Take the risk out of Social media

What are social media risks for companies? There are basically 3 areas:

Brand Reputation and Criminal Misuse Risks

In the AI era, a brand’s social media presence is more vulnerable than ever to manipulation and criminal exploitation. Deepfakes, voice clones, AI-generated impersonations, and Avatars, can be used to create fake content that damages brand reputation or misleads consumers. It is so easy to do these days. Anyone can do this type of activity now.

Fake customer service accounts or phishing scams that mimic official brand profiles can result in real-world harm and erode consumer trust. Brands must actively monitor social media channels using AI-powered social listening tools to identify suspicious content or unusual mentions that could signal brand misuse or potential fraud.

Legal and Intellectual Property (IP) Risks

With the rise of generative AI tools, there’s a fine line between inspiration and infringement. AI models trained on copyrighted material might inadvertently reproduce branded assets, slogans, or product likenesses. This opens up new legal grey areas for both content creators and brands.

For companies creating or sharing AI-generated content on social media, it’s critical to establish clear IP usage guidelines, monitor for unauthorized use of your brand assets, and consult legal teams on evolving regulations surrounding synthetic media and content provenance. I used to work very closely with the IP team during my time at Philips.

Cybercrime and Data Security Threats

AI has supercharged the capabilities of cybercriminals, making social media a prime target for phishing campaigns, impersonation scams, and malware distribution as we all know. Attackers can use AI to craft convincing fake profiles, generate tailored scam messages, or simulate interactions that trick users into revealing sensitive data.

Brands must assess their risk exposure by auditing access controls on social media platforms, training employees to spot AI enhanced scams, and investing in security tools that detect and respond to threats in real-time. Being proactive is key to defending brand integrity in a landscape where cybercrime evolves as fast as the technology powering it. We see so many examples of companies getting this wrong. Don’t be one of them!

You may be new to Social Media marketing or you might be a very experienced player, but have you assessed what the risks are to your brand?

Good strategic planning with alignment to your marketing calendar are essential, and of course having resources that cover all your tasks. If you have not assessed your business risks at the start of your Social Media program, then it is wise to plan a time slot to do it soon.

Create a list of risks and detail them in a register. A Risk Register provides a record of identified risks relating to the program, including their status and history. It is used to capture and maintain information on all of the identified threats and opportunities relating to the program. You could go on to value the business risks, and then chart them. Here is an example risk register which you can download and fill in. There are many other models that you could use to list possible risks, so use the one you are experienced with.

Avoiding Risk

Thorough planning will help to avoid risks that arise when brands move too fast to enter Social media marketing, and have not tested processes or do not have prepared or experienced resources. There are many models that can be used to help you get started. The Forrester POST system is the model I used to create my own way of working for Social media planning and execution.

Jeremiah Owyang from the Altimeter Group created a report that describes how brands should manage many Social media accounts, and I suggest this as a more detailed alternative. For example, it lists choices of Social Media management systems, and ends with suggestions for roll out across a large enterprise, and a checklist. It is highly recommended.

Developing Risk mitigation planning and getting started.

Once the risks have been identified and listed, make sure you have added information that will allow them to be worked on. Typically;

Risk Description
Risk Drivers (e.g. Lack of integration of x, no shared framework for x)
Risk management response (e.g. Additional funding for x)
Key Risk Indicators (e.g. Issues are showing up for x)
How critical the risk is (e.g. High, Low, medium)

Rank the risks and find owners for each one. Detail follow up dates and re-assessment sessions. It is important to re-assess at intervals, maybe once or twice a year as market conditions change, and new campaigns may use applications that were not risk assessed before. Do not forget IT and privacy information!

Having a good response management/ crisis plan will help with managing a social media problem, but will not deal with the long term cause. I have taken part in a Social Media risk assessment session, have you?

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Clive Roach

Social media marketing expert with +15 years’ experience. Creates and deploys strategy, social listening, tactical planning, analytics, campaign calendar management, all while achieving revenue opportunities and cost savings.

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