Social media can be a business’ most valuable asset, but in other cases it can become an enormous liability. As a sensitive balance between privacy and also remaining available to the public and potential customers, finding the happy medium for a business’ online presence is certainly a challenge, but not impossible. It’s when we get it wrong that that the real risks roll in.
When was the last time you Googled your own business? And we mean *really* Googled your own business by starting from scratch on a clean slate. This means clearing your browser history, search cache, and logging out of all accounts to get the purest results. Without being influenced by your own ties to your business, you may be surprised the kind of information that is revealed. Anything from unhappy customers to sensitive data could be just a Google search away for many people and a business would never know. Google can’t always remove embarrassing or compromising information from search results, but it can cull social security numbers, bank account and credit card information, and even signatures. Google can also stop your business being used to spam search results.
In 2017 alone, millennials were the top generations demographic of those to report losing money to fraud at 40%. Among adults online, 35% have reported having sensitive information stolen, 29% have fallen victim to a hacked email or social media account, and 14% have even had someone steal their identity to open credit cards. Let’s not kid ourselves and fall into the trap of thinking “it couldn’t happen to me.” The reality is that everyone is vulnerable online – even the integrity of businesses. Manage your business’ information online responsibly, put your best face forward on search results, and keep your sensitive data out of the wrong hands as detailed in this infographic.
Infographic Source: Social Catfish