Introducing our 5-part series: Protect your brand on social media

Managing social media access shouldn’t mean juggling passwords, hunting down who has access, or constantly worrying about security. For many marketers, these challenges slow down productivity and put your brand at risk. In this 5-part blog series, we’ll explore the biggest pain points in managing organic and paid social media accounts—from password-sharing headaches to cybersecurity threats—and share practical solutions to help you work more efficiently, collaborate securely, and protect your brand’s social presence.

Ready to dive in? First up: why sharing passwords is putting your company at risk and the smarter ways to manage access securely.

Sharing corporate social media passwords? There’s a better way

Learn how to ditch insecure password sharing and protect your brand

Are you still relying on shared passwords and hoping for the best? Managing social media platforms is a team effort, but with access limited to a single account login, marketers are forced to share credentials to get the job done. This creates risky habits that expose your brand to security threats and make it nearly impossible to track who’s accessing your accounts.

But it doesn’t have to be this way. Let’s explore how you can protect your brand on social media while securely sharing logins with team members.

Why traditional password-sharing methods are risky

Traditional methods fall short—they're either highly insecure, highly inefficient, or both. Sending passwords via email or waiting for an MFA code might sound familiar, but neither are a safe or productive way to share access. 

Manual methods leave you exposed

Manual processes and spreadsheets are not the best way to share passwords with your team. They leave you in the dark, with no control or visibility over who accesses or further shares the credentials you've provided. Team members end up spending way too much time hunting down login details or waiting for someone else to pass them along. 

53% of workers rely on memory and 34% use pen and paper for their workplace credentials, resulting in weak, predictable passwords that are rarely updated and often reused across platforms. This makes it easy for one compromised account to put all others at risk. Additionally, 66% of team members admit to skipping regular password updates, fearing they'll forget new ones or finding the process too cumbersome. When passwords aren't updated promptly, former employees or freelancers can retain access to your accounts, posing significant security and compliance challenges to your business.

Friction with multi-factor authentication (MFA)

MFA for shared accounts quickly becomes a hassle since every login requires sharing one-time passcodes with team members. In distributed teams spread across different time zones, this process turns into a frustrating waiting game, leading many to disable MFA altogether. Nearly half of organizations are relying solely on flimsy passwords shared through vulnerable methods, with no secondary identification required.

Where password managers fall short

Enterprise password managers (EPMs) are a step up from the above methods, and they come in many different packages with various features and functionalities. They offer password storage, strong encryption, and MFA, which are crucial components of digital security. However, they come with limitations–to start, the end user is still responsible for rotating passwords and MFA enrollment is optional. These challenges become even more cumbersome for shared accounts, making password managers less reliable for effectively protecting your team’s social media access.

Consequences of insecure practices

Relying on error-prone password methods might seem like no big deal, but it exposes your entire organization to serious risk. When things go awry—and they often do, with social media platforms being the leading account where passwords are stolen—the consequences can be severe. Here are some of the top hidden risks associated with poor password management for shared accounts:

  • False sense of efficiency: Digital marketers spend more of their day managing access and sharing, updating, and tracking down passwords. There’s also the hassle of dealing with password rotations and lockouts whenever team members leave. 

  • Security risks and breaches: Unauthorized access to organic accounts can tarnish your brand’s reputation, but misuse of paid social and advertising accounts can drain your marketing budget through fraudulent activities like unapproved ad campaigns or rogue purchases. The banking industry is the top target for social media attacks, followed by retail, computer software, and other financial services.
  • Accountability dilemma: When multiple users share the same credentials, it becomes impossible to identify who accessed the account and performed specific actions, leading to a loss of visibility and control. This not only increases security risks but also makes it challenging to hold anyone accountable if something goes wrong.

How to securely share logins with modern solutions

Luckily, there are better ways for marketing teams to share social accounts–access management solutions that protect without compromising usability. When choosing the right tool to secure social media logins for your organization, look for features like:

  • Automated password rotations to ensure no more weak or outdated passwords that could leave your accounts exposed, and no need for your team to manually make the changes.
  • Business emails for logins and account setup to ensure applications are connected to work credentials, not personal profiles, ensuring full ownership and preventing lockouts if an employee leaves.
  • Single sign-on (SSO) for seamless access across multiple applications through a single, secure login, eliminating the need to manage multiple sets of credentials and the risk of misuse or theft that comes with sharing passwords.
  • Automatic MFA enforcement, even for shared accounts without requiring users to pass around one-time codes, adding a vital layer of social media account security without the usual employee frustration.
  • A seamless user experience allowing team members to login to social platforms automatically, without exposing their passwords, whether it be from a web browser or mobile device.
  • Traceable shared account activity to see who’s accessing your accounts at the individual user level and when, improving control and accountability.

Benefits of adopting secure password-sharing methods

Adopting these methods not only enhances security but also streamlines operations for busy marketing teams, allowing you to focus on what matters—growing your brand’s presence.

A real world example of this is Colgate-Palmolive. With hundreds of shared social media accounts, they experienced malicious actors taking over accounts on a few occasions, risking brand reputation. By partnering with Cerby, they were able to treat social media platforms like corporate applications—subject to the same security rules, including MFA for shared accounts and password complexity. This gave them visibility into social media login activity, reducing the risk of account takeovers and allowing them to maintain customer trust.

Next up in our series: Stay tuned for our next post on how automation can save your marketing team hours and eliminate the hassle of managing social media access.

Visit our solution page to learn more or book a demo to see how Cerby can help protect your social media account logins.