Develop a social media policy guide and implement it

What guidelines should corporate social media managers follow to ensure that the company’s brand is being protected, from both a trademark and a public relations perspective? The same discretion should be applied to company employees and their personal social media accounts. It should provide a framework for answering common questions such as:

• What are employees not allowed to post about the company?
• Are employees prohibited from speaking on behalf of the company through the use of their personal social media accounts?
• What are the consequences for an employee’s failure to adhere to the social media policy?

Seek legal counsel before investing in a social media program

Legal professionals can assist in the development and implementation of an online content strategy that deals with issues of both protection and enforcement of trademarks.

For example, a lawyer can advise on such matters as registering the company’s brands as usernames on social media sites, clauses dealing with online use and monitoring third-party use of a company’s brand. Lawyers well-versed in Intellectual property law can advise on which trademarks are available for the company’s use and registration, and which ones are to be avoided due to potential confusion with existing trademarks.

Monitor your reputation regularly

When someone searches for your business, you want them to easily find you, along with all of the positive things being said about you. Unfortunately, it’s fairly common for users with malicious intentions to create social media pages or profiles to harm your business.

For example, the creator of a faux account might lure fans with the promise of special discounts, if they provide such sensitive data as credit card information. Then there’s the problem of social media users with pornographic avatars posting content on company pages and offending other fans.

Smart monitoring can help you address problems before they escalate into PR nightmares, as opposed to just taking a reactive approach.

Prioritize your efforts

While there is no formula per se to determine which channels pose the greatest risk, consider the results of a study by the company Altimeter. The company surveyed companies about their perceived level of risk through various social channels.

They found LinkedIn was considered a risk by just five percent of respondents, while sites like Pinterest, Flickr and Foursquare were named by only three percent of businesses. More than a third of respondents named Facebook as their most significant risk. Last, 25 percent said they worry most about Twitter, and video sharing sites like YouTube and Vimeo were considered a risk by 15 percent.

The bottom line? Take a proactive approach to identify your organization’s protocol in the social media realm from the outset and you’ll be less likely to encounter problems along the way. The peace of mind is worth some work on the front end.

The post Minimizing Risk in Social Content Distribution appeared first on Relevance.

IBM conducted a 2012 study of 1709 CEOs around the world with the goal of exploring what greater organizational openness ahead means. Among their findings, only 16 percent of the CEOS surveying were participating in social media at the time.

But their analysis shows that the percentage will likely grow to 57 percent within five years. The report also found that social media–after face-to-face communication–will likely become the second most used method of organizational engagement method within the next five years.

The Benefits of Executive Blogging

The benefits of executives telling their brand’s story via online platforms (such as LinkedIn’s publishing platform) are plentiful.

“We opened the platform to 100 million people in the third quarter of 2014 – and over the remainder of this year and into early 2015, all LinkedIn members will have the ability to post their unique thoughts, insights, perspective and analysis through long-form writing on LinkedIn,” says  Akshay Kothari, LinkedIn’s principal product manager.

According to Kothari, there are several advantages to executive blogging, particularly when using the LinkedIn publishing platform.

• It can build credibility and strengthen your professional brand: According to Kothari, “With just a simple post, you have the opportunity to prove your expertise and thought leadership through your original and authentic voice. It becomes part of the dynamic portfolio you’re creating with your profile.” In other words, blogging is a way to position yourself and company as an industry leader through a form of digital storytelling.

• It can put a human face on a brand: Writing on LinkedIn as an executive is useful in a number of ways –amplifying your reach, putting a human face on the company, being a thought leader on trending or current topics and more. Some executives have even found success in using this as a forum to respond to events that affect the company. Kothari cites Target CMO Jeff Jones’s piece from May as a great example of using blogging to address a public relations nightmare.
• It is scalable and shareable: LinkedIn is the world’s largest professional network, with 332 million members. That’s a lot of potential pairs of eyes! “People benefit every day from reading, commenting and sharing those stories they find on our platform,” says Kothari.
• It can translate to success offline: Kothari says collectively users typically generate 40,000 blogs per week, which can really yield results. “We’ve heard from members who have gotten jobs, secured speaking engagements, been interviewed by major news outlets like Fox or picked up by publications like The New York Times, and made valuable new connections as a result of publishing on LinkedIn.”

CEOs and their respective companies must keep up with the times to stay relevant and competitive. Employees, vendors, customers and many other company touch points look to the top to communicate with them to foster trust and help them feel invested with the brand. Show them that you’re ready to have that conversation by putting a voice behind your organization’s leadership.

The post 4 Reasons Why Your Executives Should Blog appeared first on Relevance.