Social media strategy and policy

One of the main learnings that I gained from the readings in module four is the strong need to develop a social media plan and policy before you begin to build a social media profile. This includes a strategy for how you are to engage with your peers/clients/broader community and how you manage those engagements. 

Both Solis (2010) and Brown (2009) make the point of taking the time to review the different social media platforms and how people interact on them. Then using this information, develop a strategy that reflects what you want to achieve.  Solis (2010) outlines 21 best practice principles for organisations to follow when setting up a social media profile, the primary one of which is to spend the time up-front determining which is the best channel to engage with.  Kagan (2010) covers the same territory a little more succinctly with 5 points 

1. Listen
2. Engage
3. Be real
4. Be respectful
5. Have fun

Lauby (2009) believes that it is also important to include in your social media policy rules for engagement, so that staff understand what the social media presence is for, what their responsibilities are and how they are to represent the organisation in the social media environment. Steinberg (2013) outlines 10 commandments for organisations to follow in how they represent themselves. Of particular interest was how to deal with negative comments. Criticism should be viewed as an opportunity to improve a service, not as something to be ignored or inflamed. A policy will guide staff in the approach they are to take in these circumstances, which will assist in dealing with issues before they get out of control. 

In terms of developing a marketing strategy, Bernoff (2010) stresses the importance of understanding your target market. You need to segment your approach depending on where you clients are. You may need to be in different social media channels for different services. Eg. One target market may be using Facebook or twitter while another may be in LinkedIn. When you take a different channel approach, there still needs to be an underlying uniformity to both social identities – you do have to be “real” but social media does allow you to support different facets of your organisation. A clear strategy is needed so that mixed messages are not being conveyed across the different platforms.

Bernoff, J. (2010). Social Technographics: Conversationalists get onto the ladder. Retrieved from

 http://forrester.typepad.com/groundswell/2010/01/conversationalists-get-onto-the-ladder.html

Brown, AL. (2009). Developing an Effective Social Media Marketing Strategy, in Salt Lake City Social Media Examiner Retrieved from http://www.examiner.com/article/developing-an-effective-social-media-marketing-strategy

Kagan, M. (2010) What is Social Media Now? Retrieved from http://www.slideshare.net/mzkagan/what-is-social-media-now-4747765

Lauby, S.(2009a) Should Your Company Have a Social Media Policy? In mashable.com. Retrieved from http://mashable.com/2009/04/27/social-media-policy/

Solis, B. (2010) 21 Rules for Social Media Engagement. In mashable.com . Retrieved from http://mashable.com/2010/05/18/rules-social-media-engagment/

Steinberg (2013) The 10 Commandments of Social Media for Brands. In mashable.com. Retrieved from

http://mashable.com/2013/03/13/social-media-business-commandments/