New service - social media policy development

Roger Hislop

We've launched a packaged service called "Social Media Policy Development", as seen on BizCom. This is not something new to a number of Sentient's clients -- we've done a bunch of social media policies, strategies, workshops, call them what you will, over the last two or three years. These range from simple "how to use Twitter" or "why you shouldn't blog if you're had half a bottle of wine" to all-singing, all-dancing strategies + policies + resource allocations + hands on training.

But any number of South African corporates are looking at Social Media, and wondering what they should be doing. Our "policy development" service is designed to give them a roadmap, a plan of action, and some Golden Rules to work within.

This is how we position the service:

"Sentient’s Social Media Policy Development programme is a thought-provoking and thorough examination of a business and how it can navigate the online minefields of LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Yammer and others."

Key topics that we examine when developing a policy:

• audiences and channels: who are you talking to, and where are they online
• monitoring and tracking techniques and standards*
• who responds to what, when, and why
• response times and escalation paths
• best practices in the various SM channels
• tone, language and content
• organisational structures and allocation of responsibilities

Sentient has developed online policies and best practices for many clients over the years as part of broader communications strategies. These include digital business-to-business strategies for local enterprises, blogging and social media guidelines for a leading advertising agency, and Sentient led the online communications policy work for the ruling party during the 2009 national elections.

The core social media policy should be simple, outlining a few principles and defining a voice. The Internet changes so quickly that a cook-book approach becomes outdated within weeks or months. A policy should be short and sweet: Coca Cola’s policy is three pages long (see interview with Coke SM head here), as is Sun Microsystems (here). But behind this policy, a great deal of thinking needs to be done, as enormous brand damage can be done with a few clicks by an over-zealous individual (such as a junior at Habitat using Twitter hashtags on political crisis in Iran to build rank). Part of this thinking involves legal or HR implications, training requirements for those who want to be online ambassadors, monitoring and tracking, and more. 

So there you have it. Have policy, will travel the corridors of social media. Bravely. Confidently. Correctly. Entertainingly. 

* Check out Klout for establishing Twitter influence, it's pretty powerful.

 

 

• 2010/02/03
• permalink
• comments (0)
• trackbacks (0)

Hamster Wisdom

Roger Hislop

I really want a big screen TV. A big flat one. One of those new ones that have a bazillion to one dynamic contrast ratio, and sixty trillion ANSI lumens, with four HDMI ports and the ability to play video directly from a USB drive.

Right now I have a really crap TV. It’s big and bulky, with a tiny screen. The controls on the front don’t work, I had to pull the thing apart to disconnect them after an unfortunate incident involving Cape Town winter dampness and a weeping salt crystal lamp.

This is an old, tired, small, crap TV. I want a new, big, slim-line, awesome TV.

And I plan to continue to want this big screen TV for a long time to come.

It’s healthy to really want a cool new TV. It shows you’re a real guy. It’s not healthy to actually buy a cool new TV. Because once you’ve been to Game and selected your hi-def goodness, and got it home, and mounted the bracket on the wall, and hung it up, and connected all the cables, and played with the remote, what then?

You watch a couple of episodes of Dexter. You browse your media player (because you can finally read the file-names from across the room).

What then?

Then you start to think, “Hmm. The speakers sound a little thin and boomy. Maybe I should look at a new set.” You start to think, “A media tank that lets me pull torrents down via WiFi from the comfort of my couch. That would rock.”

It’s a hamster wheel. Every step you take takes you a step closer to the next step. You will never get there, because the only way to get there is to get off this hamster wheel to nowhere.

So I will not buy that big screen TV. But I will continue to want to. That’s healthy.

• 2009/12/15
• permalink
• comments (0)
• trackbacks (0)

Perfecting your PR campaign by jumping on the Social Media bandwagon

Tyrone van Heerden

We all know the impact that social media has had on the general public, not only from the way people communicate and network but also from the way they perceive a particular brand.

Although many communications professionals have acknowledged the importance of social media (some even claiming to be experts) they tend to focus on one specific medium- Twitter being a particular favourite at the moment.

Twitter is a great medium for certain brands as a support function but focusing all your attention solely on the one platform can be a waste of a PR’s efforts as it should be merely supporting other social media activities such as your blog, Facebook page, company profile on Linkedin, etc. Social media is of course all about interaction- captivating a community of interest and not playing with, but understanding and supporting their views- why not tap into these emotions and put a name behind your brand over multiple platforms?

For me, Adam Singer from Top Rank's Marketing blog put’s social media into perspective for PR pro’s by providing readers with three steps for effectively using social media for PR.

Although Singer acknowledges Twitter as being the social medium of choice for PR and Marketing pro’s he also shares the view that Twitter shouldn’t be one’s sole medium- “instead of putting all your mediums into just one basket or network, focus on owning your niche across web platforms,” he says.

My concern in the South African market is that a lot of PR’s don’t realise how easy it is to send a message across multiple platforms targeting different communities by the click of one button.  Singer say’s, “There is very little value in being a brand or a person who is popular in network X or Y.”

PR people need to stay committed to their social media plans explains Singer. “Push through the dip. In other words, outlast others who aren’t as serious or committed as you are.”

By staying consistent on your social media platforms, you going to stand out amongst the clutter on the web, creating a community who respects your insight and see’s a value in your views.

Singer appeals to PR people not to forget the role of SEO in your social media activities and to find the link between PR, social media and SEO. He makes a great point by explaining that if you participate in the social web with the goal of PR, you’re going to inspire attention for your brand. In turn, attention on the web equals to links, which can boost referral traffic and improving the general SEO of the particular brand.

I feel that South African PR’s are slowly coming to terms with the role that social media plays in building a brand. One can just look at social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook and Linkedin, and can see the increase of visibility of South African brands and products daily. To me, it’s up to the PR’s to make sure that these brands are placed on the correct mediums, that they have continuous interaction with the network of people on the mediums, and that they build a reputation for the brand that will beat the clutter of it’s competitors on the web and attract a reputation of them being the better brand than that of their competitors.

• 2009/11/30
• permalink
• comments (0)
• trackbacks (0)