engaging employees as brand ambassadors via social media
TRANSCRIPT
Tuesday, June 5, 2012 PRSA Webinar
Jaya K. Bohlmann, APR Founder and principal consultant, Designing Communication
Robert Philips Digital Connector GolinHarris Public Relations
How many organizations on this webinar ask their employees to: ◦ Follow their social media pages? ◦ Share content to their online networks? ◦ Blog? ◦ Have a formal process/policy?
Many organizations today struggle with empowering and allowing employees to engage in social media while also protecting against potential risks to corporate reputation.
False Intimacy Creates Business
Risk
Brand
Build Awareness
Share Company
News/Stories
Brand Preference
Brand and Market Insights
Increase Customer
Loyalty
Drive Sales
Crisis Mitigation
CSR
Social media rising in importance with the
critical shift from one- way
communication to RELATIONSHIPS with
stakeholders
Benefits & pitfalls of employees participating in social media on behalf of the organization
How you can engage your employees and empower them around social media through: ◦ Dialogue ◦ Knowledge sharing and training ◦ Shared, collaborative structure and approach ◦ Policies ◦ Strategic framework with business goals at center
Best practices gleaned from Sodexo’s employee social media program
Employees and Social Media
Source: NetProspex Social 50
Employees don’t want to participate
They may not have the time They don’t give a s**t…
Strategies and Programs
Drive Social Media Conversations • Identify owned-channels to create conversation
• Determine the appropriate existing social channel to develop a presence
Social Media Monitoring and Response Process • Measure/benchmark share of voice and engagement
• Understand key drivers of discussion
• Identify top-tier influencers
• Unearth specific, short-term opportunities for engagement
Positioning Employees to Participate and Engage • Identify and train social media brand ambassadors
• Define processes across operational organizations, as appropriate
• Create culture that rewards employees for participation
Decentralized workforce and corporate structure Many people on social media- not coordinated Many company brands, products, positioning
statements, personal experiences externally seen by many audiences (huge overlap and brand muddiness)
Cultural support (“collaborative,” “innovative,” “experts”)
Visibility overall increases Legal and IT security alarmed! Public Relations sighs.
Social media means we have to give up control and channel our professional expertise to the areas of education and empowerment. We have an opportunity to expand the work of PR beyond our teams to engage the entire workforce of our organizations as brand ambassadors.
• Specialized expertise • Credibility through their role @ your company • Some existing visibility & stature in industry • A unique or provocative point of view • Ability to let personality shine through • Will take guidance from communications
function • Time to participate • Willing to monitor
Not a social media strategy – a PR strategy! What is the employees’ role and
accountability? What is PR’s role and accountability? What are we trying to accomplish overall,
together? How will we measure it?
Smaller, core group of social media and organizational influencers ◦ They already are using social media ◦ Are influential within the company; have authority
based on position, expertise or resource control ◦ Are willing and interested to participate and
contribute consistently Broad-based, enterprise-wide group of
employees ◦ Anyone PR thinks should be involved!
Online writing and engagement (can use local university professors, agency support, PR team to lead trainings) ◦ How to write for social media ◦ How to keep audiences engaged (timely response, creative
content) Media Relations 101 for all employees ◦ Media relations in general
Social media webinars ◦ Specific to your organization’s social media properties (how
you’re using it, why – business purposes, how employees can be involved and get information from those)
Issues and crisis response Leverage subject matter experts for creating
blogs, responding to blogs Provide the training Regularly engage them Ask them to participate in monitoring Call on them often!
BLOG RESPONDERS
Create formal and informal internal groups of social media influencers and doers
PR to initiate and lead Present latest trends in general; anything from
monitoring Discuss recent organizational successes (corporate
blogs, Facebook and other social media platforms) Mostly, discuss problems, issues, needs and wants
of the group and offer group solutions (and corporate level ones if necessary)
To follow your social media pages and/or share the content: ◦ Feature content that would be of interest to employees ◦ Offer giveaways ◦ Develop rewards program (i.e., GaggleAmp)
To encourage employees to generate branded content: ◦ Ensure the social media strategy is relevant to them ◦ Facilitate their participation & trust their judgment ◦ Tie it into their goals and objectives
Blogs Boards/Forums Communities Twitter Provide 1-1 feedback/ideas via email
Ask group moderator how the brand can provide valuable support
Ambassadors become members of online communities/groups
Follow and engage with influencers
Add to social bookmarks
Post commentary to an existing thread
Proudly display your membership elsewhere
Promote content posted on the corporate twitter
Share with others via email
Start a new Brands-related thread
Promote events; participate in other influencers’ activities
Digg or rate submissions
Link to/reference specific forum posts in brands online dialogue, official channels
Connect with or “befriend” other influential members
Link to/reference their content
Become guest moderators to shape dialogue
Answer questions asked by other community members; pose new ones
Post public comment with an official POV
Sponsor relevant boards/forums
Policies and Systems
Most best practice companies have employee policies related to social media use
To create one in your company, follow a systematic approach and be patient with the following steps: ◦ Work with HR, IT, Legal, Marketing ◦ Inform executives ◦ Get an executive champion ◦ Take your time ◦ Get all the right buy-in for your organization ◦ Publicize and educate the new policies
Ethical conduct and legal reminders What constitutes “confidential
information” at your organization Boilers and disclaimers to include in
any personally owned social media Contacts in PR for clarification or
situational assistance Clearly state what’s at stake if
policies are breached (as HR policies, the same sanctions should hold)
PUBLICIZE AND TRAIN RE THE POLICIES COMPANY WIDE Source: Intel Social Media Policy
FTC Guidelines applies to “endorsements” ◦ Disclosing material connections ◦ Disclosing typical experiences ◦ Marketer liability for false info
Marketers best served by insisting on full disclosure of relationship by all participants
Monitor conversations closely, participate to correct misinformation
When requests come in to start a new social media tool, evaluate by asking: 1. Purpose (should be measurable and business-related) 2. Intended company business benefit 3. Potential risks to company and how mitigated 4. Intended audience (demographics, size) 5. Weekly time required for maintenance and related
staffing 6. Budget needs and availability
Comms Dept Business Units Ambassadors
Spot SM Trends
Identify & Prioritize Influencers
Unearth Specific
Engagement Opportunities
Build Influencer
Relationships
Measure Impact
Set SM Messaging Focus
Manage Ambassadors
Prioritize SM
Engagement Ops
Shape Suggested Responses
Share Best Practices,
Successes
Serve As Visible Rep. for Brand in SM
Deliver Responses within Company
Guidelines
Provide Expertise, Serve as a Source
Contribute Content to Brand Channels
Shape, Facilitate
Bring Ideas
Deliver Message
Sodexo
It may be external, but think internal!
• Employee comments
• Employee posts
• Network group gages
• Links to employee blogs
Dedicated to employees
• Employee Stories
• Above & Beyond
• Links to social media
• Links to job opportunities
“Sodexo Foundation Volunteer Day” “Sodexo’s Trip to the Farmer’s Market” “Sodexo Team Volunteers in Atlanta
Lessons You Can Use Today
Enterprise-wide, clearly stated, shared goals and strategy (PR-led, collaborative, inclusive)
Social media policy and guidelines are crucial–internal & external ◦ Create an oversight process (user friendly, helpful) ◦ Publicize widely internally ◦ Train thought leaders and other internal influencers
Admin management redundancy critical Measure results; recognize successes Ethical conduct and transparency are musts Constantly benchmark and improve Share what you learn!
http://www.linkedin.com/in/jayabohlmann http://www.linkedin.com/in/roblphilips www.golinharris.com http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/legal/inte
l-social-media-guidelines.html http://designingcommunication.wordpress.com
