Reputation, Reputation, Reputation – (importance of having a social media policy)
i2i solutions > Blog > Reputation, Reputation, Reputation – (importance of having a social media policy)
Reputation, Reputation, Reputation
Are you concerned about your personal and business profile? Does it matter what people are saying about you?
Yes of course you should be taking an active interest in building a positive profile and what’s being said about you is going to have an impact. With facebook, twitter, Linkedin et al; a brand, personality and reputation built up over many years can be undone in hours.
To emphasise how important this is for your business let’s step back in time to consider an example of a management mistake and think how you would cope with a similar scenario today.
It’s April 23rd 1991 and the CEO of a multi million pound business on a salary of £650k a year is making a speech to theInstitute ofDirectors. His audience are unlikely to be target customers because the speakers business is low end jewellery. To connect to the audience self deprecating humour is used to raise a laugh. A laugh was certainly raised that night but Gerald Ratner’s infamous “total crap” comment about his own products will always ensure that he is associated with one of the all time biggest business gaffs. Following the speech his comments were picked up by the mainstream press, TV and radio and the story just wouldn’t go away. Shoppers turned away from the Ratner stores and the share price dropped like a stone.
But here’s a question for you. How long did Gerald stay in his position after those comments? A week? A month? A year?
Most are very surprised to learn that it was more than 18 months. He finally left the business in November 1992. Fast forward to the current day, 24 hour insatiable news coverage, social media sites alive with streams of micro blogs. How long would give Gerald in today’s environment? I’d say less than a week.
Look at the News International “phone hacking” scandal and News of the World editor Rebekah Brooks. Despite the best efforts of owner Rupert Murdoch he was unable to stop the weight of public opinion and outrage. The Guardian published details of voicemail tampering in the Milly Dowler case on 4th July 2011, by 15th July Ms Brooks had resigned and the 168 year old newspaper closed down in disgrace.
We are living in an era of instant news, report and sensationalism which will take such a story and turn it into a global phenomenon within hours. If regime change and riots can be orchestrated through social media you can be sure business leaders can be seen as rather soft targets.
Just before you start thinking that this doesn’t apply to you try Googling your name and your business. Don’t be shy, I’m sure we’ve all done it as some point. If not, you need to get into the habit.
Ratner and News International scored rather spectacular “own goals” but other examples show how events outside your control can cause similar damage. Blackberry’s recent crumble and outage caused by a technical failure was exasperated by the delay in delivering support and communicating with their millions of unhappy customers.
If your business is going to attract negative comments it’s most likely to come from sources close to home. Common sources of damaging publicity are disgruntled customers or staff or the inappropriate postings or actions of an executive. The key is to be prepared for such eventualities.
Only a small number of businesses have policies setting out how to manage social media in the workplace. Having a policy won’t necessarily prevent a negative comment but it will help establish the process to how you would respond.
In most cases a swift and proportionate response can mitigate any grumble, complaint or staff indiscretion.
Here are a few pointers to help you create your own policy.
- Set out a statement explaining why you have the policy
- Detail who is covered – ensure staff are aware it covers posts concerning their job whilst they are not at work
- Set out who’s responsible for policing
- Provide examples of penalties for indiscretion
- Make it clear how you intend to monitor
- Include a definition of “social social” and “business social” media i.e. posting to friends from a personal account and posting on behalf of the business.
- Best practice – provide a simple do’s and don’ts guide
- Recruitment – be up front with the company line on using social media to assist with recruitment decisions.
We have a template version which is comprehensive and extends to include general web and mobile usage. If you’d like more information please drop me a line.
David Laud david.laud@i2isolutions.co.uk
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