Social media Basic Documents You Need
I know that many businesses, especially smaller ones, shoot from the hip. Blogs
are easy to set up; anybody can create a Facebook page and start posting
immediately. But don’t let the ease of use of these platforms encourage you to
act impulsively. Even if you’ve already been running your corporate social
media program for months or even years without formal guidance and policy
documents, stop and take a deep breath. Invest the time to craft basic written
documents for your social media team members to read, discuss in a training
session, understand, and sign.
I recommend that your employees get to know the following documents inside
out and, where relevant, sign them:
1. Mission documents and FAQs: These are not legal documents for
signature, but they’re important for tone setting and orientation. They
describe the company’s brand tenets as they relate to the social media
space, express the main goals of the program, and list all the social media
URLs maintained by the company.
2. Social media use policy: Governs how (and when) all employees will use
social networks and social media. This policy statement is often part of a
larger document on employee computer, network, and Internet use.
3. Social media representative policy: Governs the conduct of employees
certified to represent the company in social media as part of their job
function. Covers content and language guidelines, nondisclosure rules,
escalation paths for specific issues, maintenance of passwords, and more.
Publishing Management
Sitting at the helm of a corporate social media program, you must view yourself
as a publisher. Your team is always just one button click from an audience of
millions. The social media certification process ensures that your team knows
and follows the overall brand mission, rules of engagement, and escalation paths
before they start publishing posts and interacting with fans.
Whether you use a third-party social media publishing platform, or post directly
from each of the social networks, you must observe the quality-control processes
of a “real” publisher:
Create a monthly content calendar, in advance, and subject it to editorial
review and approval, legal review, and proofreading.
Before publishing, subject each post to another spell check and have it
approved by a manager or “second pair of eyes” to catch any errors, typos,
or any circumstance that has changed since initial approval of the content
calendar.
Before publishing, be one hundred percent certain you’re logged into the
right account (see the tip below).
When linking to content on your website, test that all links are functioning
and are tagged for web analytics; promoted products are in stock; any
promoted discounts are being correctly applied; any sign-up forms or other
functionality on the target page are working properly.
By their nature, wall interactions with fans are more spon-taneous. But you
still must spell check, speak in the brand voice, and observe your
established CRM rules of engagement. Daily or weekly, a manager should
review all posts and provide specific feedback to team members on any
posts that missed the mark in tone, helpfulness, accuracy, or response time.
Whatever you publish, invest the time and focused attention to reread it the
moment it goes live. Review takes mere seconds. It is simple to edit or
delete a post. I’m amazed at how often typos make it onto some brand fan
pages and how long they can persist before anyone fixes them.
In 2009, the San Francisco-based social media consultant Chris Boudreaux created an online
database of social media policies. His studies of social media have been referenced by corporations,
governments, industry analysts, and nonprofits worldwide.
At the social media agency Converseon, Boudreaux served clients including IBM, Ford, Univision,
and Walmart. In 2011, he coauthored The Social Media Management Handbook at Accenture, where
he led business transformation programs at Fortune 500 clients including Boeing and Microsoft. He
regularly codes web apps to stay abreast of current technologies.
Most people would say corporate social media policies are pretty dry stuff. What interests you about
them?
Boudreaux: While it is true that the legal aspects of social media policies may feel a bit
burdensome to some folks, policies are critical to any organization using social media, for the
following reasons: one, laws in the space are evolving, and organizations need to help their
employees comply with relevant regulations, which vary by industry and jurisdiction; two,
companies should help employees understand how to protect themselves in social media, in addition
to protecting the company; and three, companies should guide employee use of social media such
that they are able to support the goals of the brand, to the extent it makes sense for the brand.
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) took a stance on social media that could have big
implications for businesses. What’s your take on it?
Boudreaux: The FTC is simply applying rules that have always existed for celebrity endorsers, to
people in social media. The spirit and terms of the FTC guidance are pretty straightforward.
However, compliance at scale does require thoughtful implementation of business process and
technology, which does require a bit of effort for some brands to work through. Also, the FTC has
only really pursued brands when violations have occurred, and not the endorsers of the brands.
How have social media changed CRM? Can you recommend processes and software tools to help
organizations manage this new communications channel?
Boudreaux: This is a big question. I typically include sales, marketing, and customer service in
CRM. Within those areas, social media data are now being used to better understand customers and
prospects. Salespeople use social media data when calling on their customers. In those cases, the key
change is that brands are accessing conversations that do not necessarily involve them. That is, a
brand can listen to what you say to other people, and use that to better understand you. The impacts
are similar to companies like Google watching everything you do on the web (which sites you visit,
which buttons you click), to understand you and your interests.
Also, social channels are used for customer service delivery, in plain, public view. This is a big
change from interacting in email or phone, which were never accessible by the public.
What social media topic are you tackling next?
Boudreaux: I’m helping brands with broader implications and requirements for governing social
media operations in large organizations, including analytics and strategy capabilities—beyond
policies and compliance.
Building Your Social Media Dream Team
I hope I’ve sold you on the merits of the social media certification process. But
now, who are you going to certify? Gone are the days when you could entrust
your organization’s social media program to a computer-savvy intern (if those
days ever really existed). “I spend a ton of time on Facebook and Twitter!” is not
a qualification. Today you need motivated professionals who view social media
management as a career.
Sure, enthusiasm for the platforms is a must. Your candidates must embrace the
different cultures of Twitter, Facebook, or YouTube—whatever platforms are
your priority. The ideal candidate will also be customer-centric and brand
obsessed, display a clear vision for an effective social media campaign strategy,
and serve as a reliable compass for how to comport oneself online. Fluency with
web-based tools and attention to detail are also key. Remember, your social
media representatives are just one “publish” button away from the eyes of the
entire world.
Titles and job descriptions? They are changing like a kaleidoscope. Here are a
few possibilities:
Social media director
Social media manager
Community manager
Blogger in chief
Brand evangelist
Social media strategist
Social media specialist
Online community specialist
Social media coordinator
Social media campaign manager
Social media representative
Social media admin
In addition to hiring a core staff, you may find that social media demands extra
bodies from time to time to support seasonal campaign events. A lot of exciting
promotions are being done by different brands employing college campus reps,
“street teams,” guerrilla marketers, brand ambassadors, bloggernetworks and more online and offline.
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