Brandle Social Media Governance Blog

4 min read

Twitter Hack Escalates Social Media Security Concerns

By Janet Church on July 28, 2020

There is nothing like a social network hack to remind us all that the social media security concerns touted by IT and Risk departments are not only valid but critical. While this recent Twitter hack attacked mainly high-profile verified personal accounts, it is certainly a reminder that security threats exist for corporations. In fact, the larger the digital footprint is for a company, the greater the social media security concern. For marketers and digital governance professionals, these risks are known and we do our best to manage them. Managing governance for a large digital footprint has always had its challenges; and managing social media governance from home adds even more security risks!

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6 min read

How to Build a Strong Corporate Social Media Governance Team

By Janet Church on February 02, 2017

Social media governance has become a new focus for the social enterprise. This governance practice is all about managing risks to the corporation (that might arise from social media) and maintaining brand standards and reputation across the social networks. Building the right social media governance team is critical to being successful.

Governance over social media is a difficult task. It is generally very detailed work that is ever-changing due to the ever-changing nature of the social networks and the fluidity of engagement. Strong governance needs to be applied cross-company, and spearheading training and process with multiple department heads can be challenging. To be successful at this governance practice, we recommend a two-tiered team approach : the core social media governance team and the extended team.

This post helps you define the team roles and gives you a start on determining your process for cross-company governance communication.

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9 min read

Prepare for Your Corporate Social Media Audit! Social Media Governance Plan: Part 3

By Janet Church on February 02, 2016

Social_Media_Audit___Brandle.pngIf you have been following this blog series on how to create a Social Media Governance Plan, you know that the key goal is to mitigate risks for your company. Research shows that corporations consider reputation damage as the most crucial risk concern with technology threats in the top ten.

Social media risks fall under both of these risk concerns, so creating a solid plan and ongoing governance process is certainly a "best practice" for every company. It also is critical to ensure the plan ties into the overall corporate risk management program.

In Part 1 of this blog series, we focused on the first two steps to prepare your plan:

  • Gather the Corporate Stakeholders of Social Media Governance, and
  • Review Corporate Risk Management Priorities

In Part 2, we focused on steps three through six:

  • Review the Corporate Goals for Social Media Governance
  • Analyze Previous Successes, Failures, and Changes
  • Social Media, Employment, and Industry Law and Regulation Review
  • Review Corporate Social Media Policy
This post (Part 3) continues with the process of creating your Social Media Governance Plan and prepares you for your corporate social media audit.  

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10 min read

Social Media Governance: Protect Your Company from Social Media Risks! Part 2

By Janet Church on January 21, 2016


Social media governance is an ongoing process with the primary goal of mitigating risks for your company. Research shows that corporations consider reputation damage as the most crucial risk concern with technology threats in the top ten. Social media risks fall under both of these risk concerns. 

To be successful at managing social media risks, it is critical to have a Social Media Governance Plan in place and to work the plan. It is also critical to ensure the plan ties into the overall corporate risk management program.

Whether you are creating your first Social Media Governance Plan or updating your current one, you need to make sure you cover all of the elements that are important to your company.

In Part 1 of this blog series, we focused on the first steps to prepare for your plan creation:

1.  Gather the Corporate Stakeholders of Social Media Governance, and

2.  Review Corporate Risk Management Priorities

This post (Part 2) continues with the items you need to consider for your Social Media Governance Plan. 

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8 min read

How to Mitigate Corporate Risks with a Social Media Governance Plan: Part 1

By Janet Church on January 13, 2016

When was the last time you updated your corporate social media governance plan and ensured all aspects of the plan are current, effective, and well-communicated? 

As we stated in our last blog post, research firms have listed risk to brand reputation as the #1 risk concern of global c-level executives, and risks arising from technology in the top 10. Social media can be an in-road for both of these risk concerns. This is why your Social Media Governance Plan is a critical part of the corporate risk program.

We know ... creating an effective corporate-wide plan can feel like a tremendous weight on your shoulders. But reacting to a social media risk event without a plan is a much bigger weight! So to help lighten the load, we're getting you started with a general direction of an effective Social Media Governance Plan. 

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2 min read

The C-Suite Demands Social Media Governance

By Janet Church on May 22, 2015

Over the last 6 months we've seen several large enterprises make commitments to incorporate social media into their governance, risk and compliance (GRC) practices. As a result, digital teams are coming to us with mandates and deadlines to inventory, review and remediate their enterprise's global web and social footprint. This appears to be a harbinger of a sea change in how the C-suite addresses the risks and rewards of social media – in other words, social media governance.

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7 min read

Social Media Compliance for the Mortgage Industry

By Janet Church on August 11, 2014

When used properly, web and social media sites are powerful marketing tools which can bring customers to your door; however, they can also bring the regulators knocking. The FFIEC has finalized its guidance on the use of social media by financial institutions and the CFPB has started the door-knocking. Factor in the use of social media by mortgage loan originators (MLOs), which you are also required to monitor, and the compliance challenge is escalated. Now state regulators (for example WA, TX, CA and AZ) are getting more aggressive in overseeing the use of social media and are sending out "intent to audit" letters. Are you prepared to meet the challenge of an audit?

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4 min read

Brand Disrupted: How Social Media and Brand Protection Technology Converged

By Janet Church on May 15, 2014

Every few years technology evolves and something wondrous emerges that affects businesses and consumers in a significant way. Often, the new technology replaces an existing technology, or even makes it obsolete. In some cases, it has a major impact on how an enterprise shifts its IT focus to better serve its customers and shareholders. We’ve come to know these impactful technologies as “disruptive.” The most significant “disruptive technology” of the past ten years has been social media; not just for the platforms themselves, but because it takes a significant shift in business culture and operational excellence to incorporate it effectively. In fact, it takes a transformation.

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2 min read

Why Social Media Security & Authenticity Require Vigilance

By Chip Roberson on April 15, 2014

This morning I awoke to a private message from an old and distant friend. I don't hear from her very often so this caught my attention. Why was she reaching out to me?

It turns out she had just received a friend request from me via Facebook. I thought this was odd since we're already "friends". I mean, we were talking over Facebook at that very moment! Fortunately, she was skeptical enough to double check with me as this didn't seem right.

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5 min read

Social Media Governance: Reduce Corporate Risk and Strengthen Brand Equity

By Janet Church on February 21, 2014

If you have been following my Social Media Governance series, you know that I have introduced new terms and laid out several processes to help you strengthen your Social Media Governance plan. The last post was all about conducting an effective audit and creating a solid inventory. In this post, Part 3 of the series, I will highlight how you maintain brand equity and reduce corporate risk as a social enterprise. It's all about monitoring what you know, looking for what you don't know, and implementing the governance needed at any given time.

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