Have Social Media in Your PR Policies
November 19, 2008 by ShannonCherry
Filed under Marketing
Chris Brogan recently told the story of a company who after a direct mail piece was delivered, their targeted market began discussing online.
It’s a great story about the power of social media and it’s effect on communications.
But reading this has made me realize, like all communication tools, there must be policies in place to assure that the ’slippery slope’ would never happen in the first place. This is especially true since a recent survey from PRWeek show that only 29 percent of CEOs believe that social media is important and useful in marketing.
PR policies? Really? Yes, really.
Just as you would set up a policy on how your logo can be used, you should set up public relations guidelines as well. They should include the basics:
- who’s the designated spokesperson
- the basic messages
- how and when to disseminate information
And your policies should also include social media.
I’m not saying that this company (or any company) should simply ban using social media. After all, even in this case, incorporating social media was a plus, developing a real connection to this target market. But if the policies are in place in the beginning, poor ‘Bob’ and the target market wouldn’t be so upset now.
I completely agree with Bob on this one. Every employee of the company acts as a representative in some way or another. While it may not have been Bob’s job to take initiative and answer the target markets questions via social media, i think that he had the right idea. Everyday i see myself more and more sifting through different forms of social media to find reviews and comments on products that spark my interest. Most often this is what entices me to buy their product, not their website or brand name. I don’t know if Bob was trying to act as a third-party endorser or if he was operating through the company’s website or what. Either way, instead of discouraging employees I would encourage employees to engage in social media with the supervision of a gatekeeper.