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I had a long conversation with a local company over lunch and they were talking about implementing a social media strategy. They said they were having problems because they were afraid to write the wrong thing. Funny that usually you want people to talk about you. Isn’t that the idea behind marketing your company? So why not be the one talking about your business. If you are really interested in making sure you are saying the right thing maybe you should take a look at this post from Mitch Joels blog: (I will be posting a interview with Mitch next week) He covers some resources for setting up a policy or guidelines for you.
“The most important concept to remember is that a policy or guidelines around Social Media is not meant to limit what people can do and say, but rather a way to help everyone know what the company considers “fair play” and what is “off limits”. This type of document is also a great place for the company to really explain how they deal, interface and respond to their consumers (both the negative and the positive). It can also provide tips of how employees can make the most of their personal brands by understanding some of the generally accepted “rules” about what works (and what doesn’t) in these online channels.”
But, where do you begin in terms of putting a document like this together in a cohesive fashion?
Thankfully, the Social Media Governance website has over 105 Social Media policy documents from a wide variety of companies and industries – all available for free: Social Media Governanace Database”
I also heard on the Marketing Over Coffee podcast that they have a low cost insurance policy called something like: Liability arinsal missions insurance or something? to cover your company for social media mishaps. (I did a quick search and looked at the show oes from the show but came up empty)
On the other hand a really positive story on social media is when I spoke with talented Carrie McAllen tonight and she had a property review today at her hotel where she and I implemented a social media plan (she and her team won a global market award for Doubletree for this implementation this year in Phoneix) The executive teams want to know more about her blog, her weekly video podcast and what she has doen with trip advisor. She dove in to social media when she was told she could not change the corporate website and she/we built her a blog so she could have a portal for the social media she desired to create. This dive into social media has paid dividends and they are way ahead of the other properties who are just getting started. As Mitch said in his book Six Pixils of Seperation you need to get started now with social media to build your authority on the web and get that organic search rolling! So regardless if you set some guidlines or not jump in!
