Social Media: Can a Twitter Post send you to the Big House?

The answer is: YES.

As you read this post, there are probably a handful of twitter users, facebook updaters and linkedIn networkers who are causing an online crisis with their updates.  Here is a small tip: keep the defamation and slanderous comments out of the social media environment. Social media is a wide-open field, meaning that there are more people to catch you when you make a mistake…and believe me…they will.

Many of us have the feeling that the Government can be a little behind the times. Well, that is definitely the case with the interactive Internet. As more laws are emerging, more confusion and chaos is being caused amongst social media sites. To tweet or not to tweet? That is the question. But isn’t it our right as Americans to speak freely regardless of the communication medium?

Let’s look at the recent story of Amanda Bonnen, a questionable defamation comment was Tweeted regarding the mold in her apartment and the fact that her building management company, Horizon Group Management LLC., felt that it was “okay.” Rocker Courtney Love, who is no newbie to the courtroom, was recently sued for libel for Tweeting negative comments about a famous fashion designer.

In a recent CNN article, the differences of the legality of public and private information comes into question. Where do we draw the line? What is considered slanderous content tarnishing someone’s reputation or a Constitutional right to speak freely about whatever you wish.  What do you think?

When updating your Tweets or commenting in forums, keep this in mind to prevent any damages to yourself or your business:

• Don’t Tweet When Your Angry: It may sound cliche, but it is very true. When you are in a state of intense anger, you are less likely to make responsible, rational decisions. Don’t do something you are going to regret. If you are mad, take a breather and walk away from your computer. The longer you wait and let yourself cool off, the less damage control you will have to do.

• If it has your name on it, they are your words: Many people have staffers or outsourcers handle and organize their social media updates. Be sure to set down guidelines for your updates and be sure that nothing is being released, under your name, that can be incriminating or slanderous.

• Know The Laws and Abide By Them: Being ignorant to the law is never an excuse. Cornell University has posted Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act in 1996 which pertains to Interactive Internet Communications. Make sure you, your employees and your clients know the rules and closely abide by them. The Internet is an enormous community, so don’t think that you won’t get caught.

• Be Generous and Graceful: Social media marketing should be fun and rewarding in many ways including the opportunity to get to know your customers, partners and market much better. If others overreact, give them a break. You can demonstrate leadership by treating others well and being helpful when things get out of hand.

Marketing in this new world is becoming more complicated because the rules are changing all the time. The other managment issue is in the “old days” you created and ad and then ran it forever…no changes or issues. Now you, and your staff, are creating new “content” every day. This is worth a training session with everyone who touches social media in your business.

Check out this post “10 Rules for Social Media Participation (for Employees)”. This is a great guide to review with your staff.

What say you about this issue?

Social Media Marketing Planning: What To Do First?

We kicked off our Mastermind group last night for the Surefire Social “Contractor Edition”, it was terrific.  These business owners are the cream of the crop…they are serious about running and growing their businesses. That is why they spend time and resources on education and training for themselves and their people.

One of the most discussed subjects was where to start when implementing a social media marketing program.  These days, business owners and managers get several emails a day from consultants and agencies offering training and products for every social media site under the sun.

Take a step back (and take a breath) and think about implementing a social media marketing program in this context:

1. Are you aimed at the right target?  Social media marketing provides multiple benefits to your business, SEO, lead generation and partnership opportunities..all because of a larger footprint across the distributed web.  But if you are aimed at winning the wrong keywords (and unique positioning) for your company, you can be wasting a ton of time and resources. Get your strategy and foundation right and it will be hard to screw this up too much.
2. Is you website built on a content management platform that allows for dynamic publishing (blogging and other content updates) and automated pinging of your published content to the major directories?  If not, it is best to make sure your “home base” in the distributed web is optimized before publishing content on other sites.  This needs to all work together.
3. Are you treating social media marketing as a strategy or a tactic?  This is a transformational opportunity for your business and brand.  While it is great to experiment and try new things, it is best done in the context of an overall strategy that is moving you in the same direction.  Have a strategic approach to you social media marketing plan.

It’s never been a more exciting time in marketing and media.  Make sure you are on the winning of this business disruption.

Social Media ROI

eMarketer had a terrific report today about social media ROI.  The fact is more businesses are employing social media marketing every day.  The problem is they are not doing in a strategic or systematic way.  Seems we are in a hurry to implement new things as we hear about them…but often do not even know what we are doing it or how it fits our overall stragic plan.

I remember when I was at Clearspring Technologies, a leading widget syndication company, and a major media partner called me and said he MUST get an app. on Facebook right away.  I asked him why and he could only answer because the just opened up their platform to apps and needed to be there.  Now I understand why a company may want to be a leader and certainly understand the importance of experimenting in this new space. But don’t you think that with a little planning you could think through how you could actually deploy something that supports your other marketing activity and even find ways to measure results?

The key in this new marketing world is making sure you have the right strategy (including targeted keywords and phrases) and then implementing many different programs in the distributed web that support that strategy.  Measurement is the lifeblood of this new marketing word because at the end of they day, the number of opportunities you will have to communicate with prospective customers in endless. You must know what is working and what is a waste of time or social media marketing will be and endless burden on you and your team.

We will do a post shortly about measurement techniques to help the discussion.

10 Rules For Social Media Particpation (For Employees)

Employees want to build their personal brand.  Companies want to encourage that so they have the advantage of as many people touching their customers and partners as possible.  However, the emergence of social media and the convergence of personal/professional brand building with company marketing strategies presents a dynamic tension between the two objectives.

Mutually agreed to “rules of the road” should be a part of any companies (or employees) agreement with employees.  Here is a starting point of common sense guidelines.  Thanks to Shift Communications for some of this material.

These guidelines apply to employees or contractors who create or contribute to blogs, wikis, social networks, virtual worlds, or any other kind of Social Media. Whether you log into Twitter, LinkedIn, Wikipedia, MySpace or Facebook pages, or comment on online media stories in forums — these guidelines are for you.

While all employees should be welcome and encouraged to participate in Social Media, it should be expected that everyone who participates in online commentary understands (and follows) these simple but important guidelines.

The overall goal is simple: to encourage participation in online communities in a respectful, relevant way that builds and protects both the employee and companies brand and reputation, and of course follows the letter and spirit of the law.

1. Be transparent and state that you work at a specified company so everyone knows where you are coming from. Your honesty will be appreciated in the Social Media environment. Moreover, you will be less likely to get a backlash if people find out after you make comments that might be challenged. If you are writing about your company or a competitor, use your real name, identify that you work for that company, and be clear about your role. If you have a vested interest in what you are discussing, be the first to say so.

2. Never represent yourself or the company you work for in a false or misleading way. All statements must be true and not misleading; all claims must be substantiated.

3. Post meaningful, respectful comments that add value to the community— in other words, no spam and no remarks that are off-topic or offensive.

4. Use common sense and common courtesy: for example, it’s best to ask permission to publish or report on conversations that are meant to be private or internal to your company. Make sure your efforts to be transparent don’t violate the companies privacy, confidentiality, and legal guidelines for external commercial speech.

5. Stick to your area of expertise and do feel free to provide unique, individual perspectives on non-confidential activities at your company.  Be careful because you do not want to come across as a “cheerleader” and loose credibility with the community.

6. When disagreeing with others’ opinions, keep it appropriate and polite. If you find yourself in a situation online that looks as if it’s becoming antagonistic, do not get overly defensive and do not disengage from the conversation abruptly: feel free to ask the PR Director for advice and/or to disengage from the dialogue in a polite manner that reflects well on your company.

7. If you want to write about the competition, make sure you behave diplomatically, have the facts straight and that you have the appropriate permissions.

8. Never comment on anything related to legal matters, litigation, or any parties the company may be in litigation with.

9. Never participate in Social Media when the topic being discussed may be considered a crisis situation. Even anonymous comments may be traced back to your or companies IP address. Refer all Social Media activity around crisis topics to PR and/or Legal Affairs Director.

10. Be smart about protecting yourself, your privacy, and the companies confidential information. What you publish is widely accessible and will be around for a long time, so consider the content carefully. Google has a long memory.

These are fluid times and communication is abundant.  That presents both opportunities and challenges to companies and their employees.  Guidelines like these should become a part of any employee training for companies of any size.