We can help you develop this into an effective social media policy for your staff that protects you and encourages them to be ambassadors for your brand. It is important to empower them to be advocates for you whilst enabling them to communicate safely and effectively.

Training is also key. Professionally developed and delivered social communications are worth their weight in gold. Do a needs assessment and a skills audit and be frank: do your team have the verbal and visual communication skills necessary to represent you accurately online? Equally important is the technical know-how. We offer bespoke training if you need it.

And finally, think carefully about how you track what is being said about you online. Are you monitoring social networks for mention of your brand or business? If not, why not? Again, we can help with this easily – just shout.