All too often when working with small businesses and small nonprofits, we run into situations where current employees don’t have access to the organization’s social media accounts. Maybe an employee left the company and nobody else has the password. Or perhaps you’ve only ever scheduled social media through a third-party tool and never got direct admin access to the page. Still worse, somebody hacked your social media account and started posting inappropriate content.
When your social media account has outdated information or looks abandoned and you can’t get access to the account, it’s frustrating. And recovering an account isn’t easy. Have you ever tried talking to a live person at any of the major social media brands? It’s near impossible.
As with many other things in marketing, taking some proactive steps to protect your accounts can save you a lot of trouble later. Here are some critical tips for protecting your company’s social media accounts and presence.
Always ensure multiple employees have account access
If you’re a single-employee nonprofit, consider sharing access with a few board members (because board members change too). If you’re a small business, make sure more than one person on the team has the login info and admin-level access. That could mean giving admin access to a manager, an admin assistant, or someone else who can help ensure access if the primary employee in charge of the accounts leaves the company.
Enable two-factor authentication and keep the phone number current
By enabling two-factor authentication and keeping your phone number updated, you’re lessening the chances of someone hacking into your account. It’s important to remember to update the phone number you’re using if an employee leaves or any responsibilities change. If you have multiple people accessing the account, two-factor authentication means you’ll have to coordinate with each other to get login codes via text or email. It might seem like a hassle in the moment, but it’s less of a hassle than someone hacking into your account.
Make social media access part of a separation checklist
When an employees leave your organization, there are some routine steps that occur, like turning in their keys, access badge, and laptop. One thing to add to those steps should be disabling any social media access and updating any shared passwords the employee may have known. Talk with whoever handles this process at your company and ask them to add password updates and disabling social media access to the checklist.
Update your passwords regularly
This sounds simple and easy, but we have seen so many organizations that have used the same passwords for years. This probably means way too many people may still have access to that social media account. While you might trust your former employees and never suspect them of something malicious, accidents happen too. They could accidentally post to the company’s Twitter account because that’s the last account they were logged into on their phone. Either way, it’s crucial for you to update your social media passwords anytime someone leaves your organization and be sure you’re changing passwords periodically (and using secure passwords) to lessen the chance of being hacked.
Taking these few steps can help your business or organizations tremendously in the long run. If you need help drawing up a social media protection plan, reach out to us to chat!