Four letter words. Yuck. You know the ones we mean… that bad language that makes you cringe when you see it coming from the wrong source — like a brand’s Twitter handle. We all like to think that we would never be that social media manager who makes the mistake, but what can you do to really ensure it never happens on YOUR company’s accounts?
We’ve seen it happen too many times — big brands like Chrysler, VodafoneUK, and most recently, Nokia — have found themselves scrambling to quickly apologize and amend for a foul-mouthed post.
There’s no one reason for why these sticky situations take place — they can be the result of disgruntled employees, personal/professional account mix-ups, or even a misguided sense of humor. Whatever the reason, company social media accounts are never the place for foul language.
Gremln’s keyword filtration and moderation system provides Enterprise-level clients, specifically geared toward those in regulated industries, with the assurance that even if a staff person carelessly attempts to post a message thinking it is from his or her own account, that Tweet will never go live.
Simply upload a list of bad words and phrases (you might feel guilty even seeing them on your screen, we know we did!) and apply them as “blocked” to your Team Members and Groups. You can rest easy knowing that Gremln will stop any $&#!, *%#$, or $#(@% from posting to your account.
Of course, it’s not just bad language that can land your brand in hot water. The recent debacles from Home Depot and Kellogg’s UK show us that sometimes it’s not the words themselves that are offensive, but the implied message that is made when they are all strung together. In these cases, a second set of eyes (or even a third!) and some well-planned social media moderation can save your brand reputation from a marketing meltdown.
Gremln’s compliance toolkit allows Enterprise-level clients to require multiple tiers of moderation, ensuring that several eyes will see each Tweet, Facebook status update, or LinkedIn post before they go live. When you’re a regulated industry – or any brand that wants to avoid offending current and potential clients and fans – taking the precautionary measures to secure your social media efforts can keep you from ever having to do damage control.
Our rule of thumb? If you have to second-guess whether or not something might be seen as offensive, there’s a pretty safe chance someone out there will definitely be offended by it. (After all, your subconscious kinda does.) If that’s not a risk your brand is willing to take, don’t post it.
