Leery of Social Media? Have a Social Media Policy
Posted on | June 3, 2010 | brett turner
There is a very simple reason why many companies are leery of engaging in social media: control. Be it politics or business, control is power. Lose control and power wanes. Organizations want to maintain and control a centralized voice, not give way to the voice of individuals.
It’s the age-old argument: Is social media a great marketing tool or a communications liability? Depending on who you talk to, the answer will vary.
I think there is an important middle ground/step that can be taken to alleviate some of the concerns. It is pertinent for companies to institute a social media policy.
A social media policy lays ground rules for individuals and ensures that an organization is speaking with one voice, even if multiple people are doing the talking. Your strategic communications goals should shape your policy. Start with the end in mind. Then execute.
A social media policy should include the following:
- It should mirror your corporate culture
- It should define who can speak on behalf of the organization
- Train people, through examples, of what is appropriate and inappropriate, personal and professional, and clearly define the consequences of unethical behavior
- Be authentic when posting
- Add value through your posts
Yes, many on the outside are going to criticize you for not being totally transparent and there is credibility and truth to that. However, it could also be a key factor in getting a company or client to tiptoe into the social media waters so they can witness first-hand the power and positive aspects that social media brings to their brand. It’s social media with rules that can change the perception of social media as a liability to that of a positive marketing communications tool.
A simple and straightforward social media policy may be the difference between a company or brand engaging in social media or not. Think about it.
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June 7th, 2010 @ 12:22 pm
There is no one size fits all solution to keep company networks secure, using social media productively in the workplace, and keeping employees happy. Palo Alto Networks came out with an interesting whitepaper on the subject of blocking social networking apps that you may have to worry about, “To Block or Not. Is that the question?” here: http://bit.ly/d2NZRp. It has lots of insightful and useful information about identifying and controlling Enterprise 2.0 apps (Facebook, Twitter, Skype, etc.)
There is a webinar they are hosting that should be very cutting edge. You can register for now. It delves into social media and security, obviously a hot topic right now. http://bit.ly/cR80Al