I'm going to ask that you allow me to step up on my soapbox for a minute this week. When I hear of companies that have suffered from brand sabotage at the hand of an employee or employees it infuriates me. I suppose it's because I've been an entrepreneur most of my career and in that career I have worked hard to help companies establish and build their brands. It's a bit hard to swallow when an employee's video posted on YouTube has the ability to shake a 50 year old brand like Dominos.
The great thing about social media is its transparency and that transparency works well when marketing your brand. Transparency is what consumers crave. They want to like you before buying from you. It's about connection and engagement. The bad thing about social media is that same transparency. Social media transparency has the ability to throw your company in crisis and recovery mode because of an employee's actions.
In today's world of social media It only takes a YouTube video, a Facebook status update, or a misguided Tweet to throw a company into crisis mode. This truth has created fear in the core of companies. They are afraid to delve into social media marketing because what if an employee says the wrong thing or a customer complains? Their biggest fear is that of their own employees. They cringe at the thought of what their employees are posting on Facebook or what photos they are posting on Myspace. Why do you think most human resource departments Google candidates before calling them in for an interview or handing them an official job offer?
You can't stop individuals from participating in social media and truth is you don't want to. Social media is a viable marketing tool that is growing daily. The more you participate the more you can be aware of what's being said about your brand. However, with that being said it's also important to create guidelines and a code of ethics for your employees to follow. They are your brand ambassadors everyday 24/7. Do they understand that? They need to and hopefully they have just as much passion for your brand as you do. A social media policy will help them understand what's expected of them and what you tolerate or don't tolerate in the social media realm.
A good social media policy will be a win-win for both you and your employees. You will know that you are successful in creating your policy if the final draft allows employees the opportunity to be themselves online, but yet at the same time protects your brand.
Do yourself a favor and don't put off creating a social media policy even though it's daunting, you don't want your brand to be the victim of the next public relations disaster. Social media disasters caused by networking sites and employees of companies is happening too often. Learn how to create a social media policy that will protect your company's brand and offer guidelines to your employees.
Yes u r right that employees r the ambasadors of brands but i am in a favour to make guidelines & rules not only about social media but also about all the matters covering their job
This post seems to be suggesting that a social media policy will solve the two different kinds of problems – the Dominos kind as well as the casual and innocent mistake by an employee. By all means have a policy to prevent the latter kind but do not expect it to prevent malicious intents and actions. I am sure the Dominos guy knew exactly what he was doing and how “wrong” it would be in the eyes of Dominos’ policy makers.
Laura…Everyone company to read this…
I think it is a Great idea for every company to have a policy. While the Marketing advantages of Social Media are endless…so are some of the pitfalls. I would make two suggestions 1. have an attorney(I am not one) create the first draft – to many things could go wrong otherwise and 2. Have someone who understands employee communications polish it up – there are ways to effectively communicate a positive message and still protect the company brand.
Thanks again…
Paula Berg, the former head of social media at Southwest, has some great case studies and suggestions about this very topic in “Social Media for Big Business” (http://inboundmarketing.com/university/social-media-for-big-businesses-gf302). It applies to small business as well.
Check out Creating an Ironclad Social Media Policy. Free download at docstoc.com http://www.docstoc.com/docs/45894330/Creating-an-Ironclad-Social-Media-Policy
Every business would benefit from having a social media policy in place, but it should not be an all or nothing approach. Instead of having a policy in place that blocks social media completely or doesn’t block social media at all and expects employees to follow policy rules, why not block some pieces of social media and keep some parts of social media accessible? Social media is growing in the business world and companies would be missing out on its benefits if it is blocked entirely. Palo Alto Networks might have found a solution to this problem, they have a new software that has the ability to do thing such as a read-only facebook. I think companies could really benefit from something like this, what do you think?
This is so true. Now, more than ever, websites and blogs showcase our product and the brand and ideas and often the written word is copied by the competitor. I agree, a policy would go a long way to eliminate some of the employee crisis that could derail a small company like my dog day care and dog walking company in NH.
This is definitely one of the best reads for me in recent times.