This week, our digital marketing communications class has taken a closer look at how corporations and organizations are creating social media units to assist with the new age of communication.
Many companies, including FedEx, UPS and Coca-Cola have brought in teams to focus on the likes of Twitter, Facebook and other sites to ensure they are reaching their customers, watching their brands and providing information through every facet of social media available. Yet, some companies have not jumped on board the social media bus. And, maybe they will be left behind; maybe not. One thing is clear: social media changes at warp speed, and you'll need a fast car to keep up with this bus.
So, why are some companies not catching a ride? Well, there are probably many reasons, but Barb Dybwad recently hit on two in an article on Mashable about why company execs love and fear social media. First reason: they don't really know/understand it (51 percent according to this survey). The second reason: they view social media as a security risk (41 percent). I think the latter is a valid point. Using social media is supposed to make you more transparent. But, for many companies that can pose a threat. How information is distributed and portrayed via these social mediums can impact the company's bottom line. Employees may be posting information about the company, information can be leaked via these social networking sites, etc.
So, legal has to be engaged and involved in what is taking place regarding social media. And, this can be pretty tricky. Anyone who has ever worked with legal units knows that they walk a very straight line (well, the good ones do), and getting them to loosen the reins on a medium that is used to running free, is challenging.
As companies consider bringing in or creating a social media unit within their organization, it is important to look at all of the pieces of the puzzle to make sure they are working in tandum. In doing so, the company can focus on what they see as the value of social media (see survey in Dybwad's article).
I'm just typing out loud. I don't have the answers. I'm just a passenger who is trying to take in all of the sites as we continue our journey down the digital highway.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Legal does play a crucial role in a social media organization, especially for those companies that are publicly traded.
ReplyDeleteFor example, one of my clients, a multi-billion dollar manufacturer, is looking to utilize social media for its investor relations needs. I believe this is a great step for them to reach a targeted audience; yet, the company's legal department is hesitant in what will be posted to the account.
Legal's major complaint is the fact that social media is not controlled. Overcoming this challenge can be difficult because an organization cannot control what is said about it, but it can control the messages it is disseminating.
How we approached the legal department was to educate them on social media and what it can really accomplish. We highlighted the fact that it was another public relations tactic, and it was a compliment to an overall public relations and investor relations strategy.
Yet, one of the biggest obstacles that we needed to overcome was the fact that the company would need to embrace a social media culture. We explained to them the benefits of using social media and how everyone in the organization can use social media as a way to leverage the brand from within. It was simply and how-to guide for social media. We detailed the benefits of each social media outlet and how the company could best utilize it. This session detailed how to post and suggestions of what should and shoult not be posted. Too, it was important to note that all social media outlets are not the best fit for all companies. For example, Facebook seems to be a better fit for consumer-based companies, as opposed to business-to-business organizations.
The following article provides added detail on how to create a social media culture and importance of educating your colleagues and clients:
http://www.penn-olson.com/2009/10/06/how-to-establish-a-social-media-culture-in-your-company/
No doubt social media has changed the marketing landscape, allowing companies small and large easy two-way communication with customers like never before. With this valuable connection with consumers, forward-thinking companies, such as Starbucks and many others, have embraced social media. A recent study by Beeline Labs (2009) found that those companies that are successful using this new marketing approach all share one thing – they all have an in-house employee whose job is to monitor social media sites, including Twitter and Facebook. Such a person is in a better position to understand and represent the company's existing values, culture and codes of conduct, and its legal concerns. In addition, an in-house social media expert is more likely to create corporate culture of collaboration. The downside to such a position is that some consumers can view them with mistrust.
ReplyDeleteThe two-way communication that social media creates proves why having an in-house social media monitor is so important. Starbucks learned that first-hand earlier this year after launching a multi-million dollar, multi-media campaign to tout its coffee and its corporate values. The launch, including a Twitter contest, was quickly met with a Stop Starbucks campaign claiming that the coffee giant is anti-union, among other things (Ochman, 2009).
There were several blogs that said the union supporters hijacked the Starbucks campaign. However, the social media sites didn’t support the claims (Ochman, 2009). Stop Starbucks video accusing the company of harassing workers who want to unionize had nearly 59,000 views on YouTube and a Stop Starbucks petition to Starbucks Chairman Howard Schultz had amassed 14,589 signatures and 344 followers on Twitter. Compare that to Starbucks, which has 1,95,509 followers on Twitter.
Starbucks has more than 3.6 million fans, per InsideFacebook.com, an independent blog that tracks the social networking site's developments. It was also named the No. 1 "most engaged brand" in a report published by Altimeter Group. ( Wong, 2009). These recent feats are the result of Starbucks' aggressive digital and social media strategy, said Starbucks digital strategy director Alexandra Wheeler in an interview with Brandweek (Wong, 2009).
Companies that want to see similar success will follow in Starbuck’s footsteps and hire an in-house social media monitor of their own, who will not only help to promote the company's image and brand, but also work well to address legal concerns.
References:
Balwani, Samir, (2009, February 6). Presenting: 10 of the Smartest Big Brands in Social Media. Mashable. Retrieved September 30, 2009, from http://www.lexisnexis.com.www.libproxy.wvu.edu/us/lnacademic/results/docview/docview.do?docLinkInd=true&risb=21_T7474107386&format=GNBFI&sort=RELEVANCE&startDocNo=1&resultsUrlKey=29_T7474107397&cisb=22_T7474107396&treeMax=true&treeWidth=0&csi=299488&docNo=16.
Kelly, L. (2009). Emerging Best Practices: Social Media, Monitoring, Engagement & Measurement. Beeline Labs. Retrieved September 30, 2009, from http://www.beelinelabs.com/downloads/social-media-monitoring-engagement.
Ochman, B. (2009, May 30) Starbucks Social Media Monitoring & Community Help It Survive Brand Attack. What's Next Blog. Retrieved September 30, 2009, from http://www.lexisnexis.com.www.libproxy.wvu.edu/us/lnacademic/results/docview/docview.do?docLinkInd=true&risb=21_T7474107386&format=GNBFI&sort=RELEVANCE&startDocNo=1&resultsUrlKey=29_T7474107397&cisb=22_T7474107396&treeMax=true&treeWidth=0&csi=299488&docNo=1.
Wong, Elaine (2009, August 12). Starbucks' Social Outreach Stirs the Pot. Adweek.com. Retrieved September 29, 2009, from http://www.lexisnexis.com.www.libproxy.wvu.edu/us/lnacademic/results/docview/docview.do?docLinkInd=true&risb=21_T7474107386&format=GNBFI&sort=RELEVANCE&startDocNo=1&resultsUrlKey=29_T7474107397&cisb=22_T7474107396&treeMax=true&treeWidth=0&csi=7907&docNo=4.