Social Media Guidelines

(According to Kaplan and Haenlein, opinions by Lucy)

Five Media Guidelines

Choose carefully:To me this is true to an extent. I think it would be more appropriate to

say 'refine carefully'. When you're new to social media I think it's actually wise to try everything you think might be relevant, maybe try some things that you don't think are relevant at all! Just because you start something, it doesn't mean you are committed forever. Give it a few weeks, monitor engagement, see if the features work for you. If they do, great! If not, simply pause your efforts, or move on.

It's too easy and safe to stick with the big four (Facebook, Twitter, Google + and LinkedIn), but you could be missing out on niche communities that are interested in you, what you do and most importantly, what you can do for them! Within this point I would also like to quickly discuss how many social media channels is the correct amount. The answer; there is no correct amount. Some companies may find a single Twitter account suitable, others could have about 10 different channels on the go, you have to go with what your company is comfortable with. Find your level, and be confident in what you are doing.

Pick the application (community), or make your own:

(whether to join pre-made social media application or invent a new one)

The majority of companies will find that joining an existing community, or multiple communities, is the most relevant. The only reason I can see for a company to invent their own social media channel is for internal purposes, and even then a company would have to be pretty large in order to require an

internal social network.

Ensure activity alignment:(consistent corporate image throughout media activities)

Again, this is true to an extent. Copying and pasting a status straight from Facebook, to Twitter, to LinkedIn, to Google + is a no no, for one, it's likely your followers are present on more than one of your social channels, so at least re-word it for their sakes!

Also, people use different social media channels for different reasons, so your tone of voice, although still consistent with your company, has to adapt slightly in order to make the best impression possible. For example, Twitter is always short, sharp bursts of information, and can take a bit of humour. LinkedIn is more professional, slightly more reserved, but by no means boring! Google + has no word limits on their statuses, so snippets from your latest blog post can work better than a one-liner. Learn what your audience react to best and work with that.

Media plan integration: (how to integrate traditional and social media)

Having a good mix of media outlets is important, but here at UbD we mostly focus our efforts online. Of course we do our press releases, but then the quickest, easiest and cheapest way to get these to the masses is to share them through our social media outlets.

Social media has opened marketing up to businesses who previously lacked the budget to undertake such activities on a scale large enough to make an impact. I am not knocking traditional media, it has it's place and is suitable for certain types of industry. However, I believe, in the fast-paced creative industry, social media and online marketing take precedence.

Access for all: (how to control employee use of social networking whilst at the same time allowing them to use it as a

promotional tool)

The reality of this point is that you can't really control your employees use of social media, there have been several high profile Twitter scandals that can illustrate this. Trust is such a huge issue here! In my opinion the best thing to do is keep personal profiles separate, but allow your colleagues the prerogative to share company news with their personal followers, if relevant.

The way we handle this at United by Design is through shared accounts. All team members have access to the 'hub' accounts, and each account has guidelines as to how it should be used, hence our post-it wall (next slide). This way our followers get to know our personalities, without having to sift through our personal messages.

Post-it wall illustrating our social media hubs and a code of conduct for each.

Five Social Guidelines

Be active:

This cannot be stressed enough! But there are far too many opinions on how active to be, so this is something you will have to experiment with, each social media channel requires a different level of activity. But once you find your rhythm try your best to be consistent, and be realistic! And probably most importantly, don't annoy your followers!

Be interesting:

Definitely something you should always thinking about. Be interesting to your current followers, be interesting to potential followers (leads), be interesting to your colleagues, basically, be interesting to everyone! Don't post things that you don't find interesting, because most of the time people can tell. I am sure you are an interesting person, so be yourself!

Be humble:In my opinion, yes, be humble, most of the time. It is ok to sing your

own praises every now and again, as long as you do it in the right way. But your social media channels are predominantly to share information with your followers (see 'Be interesting'), and your followers probably already have a good idea how wonderful your company is, otherwise they wouldn't be following you! It's ok to praise others too, this is how you build networks and friendships, both personally and professionally.

People interact with your social media because you give them something, be it your opinion on social media (in this case), or a picture of your office, or something that you have found elsewhere on the internet, the point being that there is an exchange of information in their favour. Telling everyone how great you are is only giving yourself a pat on the back. I don't know about you, but people who talk about nothing but how great they are start to annoy me, and I tune out of the conversation, how your company behaves on social media is exactly the same, talk about yourself too much and people will ignore you.

Panoramic of the office

Be unprofessional: (don’t be afraid to make mistakes, try to be like others in the social media setting)

I don't think 'unprofessional' is the correct word here, 'lighthearted' would be more appropriate. It's ok to make mistakes, as long as you rectify them quickly and effectively. More importantly, it's ok to have a bit of a laugh on social media, perhaps not on more professional networks such as LinkedIn, but Facebook and Twitter can definitely take some humour.

Be honest:

If there is one thing you take away from this, then let this be it. No matter how clever you think you are being, telling people what you think they want to hear, at some point they will see right through you, and this could tarnish the reputation of the company you represent, as well as your own personal credibility.

'Honesty is the best policy' is a well known saying for a reason. This is particularly important if you or your company make a mistake; be honest, take ownership and put it right.