Social media networking can help companies get the word out through their employees.
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Social media may be a fun way to connect with friends and post about your life, but it is also a powerful tool for businesses to communicate and conduct marketing efforts. It is important that all employees have an understanding about how social media should and should not be used, for the benefit of the business. Here are some reasons to be sure all of your employees understand social media.
1. To prevent embarrassment (to the business and to employees).
It is a common occurrence to post complaints about your employer on social media. For some reason, employees never think company owners or bosses will see these complaints, but nothing is private on social media, and the employer is often part of the network. When employees understand that they could be sanctioned or fired for spreading bad press about the business on social media, it will prevent these embarrassing situations and spare all sides from backpedaling or apologizing.
2. To boost visibility and reach.
Encouraging employees to share a business’s social media posts can multiply that business’s reach and help make it more visible to the public. If even a few of those friends share with their friends or become customers, the business can grow its bottom line with minimal marketing cost.
3. To encourage positive press.
Employees that post positively about the business or suggest positive post ideas to the social media manager should be rewarded in whatever way the business can afford. Linking to blog posts and sharing positive stories about both the business and the employees can intrigue the public enough to get some to share or investigate further.
Social media can be a powerful tool for businesses.
4. To maintain the privacy of the business.
It’s important that all employees are informed about what information can and can’t be shared on social media. No proprietary, financial, or personal information should ever be shared, as it would be unethical and could be illegal, depending on what is shared.
5. To stop the bleeding.
If negative or private information has already been shared, employees must understand they need to take it down as soon as possible. Of course, a knowledgeable enough person could still get access to the deleted post, but this is less likely if it is quickly removed.
6. To promote the company in a non-invasive way.
Employees may feel like just a mouthpiece when they are asked to “talk up” the company to people they know, but doing the very same thing on social media can feel much more natural because it’s much more what people do there. Organizing a giveaway will encourage even more sharing and may get thousands of people involved in a short period of time.
Educating employees about social media is part of good business management and can have a significant positive impact on your company as well as preventing potential problems. If your HR department doesn’t have a social media policy as well as training so all employees are informed, it might want to seriously consider doing so in the near future.
Are you interested in developing a more social media-savvy team? Join the CCSU mailing list to get updates on digital training and other professional development courses. Sign up for CCSU’s Social Media Boot Camp on September 21 at www.ccsu.edu/ConEd.