Anyhow, the last few months, I have been doing a considerable amount of work beyond the usual e-commerce management and the evermore related SEO-charged ghost blogging. Much of this work has incorporated a Twitter and Facebook strategy that will include a series of promotions to increase their reach.
And in the mix of developing this operation, though, it was suggested by a competent PR person that the primary face of the company (companies) be laid upon the alter of its emerging Facebook account. And if absolutely necessary, the operation could later migrate its virtual headquarters onto a Blogger account.
Call me a control freak. But this was simply insane. It completely violates everything I preach as a writer and as a media marketing professional. Furthermore, for a relatively prominent umbrella company with a series of entities beneath it with relatively considerable prominence, this was a bad idea to drop all its eggs in a basket that it has very little actual control over. They don't own the domain. They don't own or possess the contact info of those have added become a fan of its fan page. And they don't own the private account that launched the fan page.
First of all, if you're going to have anyone work on your social media effort, you best have them utilize a dedicated email account that serves as the point of contact, an email account that is company owned and one of the key free email services. In fact, I recommend you gather up an account from each one of them, using the same naming convention for each account, if available. This way, there is continuity in your brand name throughout the web. I recommend using free emails in conjunction to your domain's email, particularly for website hosting management as well as domain name management, since you will always have access to that email account, even when your website crashes or DNS is in peril.
This way, for those accounts, such as those affiliated with Google, where the email may not be able to be changed, it is associated with a company-owned account and not your newly self-professed social media maven. Otherwise, you may very well have hired a near-permanent contractor who holds the gold of your social media marketing operation. And I'll add yet another warning. Be certain, when working with or launching any new account on a Google service, that your self-professed social media maven is completely logged out of every one of its services. Wonder why? Heed the warning bound in the linked post. And yet another reason why you don't want just anyone creating your social media assets on your behalf, using their own account to do so, is that transferring accounts, as referenced in the previous link, often times cannot be done, meaning you're permanently married to that employee or contractor. See this Facebook thread pertaining to transfer of accounts. Yet again, consider what would happen if Facebook or some other channel changes its terms of service or simply shuts down your account (disables your account). Check the link here, which illustrates just how easy it is to have your account disabled.
Now, other than having a guy whose personal or business email account is permanently attached to the account, the next big move to secure your brand is establish a headquarters that you have complete control of. You need a domain name. Don't go getting a free one. Pay up and get your own. Be certain it is easy to remember, is easy to understand when verbally spoken, easy to spell, and among other concerns, is widely available throughout all the major social media channels so that there is name continuity.
This way, if you get the boot, the social media channel changes its terms of service, rendering your presence upon no longer worth further investment (ROI), goes out of business, or some other reason, you always have a centralized location by which to fall back on. And in the interim, direct your social media community to your headquarters. Inspire them to engage you there. Provide them a redeeming value for remaining consistent browsers of your brand headquarters. Engage them by building a loyal alliance, encouraging them by delivering an informative and entertaining presence. And don't go so crazy on engaging the highly targeted market but instead the lifestyle by which it lives. Then you'll earn their trust and access to far more than their demographics.