Every day we hear humorous-but-horrifying news stories about about people getting fired because of their social media interaction. However, when applying for a business loan, how you utilize social media can be the key to your approval. This article aims to keep you on the right track, because being able to secure a business loan is more important than how many viral videos you share.
Banks look at your social media
It almost sounds silly on the surface, but looking at a person’s or a company’s social media has almost become an integral part of a background check when applying for a business loan. Just as you would not keep an employee who was sharing confidential business information on Twitter, banks will turn down a business loan application if your social media interaction is not on the up and up.
Banks want to see how you engage your customers, and vice versa
When applying for a business loan, banks will research the social media venues you use to get an idea of what your customers have to say about your company, and how your company responds to any comments your customers leave. Similarly, how many people follow your company, what other businesses follow yours, and even how you manage your personal social media give banks an idea of how much faith people have in your company. It is odd, but before you get an approval on your business loan, banks want to see a complete picture of your operation in order to weigh how profitable you business might be, and how reliable (or well-liked) your company is.
Your colleagues say a lot about your business
To paraphrase Machiavelli, “Good leaders can be judged by the company they keep.” When applying for financing, banks will look at social media to find out what other companies you work with, and – to make things even more specific – how many of them work with the bank that’s handling your business loan. If your business and your bank have companies in common, and they are also in good standing, then that is a huge point in your favor on the way to getting a business loan approval.
Never mix business and personal life
Financial experts will tell you never to allocate business loan funds for personal reasons. That is a surefire way to screw up your balance sheet and credit rating in one fell swoop. With social media, you never want to post about your personal life on your public-facing professional accounts. Banks like to see that you can keep the two worlds in separate boxes – so posting pictures of your “big night out” in Las Vegas on your company’s web site is not going to get you the approval on that business loan that your company so desperately needs.
