Learn how to empower your employees to build your brands via social media. Presentation given at the PRSA International Conference, 2011.

1. Tuesday, October 18, 2011
PRSA International Conference

2. Jaya Bohlmann, Rob Philips,
Michael McManus

3. Robert Philips
Jaya K. Michael McManus Vice President,
Bohlmann Director, Social Digital Media
APR Media Golin Harris
Sodexo

4.  How many organizations represented in this
room ask their employees to:
◦ Follow their social media pages?
◦ Share content to their online networks?
◦ Blog?
◦ Have a formal process/policy?

5.  Many organizations today struggle with
empowering and allowing employees to
engage in social media while also protecting
against potential risks to corporate
reputation.
False Intimacy
Creates Business
Risk

6. Build
Awareness
Share
Company
CSR
News/Stori
es
Crisis Brand Social media rising in
Mitigation
Brand Preference importance with the
critical shift from
one- way
communication to
Brand and RELATIONSHIPS with
Drive
Market stakeholders
Sales
Insights
Increase
Customer
Loyalty

7.  Benefits & pitfalls of employees participating
in social media on behalf of the organization
 How you can engage your employees and
empower them around social media through:
◦ Dialogue
◦ Knowledge sharing and training
◦ Shared, collaborative structure and approach
◦ Policies
◦ Strategic framework with business goals at center
 Best practices gleaned from Sodexo’s social media
program

8. Employees and Social Media

9. Source: NetProspex
Social 50

12.  Employees don’t want to
participate
 They may not have the time
 They don’t give a s**t…

13. Strategies and Programs

14. Social Media Monitoring and Response Process
• Measure/benchmark share of voice and engagement
• Understand key drivers of discussion
• Identify top-tier influencers
• Unearth specific, short-term opportunities for engagement
Positioning Employees to Participate and Engage
• Identify and train social media brand ambassadors
• Define processes across operational organizations, as appropriate
• Create culture that rewards employees for participation
Drive Social Media Conversations
• Identify owned-channels to create conversation
• Determine the appropriate existing social channel to develop a presence

15.  Decentralized workforce and corporate structure
 Many people on social media- not coordinated
 Many company brands, products, positioning
statements, personal experiences externally seen
by many audiences (huge overlap and brand
muddiness)
 Cultural support (“collaborative,” “innovative,”
“experts”)
 Visibility overall increases
 Legal and IT security alarmed!
 Public Relations sighs.

16.  Social media means we have to give up
control and channel our professional
expertise to the areas of education and
empowerment. We have an opportunity to
expand the work of PR beyond our teams to
engage the entire workforce of our
organizations as brand ambassadors.

17. • Specialized expertise
• Credibility through their role @ your company
• Some existing visibility & stature in industry
• A unique or provocative point of view
• Ability to let personality shine through
• Will take guidance from communications
function
• Time to participate
• Willing to monitor

18.  Not a social media strategy – a PR strategy!
 What is the employees’ role and
accountability?
 What is PR’s role and accountability?
 What are we trying to accomplish overall,
together?
 How will we measure it?

19.  Smaller, core group of social media and
organizational influencers
◦ They already are using social media
◦ Are influential within the company; have authority
based on position, expertise or resource control
◦ Are willing and interested to participate and
contribute consistently
 Broad-based, enterprise-wide group of
employees
◦ Anyone PR thinks should be involved!

20.  Issues and crisis response
 Leverage subject matter experts for creating
blogs, responding to blogs
 Provide the training
 Regularly engage them
 Ask them to participate in monitoring
 Call on them often!
BLOG
RESPONDERS

21.  Online writing and engagement (can use local
university professors, agency support, PR team to
lead trainings)
◦ How to write for social media
◦ How to keep audiences engaged (timely response, creative
content, short and to the point.)
 Media Relations 101 for all employees
◦ Media relations in general
 Social media webinars
◦ Specific to your organization’s social media properties (how
you’re using it, why – business purposes, how employees
can be involved and get information from those)

22.  Create formal and informal internal groups of
social media influencers and doers
 PR to initiate and lead
 Present latest trends in general; anything from
monitoring
 Discuss recent organizational successes (corporate
blogs, Facebook and other social media platforms)
 Mostly, discuss problems, issues, needs and wants
of the group and offer group solutions (and
corporate level ones if necessary)

23.  To follow your social media pages and/or share the
content:
◦ Feature content that would be of interest to employees
◦ Offer giveaways
◦ Develop rewards program (i.e., GaggleAmp)
 To encourage employees to generate branded
content:
◦ Ensure the social media strategy is relevant to them
◦ Facilitate their participation & trust their judgment
◦ Tie it into their goals and objectives

24. Blogs Boards/Forums Communities Twitter
Provide 1-1 Ask group moderator how the Ambassadors become Follow and engage with
feedback/ideas via brand can provide valuable members of online influencers
email support communities/groups
Add to social Post commentary to an Proudly display your Promote content posted
bookmarks existing thread membership elsewhere on the corporate twitter
Share with others via Start a new Brands-related Promote events;
email thread participate in other
influencers’ activities
Digg or rate Link to/reference specific Connect with or
submissions forum posts in brands online “befriend” other
dialogue, official channels influential members
Link to/reference Become guest moderators to Answer questions asked
their content shape dialogue by other community
members; pose new ones
Post public comment Sponsor relevant
with an official POV boards/forums

25. Policies and Systems

26.  Without policies, organizational risk increases…
◦ Intel has a great social media policy for their employees that
you can reference on their website
 Most best practice companies have employee
policies related to social media use
 To create one in your company, follow a systematic
approach and be patient with the following steps:
◦ Work with HR, IT, Legal, Marketing
◦ Inform executives
◦ Get an executive champion
◦ Take your time
◦ Get all the right buy-in for your organization
◦ Publicize and educate the new policies

27.  Ethical conduct and legal reminders
 What constitutes “confidential information” at your
organization
 Boilers and disclaimers to include in any personally
owned social media
 Contacts in PR for clarification or situational
assistance
 Clearly state what’s at stake if policies are
breached (as HR policies, the same sanctions
should hold)
 PUBLICIZE AND TRAIN RE THE POLICIES COMPANY
WIDE

28.  Guide applies to “endorsements” Remember federal and local laws
and guidelines in addition to
 Proposed changes: company rules (example: FTC
◦ Disclosing material connections Guidelines)
◦ Disclosing typical experiences
◦ Marketer liability for false info
 Marketers best served by insisting
on full disclosure of relationship by
all participants
 Monitor conversations closely,
participate to correct
misinformation

29.  Social media strategies should have a clear
business purpose
 When requests come in to start a new social
media program, evaluate by asking:
1. Purpose (should be measurable and business-related)
2. Intended company business benefit
3. Potential risks to company and how mitigated
4. Intended audience (demographics, size)
5. Weekly time required for maintenance and related
staffing
6. Budget needs and availability
Educate with each
request

30. Bring Shape, Deliver
Ideas Facilitate Message
Comms Dept Business Units Ambassadors
Spot SM Trends Set SM Messaging Serve As Visible Rep.
Focus for Brand in SM
Identify & Prioritize
Influencers Manage Ambassadors Deliver Responses
within Company
Unearth Specific Prioritize SM Guidelines
Engagement Engagement Ops
Opportunities Provide Expertise,
Shape Suggested Serve as a Source
Build Influencer Responses
Relationships Contribute Content
Share Best Practices, to Brand Channels
Measure Impact Successes

31. Sodexo

32. Sodexo on Facebook
It may be external,
but think internal!
• Employee comments
• Employee posts
• Network group gages
• Links to employee blogs
• Employee Stories

33. Dedicated to
employees
• Employee Stories
• Above & Beyond
• Recognition
• Links to social media
• Links to job
opportunities

34. “Sodexo Foundation Volunteer Day”
“Sodexo’s Trip to the Farmer’s Market”
“Sodexo Team Volunteers in Atlanta

35. Lessons You Can Use Today

36.  Enterprise-wide, clearly stated, shared goals and
strategy (PR-led, collaborative, inclusive)
 Social media policy and guidelines are crucial–internal
& external
◦ Create an oversight process (user friendly, helpful)
◦ Publicize widely internally
◦ Train thought leaders and other internal influencers
 Admin management redundancy critical
 Measure results; recognize successes
 Ethical conduct and transparency are musts
 Constantly benchmark and improve
 Share what you learn!

37.  Mashable.com
 Intel (for policy) -
http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/le
gal/intel-social-media-guidelines.html
 Linkedin/in/jayabohlmann
 www.fcc.gov
 www.ftc.gov

38. Jaya.bohlmann@verizon.net
Michael.mcmanus@sodexo.com
Rphilips@golinharris.com