Heidi Allen Digital Strategy

It’s easy to be wise after the event, even better to get advice from those who had to learn the hard way.  A previous post mentioned how to deal with negatives comments, and looking at some of the cases that imploded here are some pointers to avoid going social-media-bust, especially for larger companies.

Don’t execute a tactic without having a strategy

The ‘Let’s do Facebook’ approach is asking for trouble. Once a Facebook page is up, it’s public and open for all to comment.  Social media is not a campaign, it’s about establishing trust, being genuine and having a sustainable long term goal. If you get it wrong that’s public too – have a clear reason as to why you want to engage in social media, what your objectives are, and what sort of audience you can expect to attract. These objectives should be clearly communicated to everyone across the organization, including directing people how to listen and engage in the dialogue.

Be platform agnostic

Facebook has surpassed Google in terms of search results and in order to be found many companies are considering facebook pages, however, it would be better to be ‘platform agnostic’ and think less about the channel itself and more about the dialogue you want to have before you pick the platform. For example, having a facebook page which had little discussion and a mainly ‘brand.com’ type focus goes against the type of community driven platform that facebook is.

Inbound not outbound marketing

What does that mean? Outbound marketing is all about promoting your brand or product and not about having a conversation, it’s about pushing your brand in a one-way flow of information trying to force people to a particular site. Not only does that have the opposite effect in social media, it makes you really (really) boring.  Best approach is to listen and learn to see what questions people have and contribute to the conversation, that’s the sort of expertise people value.  And yes, you would be right in thinking that this could well take more time, certainly initially than simple promotion, however, it also brings a higher return.

Clear terms and conditions, disclaimers

Adding clear terms and conditions on a social media page gives readers clarity about the intent of the site and this should also include guidelines for users posting comments on what is and is not permissible.  The Mayo Clinic have done this very well publishing publicly publish guidelines for employees on their blog which features stories from patients, families, friends and employees

“The main thing Mayo employees need to remember about blogs and social networking sites is that the same basic policies apply in these spaces as in other areas of their lives. The purpose of these guidelines is to help employees understand how Mayo policies apply to these newer technologies for communication, so you can participate with confidence not only on this blog, but in other social media platforms…”

Have a Central Site

A main site, such as a corporate blog can be a way to establish a credible presence to regularly exchange information and distribute content that becomes known and trusted over time – it becomes a place to redirect people to if comments are happening on other channels outside of their control. Larger companies also need to consider if it is necessary to have a 24/7 regular real time response (particularly if they are a global company spanning different time zones). Any corporate website should have links to all relevant social media accounts including blogs.

Open up social media listings, become technology experts

Social media sites need to be accessible by employees so that they can experience it for themselves, and also so that they can learn about different platforms and their limitations. Some employees may then become experts in the technology and be able to answer questions such as: How does the facebook share button work? How does auto-posting work? How does new social media platform X integrate with existing digital strategy and should the company begin to use it? Which tools should be used to measure social media impact and reach? How does the content appear on mobile phones and readers?  How can a post be best optimized for search engines? Expert users not only enable companies to maximize the most out of the content posted, they also save time and potential misuse of information.

Bring competency into different groups to use multiple channels

Although a personal approach is best and a blog or social media account may rely on key individuals it is also important to build a talent pool of individuals who have competency to build social media channels across the organization and establish their own personal dialogue. BMJ Group blogs would be an example of a group who have done this successfully.

A community manager, or overall social strategist, who monitors the entire companies digital assets in terms of social media accounts may also be required, enabling the company to have an overview of the success of different channels and how they are being used. A good community manger should be experienced, know how to handle a full scale organized attack from critics, manage a crisis and protect a company’s valuable digital assets.

Every company has critics, however these critics are now able organize a coordinated global attack using social media tools.

‘Facebook fan page brand-jacking is the new form of tree hugging. As movements form, the organized groups can stage mass attacks on brand Facebook fan pages, overrunning it with negative messages.  Like sitting in trees with banners to slow down clear cutting and spray painting messages on buildings, this is simply the digital form of real-world protest’[1]

This is one of the reasons many are hesitant to jump in and start a blog or facebook page. Anyone embarking on social media, especially companies in health, should have guidelines or an escalation plan about what to do when things go wrong, protecting themselves (and their employees). Guidelines should describe those comments which require an immediate response, what the response will be, from whom, and indicate what to do if negative comments escalate.

Without such a plan you run the risk of being forced to shut your site down or take extreme remedial action (higher profile cases of organisations who got caught out include Nestlé, Sanofi Aventis, Elsevier). Whatever the case, it may not be possible to talk about specific adverse events but let readers know that they have been heard, that communication is open and that their comments have been taken seriously. Sometimes there may be instances where ‘top management’ are visible and active.

Processes Brand Triage

Although these guidelines were made for the ‘corporate’ world, they also apply to individuals, especially within the area of health and research where a comment taken out of context can harm not just reputations but also have clinical implications. The thing not to do is to ignore or block someone out of hand (unless they are a troll), this can lead to an escalation of the problem – a very public example of this was a mistake made by Nestlé in trying to ban a Greenpeace video on YouTube – it simply added fuel to the fire (see ‘Censored Greenpeace video gets helping hand from Nestlé).

Crisis communications is not necessarily about fixing the problem but putting forward the human face of a company and letting people know they have been heard. Addressing an issue will go a long way to building trust (whether that trust is warranted of course is another matter entirely).

References

[1] Jeremiah Owyang: Crisis Planning: Prepare Your Company For Social Media Attacks

Companies are grappling with how to engage online and yet protect themselves by writing social media terms of engagement that defines them and their employees as the boundaries between personal and corporate contact become increasingly blurred. The Washington Post came up with a social media policy that got a roasting on twitter for one. But they are left with no choice, how do you define who you are online if you have individuals with their own opinions talking about you and linked to you as a company online? Emphasis below is mine.

The Washington Post social media terms of engagement

Newsroom Guidelines for Use of Facebook, Twitter and Other Online Social Networks
Social networks are communications media, and a part of our everyday lives. They can be valuable tools in gathering and disseminating news and information. They also create some potential hazards we need to recognize. When using social networking tools for reporting or for our personal lives, we must remember that Washington Post journalists are always Washington Post journalists. The following guidelines apply to all Post journalists, without limitation to the subject matter of their assignments.

Using Social Networking Tools for Reporting
When using social networks such as Facebook, LinkedIn, My Space or Twitter for reporting, we must protect our professional integrity. Washington Post journalists should identify themselves as such. We must be accurate in our reporting and transparent about our intentions when participating. We must be concise yet clear when describing who we are and what information we seek.

When using these networks, nothing we do must call into question the impartiality of our news judgment. We never abandon the guidelines that govern the separation of news from opinion, the importance of fact and objectivity, the appropriate use of language and tone, and other hallmarks of our brand of journalism.

Our online data trails reflect on our professional reputations and those of The Washington Post. Be sure that your pattern of use does not suggest, for example, that you are interested only in people with one particular view of a topic or issue.

Using Social Networking Tools for Personal Reasons
All Washington Post journalists relinquish some of the personal privileges of private citizens. Post journalists must recognize that any content associated with them in an online social network is, for practical purposes, the equivalent of what appears beneath their bylines in the newspaper or on our website.

What you do on social networks should be presumed to be publicly available to anyone, even if you have created a private account. It is possible to use privacy controls online to limit access to sensitive information. But such controls are only a deterrent, not an absolute insulator. Reality is simple: If you don’t want something to be found online, don’t put it there.

Post journalists must refrain from writing, tweeting or posting anything—including photographs or video—that could be perceived as reflecting political, racial, sexist, religious or other bias or favoritism that could be used to tarnish our journalistic credibility. This same caution should be used when joining, following or friending any person or organization online. Post journalists should not be involved in any social networks related to advocacy or a special interest regarding topics they cover, unless specifically permitted by a supervising editor for reporting and so long as other standards of transparency are maintained while doing any such reporting.

Post journalists should not accept or place tokens, badges or virtual gifts from political or partisan causes on pages or sites, and should monitor information posted on your own personal profile sites by those with whom you are associated online for appropriateness.

Personal pages online are no place for the discussion of internal newsroom issues such as sourcing, reporting of stories, decisions to publish or not to publish, personnel matters and untoward personal or professional matters involving our colleagues. The same is true for opinions or information regarding any business activities of The Washington Post Company. Such pages and sites also should not be used to criticize competitors or those who take issue with our journalism or our journalists.

If you have questions about any of these matters, please check with your supervisor or a senior editor. Note: These guidelines apply to individual accounts on online social networks, when used for reporting and for personal use. Separate guidelines will follow regarding other aspects of Post journalism online.

At least one Washington Post Editor, Raju Narisetti, closed his personal twitter account.

For me, this policy as it stands can’t last but it shows how difficult it is for companies as they feel their way. Any policy will inevitably be tested through social media’s approval or disapproval. However, for me, the bottom line is a company cannot own a person’s voice or opinion and therein lies the dilemma. It occurs to me that it seems I feel quite strongly about the matter…