A solid social media presence and reputation starts with understanding the medium and how critical it’s become for a brand’s image. “You have to understand the intersection of technology, sociology and business,” says Taylor Gaines, the CEO of social media strategy firm Social Gaines. “You have to ask yourself, ‘Where are we going as a business?’ ‘What content is driving conversion and how are we monetizing that?’ Social media is so integrated with everything.”

That’s where a social media manager comes in. They should understand your company’s objectives and bring that to bear on engagement and managing the conversation with prospects and clients. But to do that, they have to engage with company leadership as well.

“There’s often no dialogue with the higher-ups,” says Gaines. “That means higher-level conversations about strategy aren’t intersecting with lower-level tactics. Leadership says, ‘just tweet about it,’ while the social media manager doesn’t see all opportunities. They should communicate about the most effective ways to use the tools and the actual execution of it.”

A manager is also the first line of defense if criticism on social starts to swell up. Work with them on a proactive plan for addressing the issue in a calm, collected tone. Put together variant responses without sounding canned. “There aren’t a million ways to say sorry,” says Gaines, “but have a few different ones and establish a central place for them if something occurs. So companies need to pick their battles. If a customer has a terrible experience, figure out exactly what happened, and tell them, ‘We’re so sorry. Let us make it up to you.’ Own up to it.”