twitter frontier: harnessing the power of social media while protecting your franchise
DESCRIPTION
Presentation at IFA 2012 annual convention in Orlando FL.TRANSCRIPT
ABOUT US • Deb Evans – President & CEO – Computer
Explorers
• Chad Cohen – Vice President – Fish Consulting
• David Beyer – Partner – Quarles & Brady
• Todd Leiser – Director Franchise Sales - Valpak
#TFIFA2012
AGENDA
• Franchisor’s Perspective
• Franchisee’s Perspective
• Legal Perspective
• Best Practices
• Tools
• Q&A
#TFIFA2012
TWEET YOUR QUESTIONS
#TFIFA2012
#TFIFA2012
QUICK EXERCISE
• Tweet that you are in the Twitter Frontier
IFA session
• “Attending Twitter Frontier Session at the
IFA Convention #TFIFA2012. It’s
awesome”
#TFIFA2012
SOCIAL MEDIA VIDEO
#TFIFA2012
FRANCHISOR - DEB EVANS
• Hello, I am @DebCE and
everything can be tweeted,
any time, any where!
#TFIFA2012
CREATE A RAVE
• “Nobody Cares About Your Products
(Except You)”
• “Generate online buzz driving buyers to
your virtual doorstep!”
• “Create Triggers that Encourage People
to Share!”
#TFIFA2012
TWITTER AGENDA
• To Do Business
• Corporate Communications
• Public Relations
• Business Development
• Marketing and/or PR
#TFIFA2012
SOCIAL SHARING
• Great Content will Create an Emotional
Response
• Builds Creditability Online
• Allow the Sharing Virus to Spread (add
social buttons)
#TFIFA2012
SHARING IN 2011
Infographic by AddThis of
ClearSpring #TFIFA2012
GROUND RULES
• http://socialmedia.policytool.net/
#TFIFA2012
SOCIAL MEDIA TOOLKIT
• Provide step by step guide
#TFIFA2012
ESTABLISH “US” POLICY
• Tweets are Better as a Team
#TFIFA2012
TWEET PSYCH
• What will you
Tweet?
#TFIFA2012
THE TWITTER FRONTIER
#TFIFA2012
THE TWITTER FRONTIER
#TFIFA2012
TWEET BREAK
–Tweet a question @ValpakTodd
–Tweet a comment
–Use the Hashtag #TFIFA2012
#TFIFA2012
FRANCHISEE – CHAD COHEN
• What can you do for your franchise with 140 characters or less?
– Find the people and the web intelligence that can help make
your business successful.
#TFIFA2012
THE TWITTER FRONTIER
• Twitter: She’s smart and unique, with a big mouth and lots of
connections.
• She’s the friend who gossips and makes lots of noise.
• However, Twitter has her limits, but tell her the right things and she’ll
hook you up with the right people.
• If you want to stay on her good side, make sure you have a theme
for what you’re going to tweet, and stay connected or you’ll never
get anywhere with her.
#TFIFA2012
THE TWITTER FRONTIER
• As franchisees, remember the following:
– The choice to participate is yours
– Respect the brand’s proprietary information
– Be respectful, unique and the expert in your field
– Pause before posting
– Solve problems
– Know your voice
– Monitor and participate
– Reward your followers
#TFIFA2012
THE TWITTER FRONTIER
• If you, the franchisee, choose to engage, remember:
– Your twitter account is not an island. It does not stand alone.
– Needs to be reinforced offline for it to have an impact and for
customers to deem it useful.
– Twitter is not separate from your marketing and customer service
efforts.
– Monitor and track your brand, address concerns, offer customer
service or thank people for praise.
– Twitter is your megaphone to your local community. Use it. Get
engaged.
#TFIFA2012
FRANCHISOR - FRANCHISEE
#TFIFA2012
TWEET BREAK
–Tweet a question @ValpakTodd
–Tweet a comment
–Use the Hashtag #TFIFA2012
#TFIFA2012
LEGAL PERSPECTIVE
Just because it’s on social media does
not mean that:
– Laws no longer apply
– The FA / Manual does not apply
Due to viral nature: Be More Vigilant !
• Copyright Infringement
• Trademark Infringement
• Defamation
• Advertising Fees
Digital Millennium Copyright Act
• Limits copyright infringement liability for hosting third party content
– No actual knowledge
– No financial benefit from infringing activity
– Remove content on notice
– Designate agent for notices
FTC / Endorsements
• FTC actively monitoring advertising in
social media
– Endorsements – Disclosure
– Sellers & Third Parties Liable
– Sellers may be liable for what endorsers
do
– Sellers must inform endorsers of rules
• Federal Trade Commission guidelines subject companies to liability for false or unsubstantiated statements made through endorsement, or for failing to disclose material connections between themselves and endorsers
• Be sure franchisees identify themselves as such
The Communications Decency Act
• Limited Immunity
• Site operators not liable as
publisher of third party content
• Be Careful: If edit or modify
then can lose immunity
Franchise Sales
• If social media is used to offer
and sell franchises, then must
follow internet advertising rules
–Include disclaimer
–List on FDD
–Don’t direct
Financial Performance Representations
• Not if FPR is directed to general public
• But if directed to prospects, then risk of FPR
• Follow media claim rules with disclaimer – FDD
– % exceeded claim
• Policy to not post financial information
Social Media Policies
• List prohibited social media
conduct
• Identify appropriate identification
practices
• Reinforce confidentiality policies
• Inform that you will monitor
Social Media Policies
• No financial information
• Handling disparagements
• Proper use of Marks
• Specify links to Franchisor sites
• Common naming convention and
handles
• Similar photos – like storefronts
User-Generated Content
– Describe content restrictions
• No false or deceptive claims
• No defamation / privacy
– Takedown rights / Don’t Edit / Remove
– Disclaimers of responsibility
– Territorial Restrictions
Whose Account Is It Anyway?
• Phonedog Media v. Kravitz
• Twitter Account: Phonedog - Noah
Whose LinkedIn Contacts Are They?
• Eagle v. Morgan
• Employee may be liable for
misappropriation
TWEET BREAK
–Tweet a question @ValpakTodd
–Tweet a comment
–Use the Hashtag #TFIFA2012
#TFIFA2012
TECHNOLOGIES
• Here are a few tools: • http://muckrack.com/about
• http://mashable.com/2011/09/30/twitter-history-infographic/
• http://tweetpsych.com
• http://mashable.com/guidebook/twitter/
• http://addictomatic.com
• http://socialmention.com
• http://tweetchat.com
• http://tweepsearch.com
• http://tweetburner.com/
• http://tweetbeep.com/
• http://twellow.com
#TFIFA2012
TWEETED QUESTIONS
#TFIFA2012
FINAL EXERCISE
#TFIFA2012
WRAP-UP
#TFIFA2012
CONTACT US
#TFIFA2012
Deb Evans @DebCE www.computerexplorers
800-531-5053 [email protected]
Chad Cohen @chad_cohen www.fish-consulting.com
954-893-9150 [email protected]
David Beyer @ www.quarles.com
813-387-0264 [email protected]
Todd Leiser @valpaktodd www.valpak.com
727-399-3091 [email protected]