Developing a Social Media Polilcy-Part 2-Collecting Best Practices: Homework

Do you remember Steve Urkel? One of his most famous lines was, "Did I do that?" after he made a bumbling mistake that destroyed some piece of valuable furniture. One of my biggest fears is having a coach walk in my office after they've posted something on Twitter we got nailed for by our fan base and saying, "Did I do that?"

Not that we have a bunch of Urkels in our department, but we do have a bunch of coaches on Twitter, Facebook and blogging without any real guidelines other than their own common sense. Luckily, we've been coaching them on the appropriate uses of social media, but there have been a few instances already where we've had to ask a coach to delete a tweet or take down a photo on a blog.

I don't think having a social media policy can guarantee something negative won't ever happen with its use, but when we look at what happened at Nestle, Toyota, and others, we've learned that "winging it" isn't the best policy. So the first step is look at best practices. What's out there?

Before I got going, I decided to look at what everyone else was doing. Homework time.

I don't like to reinvent the wheel. I ran across a great blog entry by Doug Cornelius of Compliancebuilding.com. He first started collecting policies when he wanted to formulate one of his own. The database includes over 150 policies and URL links to each. Another list with most of the same policies was put together by Chris Boudreaux at Social Media Governance.

Now starts the process of looking at each policy and answering some basic questions before I separate them it in to two piles: those that deserves further dissection and those that are irrelevant to my task.

1. Does the policy have the basic elements that experts have defined as being necessary to a policy? Sharlyn Lauby of Internal Talent Management wrote a good article on the basic elements of a social media policy that agrees with most of the other material I've read--give or take a couple pieces. These include:

• Purpose, rules of engagement (which includes info on responsible posting, copyright and proprietary information, permissions, etc.), consideration of audience, authenticity, voice, how to respond to negative feedback, where to get help, monitoring procedures, and possible consequences for policy violations.

2. Is the policy succinct, or is it bloated and cumbersome? Some of the government policies I've looked at are extremely bloated. A good one that is succinct and to the point is Dell's. Toss in the trash all the ones that are over three pages long. More on this later...
With these two simple guidelines, I can now weed through the social media policies I've collected and separate them in the two piles. After I have the pile that warrants further consideration, I start combing through each one. Next, I will develop a comparative table that lists all the basic elements I need and how each policy addresses that piece. Sort of like comparative shopping online.
I am going to invite you to join me in the process. Please take a look at some of the online policies and see if there are elements in each one that you like. I would sure like to have some feedback on what you think. You can email me at csyme@msubobcats.com or leave a comment here. Which ones look good to you? Which elements are important to you?
Next up: Comparing Best Practices of the Best Policies

My Coffee Dilemma

I am side tracking. Today I went to the grocery store--Albertsons in Bozeman, Montana--and I had coffee on my list. I love coffee. Not just any coffee, but Millstone's Chocolate Velvet Decaf. I mix it every morning with the Folgers my husband drinks. It is heavenly stuff.

Last week I had coffee on my list and when I got to the store they were out of Chocolate Velvet Decaf. I panicked, but grabbed a bag of Chocolate Velvet regular and thought I could do without the decaf for a few days until they got some more in.

Today I went down the coffee aisle and noticed they were still out, and the Millstone rep was right there, so I asked him about the coffee. To my utter horror, I found out they quit making the decaf I depended on every morning to get my day going. He said they do that with flavored coffees sometimes, his friendly smile unwavering. He asked if I might want to try another flavor decaf. I said no. I love the mix of chocolate and coffee.

I was befuddled, I'll admit it. I hardly noticed he was there. My mind was racing, coffee thoughts were everywhere--what am I going to do? I grabbed a bag of vanilla decaf in haste. I think he felt sorry for me. He reached into his bag and pulled out a coupon book. He offered me some free coffee coupons and suggested I buy some Columbian Decaf and try mixing it with the regular Chocolate Velvet. I nodded and grabbed a bag of Columbian Decaf. He put the Vanilla Decaf back.

Now why am I writing about this? I've passed many "reps" in the grocery store--the guy with chips, the one with milk, the pop and beer guys. They are pretty busy stacking, stocking, lining products up. I don't usually talk to them. I respect their time. But this guy saw I was distressed and took time out of his busy day to offer a solution to my problem, and then helped me pay for it. Wow. That is customer service. I like customer service. I like it enough to keep buying Millstone's coffee at the Albertson's in Bozeman. The friendly guy with the big smile and coffee coupons helped me to forget that they yanked my favorite product without asking me. I can live with that now.

Developing a Social Media Policy-Pt. 1

Since we made a commitment to dive into the social media pool a couple years ago, I figured it was time to look at developing a social media policy. We have several coaches on board now and we have a pretty vigorous social media community. Being the strategic thinker that I am (thanks Gallup's Strengths Finder material), my first priority was to gather best practices and sort out where we needed to go.

There are many reasons to formulate a good policy for your department (subject for Part Two), but before you open that door, you had better take a look at some prerequisites first.

1. Do you have a social media strategic plan? This is code for, "do you know what you're doing?" Don't "just do it" because everyone else is. Have you made a commitment to find out what your fans and media outlets want? Do you have the time and resources to manage your social media? Have you spent some time (or are you willing to) learning about social media? There are almost a gazillion apps out there now--wish I was exaggerating. How do you sort through all that? How do I build trust? What is transparency all about? Should we have a Facebook page, a twitter feed?

Amber Naslund at altitudebranding.com has laid out a wonderful slide presentation called, "Getting a Foothold in Social Media." I would recommend it as a primer. It's easy to read and has lots of basic information about social media. I would pay special attention to the list of blogs she recommends. Start following them. Dedicate some time to becoming educated. There are tons of good books out there, but if you are not a book reader, go for blogs.

2. Look at what other schools your size are doing. I think this is crucial. I could spend all day dreaming about how our men's basketball program could have a twitter feed like Duke's Blue Planet, but it's not feasible for us. Unlike Kentucky, we don't have the resources to pay someone to manage our head men's basketball social media. So, I recommend looking at the schools in your conference first. What are they doing? Most of them probably have similar cultures to yours. Rank them from most successful to least successful. Make a list of those features they are using and take note of how they use them. Is their twitter feed just spitting out URLs to news articles (bad use of twitter, BTW)? Do they host video on their web? What looks engaging to you? Are their coaches blogs, Facebook pages, etc. linked to their main website?

3. Does everyone on board have a commitment to keep it current?We had a recruiting guru come through about two years ago and get our coaches all fired up about blogging. Almost all of them gave it a shot. A year later, only two were posting regularly. I asked the rest to take them down--some had not posted for over a year. I helped the coaches that still wanted to have something find a better method. Most of them turned to Facebook fan pages. This was a great way for them to add content and keep the buzz going by having fans posting as well. I am an administrator on most of their Facebook pages and post occasionally on their behalf if I have video or news that will interest their communities.

4. Is your administration on board? This is probably a no-brainer question, but I know many SIDs are self-propelled. Some ADs don't really care what you do as long as you keep it current and they don't get any complaints. But I will guarantee you there will come a time when you will need resources ( people, equipment and time) to really make this thing fly. Using social media effectively should be a department priority and it should be a partnership between marketing, sports information, external operations, coaches, and administration. Make it work, as Tim Gun would say.

I almost added a fifth point titled, "Will you have help?" and I decided against it. I think if you have 1-4, you are good to go. Some of us don't have any "help." I manage the social media in our department--it's my job. A lot of people are involved, but it's basically up to me to make it fly. I know many of you are in that boat too. If you are, then go on to #5...

5. Do you have a passion for it? I almost asked if you were addicted, but I thought that sounded too harsh. I am a self-confessed three-screener. You don't have to be one to be successful at this, but it helps. I follow Twitter while I watch TV and spend many hours pouring over books and blogs every week. It fuels me. It doesn't turn everyone's crank, but you will need a touch of that to be successful.

Next up: "Developing a Social Media Policy-Part Two: Collecting Best Practices."

What's the Difference Between Great and Popular? Look to YouTube

I read a great blog by Andrew Careaga--he writes about marketing and PR for Higher Ed. He posted his top five favorite videos on YouTube, which were inspired by a piece Time Magazine did on the 50 most popular videos on YouTube. We use YouTube exclusively for a video player on our website so I am always looking for insight on the social phenomenon. This piece was more fun and less insight, at least for now.

He made a great comment that applies, I believe, to social media in general. "There is a difference between something that is great and something that is popular." He says that the list shows that greatness is in the eye of the beholder. A quick look at the top 50 solidifies that thought.

So, I set out to watch all 50--sort of. I had seen many of them already, as millions of others have. I did, however, skip all the ones on babies doing stupid things that only their parents and grandparents would love, but somehow millions of other silly parents and grandparents have watched as well. I also skipped the animal "cute" videos. Oh brother--I watch my cat do this stuff all the time. I realized, at about number 25, that the definition of what is popular is undefinable. If I had to sit down and write out the common characteristics of all 50, I couldn't do it. Even if I worked at it for awhile.

Social media can be daunting--but it can also be fun. As we sort through it all and find out who we are and what we want to do, it can be fun.

The eye of the beholder...what is popular...what is great? In social media, the communities decide. And here's my take-I listed my top ten favorites. You can do the same by going to the article and choosing your favorites. Here are mine. What are yours?

1. United Breaks Guitars
2. Here It Goes Again
3. Evolution of Dance
4. Will it Blend?
5. Hitler’s Downfall
6. Randy Pausch's Last Lecture
7. "Thriller" in Manila
8. Potter Puppet Pals
9. Where the Hell Is Matt?
10. Jill and Kevin's Wedding Dance

Are You Ready for an Online Crisis?

What do Toyota and Nestle have in common? Hear those two names now and you should be thinking, PR nightmare...

I love the PRSA magazine, The Strategist. In their recent issue on inspiring change, they had a great article with a title that describes exactly what happened to these two companies, "Sudden Impact." The author, James Donnelly, a senior VP at Ketchum, a global PR/marketing firm, states that defining guiding principles for online reputation management is just in the beginning stages. Therefore, it might be time to "re-examine some of those foundational beliefs and build additional structure around them." Following is a summary of high points from Donnelly's article.

Here are the five beliefs he identifies as core thus far:

1. "Companies need to prepare for threats that emerge through online social networks." This is a basic crisis management principle across the board. His question is, "how should a company prepare?" He follows this with a series of questions each company needs to ask before they devise strategy. He says, "tactical strategies need a tactical framework." So, ask the right questions before you plan:

• "Is it easy for online audiences to understand our company's values and philosophies by scanning information that we make available online? Do they believe that we live by our values?
• Do we know which online audiences matter to our business and to key stakeholders? Are they prioritized?
• How is our company currently perceived by online audiences? Do we need to do anything to improve?
• Are we actively connecting and building relationship with online priority audiences? Should we be?
• do we have executive-level appreciation and endorsement to engage with online audiences if a crisis strikes? Or is it possible that we'll have all the right tactics in place but will need to struggle to get quick approval to post, tweet, podcast, etc.

"2. Today, online groundswell requires a response in minutes, not hours.

"We know that today anyone can broadcast information (and distortions and rumors). This has created the need for more numble crisis management systems. Speed does matter.

"3. Online social networks are great listening posts and should be monitored." I believe this is key. Even if you aren't out there, people are talking about you. Do you know where those communities are and what they are saying? Almost every school has a fan message board. Is someone on your staff monitoring it?

Donnelly advocates using a priority system for montoring emerging crises similar to Charlene Li's socialgraphics (from Groundswell) as a starting point for understanding the hierarchy of messages online.

"4. In a crisis, companies need to have an online voice that resonates with the marketplace. Corporate-speak and press releases are not welcome on social networks.

"5. Addressing your crisis with online audiences is not a one-time event--these are relationships that need to be maintained."

He goes on to say that cultivating those relationships depend on several factors. I think this is one of the places Toyota really fell short. They were a victim of their own hype and didn't look externally for advice until it was too late. Nestle, on the other hand, was just a victim of their own ignorance. They didn't realize the sudden impact that social media has and how vehemntly social media users guard their community.

He ends with this wise observation:

"The impact of social technologies on reputation management is a story that continues to be written. As such, it's probably premature to use permanent ink to capture any beliefs about online crisis managment. A sharp pencil with a fresh eraser might be the best tool at this stage."

The Sum of the Parts-Personal Branding Part Two

In my last blog entry, I promised to finish what I started on personal branding by continuing through the article in The Strategist by Ed Schipul. But I want to start out with a shameless promotion of Brian Solis' latest blog entry to set the stage. Solis is a social media expert who has written several books on the subject including his latest called Engage.

The blog is a conversation (with him, basically) about the thesis that drove the book. I like Solis' blog because he is not just out there waving his arms, jumping up and down screaming that everyone should jump on the social media bus, "and don't forget to sign up for my seminar." His stuff is thoughtful, well-researched and not particularly self-promoting-- although he is an expert at personally branding himself. Solis is more interested in making sure that people find a plan that succeeds for their own business. But yes, he is jumping up and down. As a matter of fact, the whole premise behind Engage is, "If we do not participate and eventually lead online interaction related to our business, then we are walking a path toward oblivion." And Schipul would agree.

In his article on how to encourage personal branding, he talks about six core principles to consider when you are coaching staffers to develop personal brands.

1. "Listen. Pay attention to what people are saying and know where the publics (stakeholders) that you care about are active." Remember social media is a conversation, it is a community. In our athletic department, community service is part of our mission. Our college town is a volunteering, giving community. So we have joined the community by encouraging staffers and student-athletes to get involved in those organizations that encourage and support us.

2. "Define the story. Focus on what differentiates you from everyone else. Emphasize and build upon those things that make you special." All of our coaches have unique personalities--some more unique than others. The trick is to help them find a way to set their programs and themselves apart from the rest. It isn't necessarily competition, it's differentiation.

3. "Select the right channels. There are thousands of online communities. so determine where your time and energies will have the greatest impact. As in the offline world, the size of the community is less important than who the participants are." This is where the concept of "influencers" comes in. This is one of the most important steps in helping develop a customized, successful social media campaign. We were dogmatic about this principle. Our social media campaign doesn't look like many others. For instance, our Facebook page is based on our mascot's personality. It is a real community--they are his followers. We do use our Facebook page to promote some news items, but mostly we use it to tell stories. It is definitely a community. We made that decision based on a fan survey we sent out that asked our fans where they were already engaged and what they wanted to see from us.

4. "Create. The personal brand ultimately is the expressions of ideas and observations through original content; words, images, video and sound." Content is probably the most underrated piece of the puzzle. Especially words. The tweets that are the dullest look like this: "Track team takes third at conference meet. (tiny url follows)." Ugh. The bottom line--create content that is engaging. Twitter feeds I really love--University of Wisconsin (UWBadgersdotcom) and dukeblueplanet (Duke men's basketball).

5. "Curate. Personal brands are strengthened by pruning information that is inconsistent with how you want to be perceived. Choose what to keep and what to eliminate." This somewhat relates to #3--be discerning in what you do and don't share. Everything doesn't need to go up on your social sites...don't gorge your followers.

6. "Think about terms of use." This is basically talking about who owns the content and whose rules you follow.

Schipul makes a parting comment I really like," The relationship between employers and employees has changed forever...Organizations that resist will miss the opportunity to profit from their employees' personal brands and will spend the rest of the decade playing catch-up."