Pub. 5 2015 Issue 1

15 response, particularly if the publicity is bad. Having a content plan allows employees to measure what is going on against a standard. Having an approval process gives accountability to specific people and prevents problems from going unnoticed. 4. Any company using social media needs the right tools to reach its goal and enforce its policies. Technologymakes it possible to monitor both activity and compliance with the company’s policies. But be aware that third-party vendors are often responsible for due diligence; in other words, you need to delegate, but be careful about who you select. 5. No policy will work unless you train people about what they are supposed to do, and then enforce the rules you’ve taught them. Teach everyone at the company, and refresh their memories on a regular basis. Surprisingly, you need a social media policy even if your company has decided to limit or stay out of any kind of social- media participation. The fact is that social media will impact your company even if you are doing your best to minimize risk by making the target (the company) as small as possible within the world of social media. You are still vulnerable because, like it or not, you have both a brand name and company value. Your best chance to defend your reputation lies in making the choice to define your company’s reputation before someone else does. And the thing about social media that makes it so very danger- ous is the fact that it has a long memory. Once information has been disseminated on the Internet, it is never going to go away again unless the entire Internet disappears. What do you think the odds are for that? How can you make a good impression online and minimize any risk to your company’s reputation? Here are some guidelines to keep in mind: 1. Stay relevant by providing good customer service. Ames- sage that is obviously aimed at everyone works for no one. Be honest, be intelligent, and be personal. 2. Stay on top of monitoring. You can’t take the night, the weekend, or the holidays off. Make sure someone is moni- toring your social media efforts all the time. 3. Have an action plan that can go into effect fast, and train employees to implement that plan effectively. If some- thing negative is going on, you want to nip that negativity as soon as possible. The longer it lasts, the more it becomes the story, and the more it reflects on your company. You don’t want that. You need to have an action plan even if you don’t participate in social media, because like it or not, social media is aware of you despite your best efforts to ignore it. It’s a brave new world out there in the world of social media — don’t let that newness bite you professionally. Make the new world of social media work to your benefit so your company can enhance its performance … and its profitability. 