Elements of a Social Media Strategy

Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn and YouTube are now considered essential business and government tools. These "disruptive" technologies were introduced into organizations by employees who initially became acquainted with them in their personal lives. How should an organization react to the introduction of new technology into the workplace? How does an organization handle the blurry line between personal and professional conduct when using a social media service? Is there a viable business model for using a social media service?

Below are my initial thoughts on this issue. Please feel free to add your comments to help me construct a more thorough analysis.

Elements of a Social Networking Strategy

Protect an Organization’s “brand image”
Regardless of considerations over the relative merits of the various social networking services, an organization must take certain basic steps to protect its reputation. The potential exists for individuals, other groups or organizations, through their use of social media, to:
• Misrepresent themselves causing others to believe they are agents of the organization or
• Unjustly impugn the reputations of employees, executives, Board Members, or the organization in general.

At the simplest level an organization should quickly move to reserve (“cyber-squat”) user names and identities synonymous with their organization on the most popular social media services like Facebook, MySpace, YouTube, and Twitter. By reserving these names and identities the organization will create an initial hedge against others misrepresenting themselves and afford the organization time to formulate a more comprehensive social media strategy.

Establish Action Plans
An organization should establish a cross-functional team to examine the following issues:

• Which social media services demonstrate beneficial business purposes

- What are their demographic compositions
- Do they represent a viable means of communication between the organization and the clients of the social media service

• How should an organization represent itself on various social media services
• Develop action plans for the deployment of an organization’s presence on social media services

Find Your Voice
Whether you have one person or several people post on behalf of your organization it is essential to present the tone, vocabulary, and style in a consistent single voice. To do otherwise is to risk confusing your audience as if your organization suffers from a multiple personality disorder.

Learn to Listen
The use of any social media is not to just push your message, it is also to listen to what your audience says about your posts and your organization. Resist the temptation to assume that your organization is always right and take your audience's comments to heart.

Create an Acceptable Use Policy
Employees, agents of an organization, as well as Board members must be informed and comply with a Social Media Policy that establishes expectations for decorum, professionalism, confidentiality, and the protection of privacy. The policy should be created even if an organization elects not to establish a formal social media presence.
Should an organization decide to have a social media presence, the policy should also clarify:

• Who may post on behalf of an organization
• What types of postings are appropriate (e.g., informational, promotional)
• What type of online relationships are appropriate (e.g., “following,” “friending,” being a “fan” of)