If social media isn’t a priority in your marketing mix, what’s stopping you? Many admissions professionals say it’s the fear of the unknown, lack of control, or saying something “wrong.”

Some colleges shy away from actively posting and responding to prospective students’ questions, because they imagine a social media “mistake” equates to the worst-case scenario. But maybe the outcome might not be so bad after all. Kenneth Cole learned that lesson a few weeks ago.

Advertising Age featured a story by Rupaul Parekh, “The Seven Stages in the Life Cycle of a Social Media Sin,” where an ill-conceived tweet (by Kenneth Cole himself) was unleashed into Twitter and fans and followers responded.

“While some out there are dubbing blunders like the one Kenneth Cole made brand suicide, it seems brands are having an easier time returning to everyday life than they did before.”

The seven stages — gaffe, outrage, apology, parody, humor, indifference, repeat (all occurred within a ten hour time frame with the exception of “repeat” of course) — offer an excellent case study for how quickly our mistakes can spread and then be forgotten.

Create a strategy, but know that it’s impossible to plan for everything — so be prepared for anything.

Read Advertising Age’s, “The Seven Stages in the Life Cycle of a Social Media Sin.”

Read more about our authors.  Annemarie Nagle is the Senior Marketing Executive for TargetX. Annemarie knew she had a passion for admissions and recruiting as a student tour guide. Since then, she has worked in higher education as an admission counselor and a dual role recruiting students and managing marketing communications.