Creating a Social Media Protocol

Social Media has seen the dramatic lowering of the barriers to content production in the last couple of years. As a consequence all staff now have the capacity to utterly destroy a brand at the click of a button. A scary thought for anybody involved in corporate communication. Most staff aren’t malicious for fear of losing their jobs but the problem really comes in when staff don’t believe they are doing anything wrong. Introducing the Social Media Protocol which defines where your staff and colleagues can and can’t engage online.

The creation of a Social Media control goes, rather paradoxically, against my core belief structure around how to manage a company. I believe in a free and open environment of collective sharing which relies on strong tested and evolved processes – without restrictive police state controls. My ideal approach to Social Media is one of pure organics where each person looks out for their individual interests and has enough personal buy in to strongly consider the impact on their employer.

With small companies this collective buy in and risk for individual loss is enough to ensure your staff keep a tight lid on what should or shouldn’t be portrayed to the public. As companies grow in size it becomes far more difficult to gain true buy in and some punitive measures may be necessary to keep your employees in check.

The Optimistic Way to do it

Before looking to go the punitive route a proactive internal marketing campaign may provide an alternative which doesn’t restrict your staff. Through this you should aim to empower your staff with the information they require to exercise their own discretion based on their understanding of the brand and where the brand is looking to go.

For this to work it’s critical that all staff are fully versed on the brand/s and are able to fully represent them. There are different ways to do this. Depending on your needs you may want to tone it down (a brief one page brand definition) or ramp it up (full 400 page brand bible). Whichever approach you take there are some crucial considerations which you need to think about before writing the document:

How do I impact what they are going to say so that

1) It provides to our intended positioning.

2) It creates a platform from which a sale can be made (if not immediately, then in the future).

These two points can be brought forward by covering the following questions when explaining your brand:

• What do you do?

• What is your core service/product? What exactly is it that you are selling?

• How is it different?

• What are the key USPs and what is the benefit of each?
• Generally what are your points of parity and points of difference?

• Why should anybody care?

• In a paragraph explain why your product is exciting to the public, explain the stories which make the product unique and which are worth telling. The objective here is to provide a story for others to tell and remember. It should save some social pay off - be it humorous or interesting facts. Topics can include awards won, the creation/naming of the company and could even include a rather personal nugget such as “our CEO can lick his elbow” to finish it off.

• What are some of the typical questions asked?
  • List and answer any typical questions asked which exist as barriers to sale.
• Who are your top 3 competitors? How are you better/worse than them?
  • List competitors and honestly provide some information pertaining to their SWOTs to your staff.
• What’s the hook?
  • What is the critical burning issue which when activated people sit up and go “wow, I didn’t know that, I need your service/product now…”
• What’s the conversion goal of the conversation?
  • This determines what the desired outcome from the engagement is. i.e. take their card and promise a call back from somebody who is involved in sales.

In essence, this provides every staff member with the information required to become active and passive sales people. They can share the load and highlight opportunities as they arise.

Being more Punitive

Despite this brand definition there will be moments where staff members unintentionally (and sometimes intentionally) talk about something which isn’t allowed. This is where the Social Media Protocol comes in and if done correctly it will provide your staff with the confidence to engage and provide you with an agreement to fall back on when infractions do occur.

Creating a Social Media Protocol (or Manifesto) which works is effectively a 3 step process. First the definition of brands to provide reference points (above), secondly, the creation of the protocol itself and thirdly the measurement and management of the protocol to ensure adoption.

Once the brand definition is in place a protocol can be constructed and should, very basically, cover a list of do’s and don’ts regarding each brand and Social Media space. An example may include:

Similarly you will define rules for staff within the major other social spaces such as Facebook, their blog etc. The rules need not be thought of as restricting and if merged with your SWOT they can be turned into a positive list depending on the opportunities which are available:

For BrandsEye, if an individual is looking for ORM assistance you may contribute provided you are providing value to the conversation itself. If it is a company which required ORM assistance please direct them to the BrandsEye sales team for an appropriate response.

Finally, the measurement and management of the Social Media Protocol is critical. Without a little (unfortunate) policing it just won’t work. A simple mechanism of achieving this is to turn to your ORM tool (be it BrandsEye or any other) and to record whenever a staff member is talking about the brand and then to compare that to what the Social Media Protocol allows and then take controlling actions accordingly. Here a certain level of consideration needs to take place. A rigorous control of what your staff say may constitute a breach of individuals right to freedom of speech which may indeed cause untold problems down the line. A softer approach which appeals to individuals’ social decorum is often a better approach and if they understand the brands and the business then they will immediately see and understand why their commentary is cause for concern and take actions to resolve the issue.