As the head of your organization, if you can’t be responsible for social media posts, you have to think carefully about who you are assigning that responsibility to. Your social media trustee (SMT) should be a good writer with maturity, sound judgement and access to key decision makers in your organization. They should also be marketing savvy, opportunistic and well aware of what’s going on in your industry.
In order to ensure your designee’s success, you’ll need to prepare with:
1) Social Media Guidelines – Talk extensively with your SMT about what you are comfortable with and what you aren’t. Are there words or topics that are off limits? Is posting pictures of employees OK? Have employees signed appropriate releases? What social media channels make the most sense for your business? What information is considered company confidential? Does the SMT understand trademark and intellectual property laws? How frequently do you expect your SMT to post? How quickly do you expect your SMT to respond to comments made/questions asked about your business? When does the employee need to get senior management involved in issues?
2) Brand Strategy – When establishing your social media brand, think about whether you will post as your business entity (company name) or as an individual (your name). Posting as your business will cause affiliates to wonder who is behind the “social media curtain” but if resourcing is an issue, this approach is the best way to spread the work around. It also ensures that the connections you establish stay with your business vs. leaving with your designee if that person leaves your organization. It requires more caution when allowing someone else to post on behalf of your business but clear guidelines and monitoring will make sure your brand is protected. Here are links to a couple Facebook pages that both post under the company name GoDaddy’s Facebook page and Karin’s Florist Facebook Page as examples.
3) A Nimble Culture – When a customer posts a question or registers a complaint in a public forum it requires an immediate response. That will only be possible if your guidelines are clear and your SMT understands their area of jurisdiction. It’s better for the SMT to respond quickly to an issue – even if they don’t have the full solution worked out. The response can simply let the person know what is being done to resolve the problem. You can see this idea at work in the example from KLM highlighted in this article from Ignite.
4) Clear Escalation Procedures – The SMT will need to have access to the right people in your organization to resolve or defuse issues quickly. Make sure key decision makers know that cooperation is expected and necessary. What customers want to see is that companies are responding quickly, with empathy and objectivity (see the Ignite article sited above).
Related article from CommPR: Would You Make Any of These Mistakes in a Social Media Crisis?
Related article from 3WD: Online Content that Challenges Your Reputation
