Safely Giving Access To Your Social Media Accounts

In this day and age, our social media accounts contain more than enough information for someone with ill intentions to wreak havoc.

Getting your account information stolen, or hacked, is one of the most frustrating situations that can happen to you. Going through the process of regaining it back can be even worse.

This problem has gained traction after businesses began turning to social media managers to help run their business pages.

While most social media managers have professional, honorable motives, you never truly know if your information is safe.

So, how do you stay safe when giving others access to your social media account?

If you’ve recently hired a social media manager to take over your business account, you must go about it carefully.

Let’s go over how to give someone access to your account while still keeping your information safe and secure.

Social Media Management

Social media managers are one of the new additions to the online career field. By hiring a social media manager, you’re able to step back from the tedious, consuming work of keeping up with your business’ account and be able to fully invest your time in your company.

Social media managers help with consistent daily posting, comment and direct message replies, and helping to create new content for your account.

Most people assume they have to give out all their passwords in order to hire a social media manager.

While this used to be the case, more and more companies were getting hacked or having their accounts stolen from them.

Thus, social media management tools were born.

Instead of having to give your account managers all your personal login information, you’re simply giving them the passwords to your social media management tool instead.

One major problem when giving social media managers your exact login information is their ability to have free reign over every aspect of your account. There are no limits to what they can change or delete (your entire page included). This is why social media management tools are crucial.

Buffer:

With social media management tools, such as Buffer, no changes can be made to your account.
They can post content, reply to direct messages, and view your data analytics, but they cannot change your passwords, access your email, or delete your account altogether.

Buffer has plans starting at $50 a month and acts a a shield in between your account and your personal information. Not only does Buffer keep your social media account safe, but you can also add up to five managers. This is ideal for business accounts that aim to post consistently across all platforms.

In addition, when using social media tools like Buffer, you can create a hierarchy in terms of your team members. Content contributors design and write the posts, while content managers approve, edit, and post them.

HootSuite:

HootSuite is another popular social media management tool. With the ability to add up to 50 different profiles, groups, or accounts, this tool is often recommended for larger companies with a wider online presence.

Pro options start at $8.99 a month, with $15 per team member, per month added to your account (Up to 10 team members allowed).

HootSuite enables the admin to assign which permissions are allowed for each team member in order to keep the content organized and on task.

SproutSocial:

SproutSocial, a multi-functional social media management tool used by big brands such as Grammarly, Klarna, and the Chicago Bulls, provides a platform for teams to collaborate on marketing strategies, while keeping the admin’s account information private.

SproutSocial allows teams to strategize, watch popular trends, review analytics, engage with customers, schedule posts, provide customer care, and more all in one place.

Adding Admins To Your Account

If social media management tools aren’t really your thing, you’ll want to understand how each social media platform handles adding admins to your business account.

Instagram, Twitter, and Pinterest all require a login email and password to be given out to anyone else that wishes to access your account. Despite popular demand, none of these platforms have admin access roles yet.

Facebook, on the other hand, is ahead of the game. Facebook has 5 different roles for team members to access and create your content.

Analyst: a Facebook analyst can be added to your business page and can view page statistics.

Advertiser: an advertiser shares many of the same permissions as the analyst, but with the ability to post ads to your company’s account.

Moderator: a Facebook moderator can access insights, post advertisements, respond to comments and direct messages, delete posts, and ban people from the page. The moderator cannot post content.

Editor: the editor has all the access of the analyst, advertiser, and moderator, but with the added ability to create, and post content to a page. In addition, the editor can add or delete apps, and can edit the page as they see fit.

Admin: A facebook admin has full access and control over the business page. They can edit, delete, or post anything they want, so ensure this is someone you trust.

Overall..

You don’t have to risk putting all your (valuable) eggs in one basket just to have help with your business’s social media accounts. There are plenty of social media management tools to keep
your page on track, without risking your passwords being stolen, your page being hacked, or your account being deleted.

Many of us use the same passwords across all of our platforms. So, chances are, if you give out your login on one site, a mind intent on destruction can easily access the rest of your accounts as well.
Don’t risk your privacy. Facebook, LinkedIn, and Google Pages all have admin roles and can make social media content a breeze with different tiers of team members.

Remember, your admin should always either be yourself, or someone you trust. The majority of social media managers have a passion for what they do and only want to help boost your company’s growth. However, it’s always better to be safe than sorry.

Be sure to research your options and carefully choose which platform is best for you.