Let’s get it started!
Greetings from the laboratory! This is my maiden entry in The Borenstein Group’s corporate blog. I would love to get your feedback, so please take advantage of the comments section.
This blog is not a mouthpiece; this is a place for dialogue and information sharing, which is how I believe all good communicators ought to treat their blogs and micro-blogs. Before getting started with all of that though, many companies and even government entities who are now adopting social media need to get their bearings. There is a lot to take in and consider!
The public relations team here at The Borenstein Group just rolled out a formal social media program to the rest of the company. With it came guidelines to make sure we are all on the same page about what we are doing in social media, why we are doing it, and how to stay out of trouble!
Here are some take-aways from our guidelines that any organization can apply to get a social media program started:
- Declare the objective/goals of the program. Let participants know why you are all doing this and what you hope to get out of it.
- Make it clear whether or not participation is opt-in/opt-out. List the platforms you plan to use (blog, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, etc.) Don’t sign up for them all for the heck of it. Be realistic about which outlets you can contribute quality content to on a regular basis. More importantly, make sure it’s a platform where your audience is engaging or could be directed to engage with valuable content.
- Come up with a simple approval process for the submission of blog posts, images, videos, etc.
- List rules/guidelines for employees who choose to participate and list consequences if they do not adhere to these guidelines.
I hope this helps someone get the ball rolling at his or her own organization! Is there anything you would add to this list?
