In this final post of our three-part series on guilt-proofing your brand, I will cover some actionable tactics you can take from both the marketing and social perspectives. However, be forewarned that this is not a step-by-step cheat sheet. Each conflict is unique. Take this outline and modify it based on the severity and complexity of your situation.

Quick background, Jim and I worked together at Luckie and Company in Birmingham, Ala., (ROLL TIDE!) in the late 2000s. Since then, we have established not only a personal friendship, but a growing respect for our mutual industries. Jim's speciality is public relations, you can find additional information at the bottom of this article about him and his practice.

There's an interesting truth in business that the more successful that you are, the more enemies you make. Such is the case with any brand – including yours. What none of us want to admit is that for all the efforts we make to craft positive perception around whatever we support, there is someone in the wings waiting to exploit it or tear it down.

"Part One" of this series provided the foundation required to determine whether or not you should expand your integrated marketing and social directives on a global scale. Now ask yourself whether it makes sense to hire an external vendor or service to speak on your behalf in a given language. If the answer is yes, then what are the necessary steps to ensure they meet brand guidelines and gain a deep understanding of your businesses culture?

My online career began way back when Sony DiscMans still roamed the Earth – in 1994. One of many sermons we preached in those days is that by developing a website, you could reach a <shouts> "GLOBAL CUSTOMER BASE." </shouts>. At that time, the world was still very big conceptually. Digital communications was still in its infancy, and large businesses and brands that constructed a digital presence did so in a cautiously optimistic manner.

One of the countless things that internal marketing departments frequently overlook is their own staff's social graph. More often than not, every company has staffers with active social media footprints. Brands need to understand that no matter how robust their corporate social graph is, it will only get them so far.

How many times have you had a client make so many revisions that you forgot what the original idea was? How many times were you paid appropriately for all of those revisions? All to often, the math doesn't work out in favor ot the freelancer. Which is exactly why you need to start thinking about this.

Over the past few weeks we witnessed a few monumental explosions of social media reactions. One over statements made by Phil Robertson of “Duck Dynasty.” The other one was from now former public relations executive Justine Sacco, who made of the infamous #HasJustineLandedYet Tweet. Both situations fall into the always attractive “hindsight is 20-20” silo.

As much as any medium, social media plays "the numbers game" in an effort to bend perception. Let's not forget that the biggest fanboys and fangirls for social media are really marketing professionals and advertisers. They are the same people who learned to manipulate and exploit the tools before most average folks ever knew what a “Tweet” was. That being said, there is still skewed misunderstanding that numbers equal value or some type of discernible ROI.