Social media remains a subject of fear for many professionals.  Seldom does a day go by when stories don't hit the news about some social media related mishap or other.  It causes many to regard social media as either something to fear, or that it is mere folly and something that will only waste the time of staff rather than provide value to the organisation.

Here are some of the key risks involved with social media, along with some things you can do to overcome them.

1. There is no purpose.  Technology should not be the driver for your social media efforts.  You shouldn't try and do something just because a platform or tool is popular amongst your peers.  Assess the benefit your work will bring to customers and from that the benefit it will bring your business.  See this post on social media ROI for help.
2. You go overboard with tools.  If you have a sceptical audience (or boss) then you will want to keep complexity to a minimum to begin with.  It's much better to start small and use a tool that will enable you to reach your core audience in the most effective way.  Get some early wins under your belt and you have the credibility to then expand your efforts.  This has been codified as Gall's Law.
3. You're not engaging your early adopters.  Most groups of people will have those that like to try new things out and experiment.  Hopefully your organisation will be the same and there will be people internally that can act as brand ambassadors.  You want to find people that tick all of these boxes:
   a) They love what you do
   b) They have strong networks to tap into
   c) They trust you, and you trust them to behave well
4. You focus on a vocal minority.  Social media is great for listening to the concerns of your customers and other stakeholders.  You need to be careful that you get a representative sample though and don't just listen to a vocal minority.  Social media is fantastic as a customer service channel, but remember you should use it to service all customers.
5. Don't forget the people that aren't on social media.  Social media is a fantastic place to help customers with their problems, just don't fall into the trap of assuming that is the only method available to you.  A lot of people don't use social media actively so if you put all of your eggs into one basket you'll be ostracising a lot of people.

We all want our social media work to succeed, yet the evidence suggests that far more fail than really fly.  These are some of the main risks that can hinder your efforts. Hopefully if you're aware of them you can overcome them.  Do please use the comments section to share any other risks you've encountered.