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  MiBgaBon  

CSR  

Social  media  rising  in  importance    with  the  criBcal  shiD  from  

one-­‐  way  communicaBon  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  Conversa1ons  •  IdenBfy  owned-­‐channels  to  create  conversaBon  •  Determine  the  appropriate  exisBng  social  channel  to  develop  a  presence  

 

Social  Media  Monitoring  and  Response  Process  •  Measure/benchmark  share  of  voice  and  engagement  •  Understand  key  drivers  of  discussion  •  IdenBfy  top-­‐Ber  influencers    •  Unearth  specific,  short-­‐term  opportuniBes  for  engagement  

Posi1oning  Employees  to  Par1cipate  and  Engage  •  IdenBfy  and  train  social  media  brand  ambassadors  •  Define  processes  across  operaBonal  organizaBons,  as  appropriate  •  Create  culture  that  rewards  employees  for  par1cipa1on  

}  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  experBse  •   Credibility  through  their  role  @  your  company  •   Some  exisBng  visibility  &  stature  in  industry  •   A  unique  or  provocaBve  point  of  view  •   Ability  to  let  personality  shine  through  •   Will  take  guidance  from  communicaBons  funcBon  

•  Time  to  parBcipate  •  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   Communi1es   TwiBer  Provide  1-­‐1  feedback/ideas  via  email  

Ask  group  moderator  how  the  brand  can  provide  valuable  support  

Ambassadors  become  members  of  online  communiBes/groups    

Follow  and  engage  with  influencers    

Add  to  social  bookmarks  

Post  commentary  to  an  exisBng  thread  

Proudly  display  your    membership  elsewhere  

Promote  content  posted  on  the  corporate  twiWer  

Share  with  others  via  email  

Start  a  new  Brands-­‐related  thread  

Promote  events;  parBcipate  in  other  influencers’  acBviBes  

Digg  or  rate  submissions  

Link  to/reference  specific  forum  posts  in  brands  online  dialogue,  official  channels  

Connect  with  or  “befriend”  other  influenBal  members    

Link  to/reference  their  content  

Become  guest  moderators  to  shape  dialogue  

Answer  quesBons  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  connecBons  ◦  Disclosing  typical  experiences  ◦  Marketer  liability  for  false  info  

}  Marketers  best  served  by  insisBng  on  full  disclosure  of  relaBonship  by  all  parBcipants  

}  Monitor  conversaBons  closely,  parBcipate  to  correct  misinformaBon  

}  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    

IdenBfy  &  PrioriBze  Influencers  

 Unearth  Specific  Engagement  OpportuniBes  

 Build  Influencer  RelaBonships    

 Measure  Impact  

Set  SM  Messaging  Focus    

Manage    Ambassadors    

PrioriBze  SM  Engagement  Ops  

 Shape  Suggested  

Responses    

Share  Best  PracBces,  Successes  

Serve  As  Visible  Rep.  for  Brand  in  SM  

 Deliver  Responses  within  Company  

Guidelines    

Provide  ExperBse,  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/

intel-social-media-guidelines.html }  http://designingcommunication.wordpress.com

Jaya.bohlmann@verizon.net Rphilips@golinharris.com