social media: the good, the bad and the ugly

Social Media

Social Media

Social Media

The Agenda• The Good – why social matters – Some examples

• The Bad and The Ugly– Are really the pieces of the same thing

• The Rest

The Good

The Social Media Why

• “I have seen how social media can spread awareness about how we use business as a force for good. It also allows me to share the lessons I’ve learned in business, as people are always keen to find ways to be better at what they do.” – Sir Richard Branson

• “Extension of our store shopping experience for customers” – Publix

• “It’s a dialogue, not a monologue.” – Food Lion CEO

Social media

• New communication channel–Customer service– Source of information and feedback–Build community–Marketing–Brand protection–Monitoring / Listening

Getting started

• Decision on whether to play or not• Platform selection• Preparation for launch – design, training, voice• Tool selection – Publishing, listening• “Blackhat” thinking• Development of SMEs• Who controls what messaging

The Conversation

Growth– July – 21,101 – August – 55,042– September - 66,663– October 18, 5:35 Am – 81,585– Christmas 2011 – 300,000– Super Bowl Sunday @kickoff - 413,885

The Bad

The Bad• Distracting• Can be leveraged

against your brand• Can bring

uncomfortable issues to the surface

• Requires a commitment• Difficult to control• Can look unprofessional

The Bad

The Bad

The Bad

The Bad

The Bad

The Bad• Social Media Looms Large in Komen's Latest Decision• As of noon on Friday, both "Planned Parenthood" and "Cure

Foundation" were trending on Twitter in the U.S• Komen was inundated with negative comments via e-mails, on Twitter

and on its Facebook page. Many of the messages conveyed a determination to halt gifts to Komen—organizer of the popular Race for the Cure events—because of the decision.

• A photo and message "Still Standing With Planned Parenthood, Are you? Share!", was shared 21,610 times , reaching millions on Facebook alone.

• Not only did Planned Parenthood use social media to help turn public sentiment in its favor, it also created a fundraising machine, receiving more than $3 million in only three days.

Social Media

The Ugly

The Ugly

The Rest• Social media can be used by any size business• It’s just communication• Can be used for recruiting, marketing,

customer service, collecting business intelligence, brand protection, brand advancement

Yellow Dog Recruiting

Social Tools for Recruiting

• BeKnown• Branchout• Connect.me• Bullhorn Reach• Brave New Talent• Upwardly.me• LinkedIn

Bullhorn Reach

The Rest

Social Media

• Brand is leverage• Social media provides easy reach• Choose to manage conversation or not• Policy• Identify influencers• Listen to the conversation• Consider how:– social media tools might benefit– social media tools might harm

Social media access

• Tough to control• Blocking access at work• Mobile, other device• Consider Egypt, Libya,

Japan• Better to manage

proactively

Getting started

• Consider starting w/ at least one platform• Blogs are great for sharing information• Facebook is great for conversation / events• LinkedIn offers a semi-private platform – Dialogue, Information, Events

• Twitter, YouTube, Flickr• Policy and guidelines– Establish a strong social media policy– Communicate the policy to all employees– Enforce your policy consistently

Thoughts on social media policy

• Pay attention to legal cases, especially National Labor Relations Board

• Pay attention to who owns the accounts representing your company accounts

• Tough to exclude groups from Brand dialogue• Employees speaking as individuals still have

some level of responsibility to brand• Google “social media policy examples”

The RestDealing with social media• Stop• Look• Listen• Respond

Responding

Takeaways

• Social media is not a fad• Your employees are using social media• Use of corporate campaigns is spreading• Legal concerns – monitoring, NLRB Facebook

case & concerted, protected activity– Understand the platforms– Develop appropriate policies and processes– Train supervisors

Action plan

These steps can get you started in protecting your brand with social media:

• Monitor your brand• Stake your claim to social media turf• Adopt preemption strategies• Engage proactively in social media• Have a rapid response strategy