Everything You Need to Know About Corporate Social Media Policies

By B.L. Ochman

Retention - Social media will help you retain customers. Concentrate on your existing customers - and they'll spread the word for you.

Engage - give your customers a reason to come back even when they're not buying.

Satisfaction - these days, customers CAN get satisfaction: if not from you, than from your competitors.

Policy - set guidelines for your community

Evolution - customer behavior has evolved. Have you?

Community - we don't care about you anymore. We care what people like us think. Let us connect with other customers.

Transparency - the days of corporate speak and the royal "we" are gone. Talk to us like we're all humans. That's respect.

Caution! Social media is not a marketing strategy!

Un-muzzle - the key is to keep employees directed, not muzzled

Socialize - that's what social media is really all about - people talking to people.

Training - educate and train your employees so they understand the policies. Trust them to do the right thing.

Openness - don't lie, you'll be found out.

Moderate - create a policy for what you will tolerate in comments on your website and in your social media outlets.

Enterprise-wide - social media is a way of thinking about relationships, not just a marketing campaign

Remember - this is not an experiment. It's for all the marbles..

Strategy - social media requires strategy before tactics. You can't be everything to everyone, and you don't need to be.

Cartoon: Hugh Macleod
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great stuff... the FUN-damentals.

Love your comment about keeping employees directed, not muzzled.

I presented a training session last week on Facebook. It was very clear from the questions participants asked that many companies are unaware that you cannot create a corporate profile on Facebook. A company must create a PERSONAL profile. And from that personal profile, a company can then create a Fan Page, which they can used to promote whatever they're selling.

If companies can direct an employee or employees to study the Terms of Service and other rules on these sites, the employees can help the companies understand how to use them.

Make employees part of the process instead of treating them as part of the problem.

Brilliant. Simple brilliant. Thank You.

I like your comments about Transparency and Socialize. Now a days it seems like most companies have either chosen to continue to throw out their mundane corporate speak, in which case I immediately want to tune them out, or they think they're too cool for school and try to go the text messaging route, which is just annoying and makes me want to lock them in their lockers.

Companies DO need to talk to us like we're people, preferably not the stupid kind. Regular conversations will lend more towards truthfulness, openness, and trust.

Great advice on how to treat customers and how to use social media.