Consistent Social Media Housekeeping Avoids the Backlash

Employee engagement on social media is engaging your most valuable stakeholder. Yet, the last time I checked, people do not read minds. We cannot expect employees to hit the post button on social media without guidelines. The entrance to our rural Pennsylvania township building has a sign which speaks loudly to social media managers in this area. The sign reads, “Housekeeping is the rule, not the exception. It is an everyday experience.” A social media policy is good housekeeping, and it must be the rule, not the exception. Adhering to a proactive and engaging set of guidelines creates an atmosphere of unified social media purpose for employees, managers, and employers as an everyday experience.

Julie Wilson published an article titled, “As Social Media Posts Surface and Cause Backlash, Businesses Rethinking Policies for Employees.” In her article, she discusses the tremendous scrutiny our current culture puts on businesses and those who work for the business. This scrutiny is not limited to companies; this past week, our public school superintendent posted a parent update on schools’ opening during a pandemic. The post received comments filled with opinions and vile hatred concerning students wearing masks in the hallways. One such comment was posted by a father whose mother is a long-time secretary for the schools. I was embarrassed for her and her son.

In Mrs. Wilson’s article, she interviews the director of Entrepreneurship at North Caroline Central University, Dr. Henry McKoy, who reveals that the right to free speech only applies to the federal government. Dr. McKoy states, “First amendment right really only focuses on the government. The government can’t censor you from saying certain things, but a private company has the right association.”[1] Dr. McKoy makes three housekeeping suggestions a company or business owner can institute, which foster’s a proactive experience.

         1. State upfront what the social media policy is and explain why the standard is what it is.

         2. Provide examples of what is and what is not acceptable.

         3. Provide ongoing social media training for not only new hires but for current employees.

My Friends, the best way to avoid a fight is not to be there when it starts. Avoiding legal risk is work and is time-consuming, but with the dedicated investment, a business can be better prepared for the fight and hopefully prevent it altogether. Good housekeeping in social media is to have an up-to-date and working social media policy, with how-to examples on how to respond, which is available to every employee in the employee handbook. Good housekeeping is referencing emails, memos, and newsletters with regularity.

Our most valuable stakeholders are our employees. Most employees do not know how to respond because they have not been taught how to respond. Good housekeeping in social media is attainable and can be taught. Social media managers need to have the sign on the door as a reminder, “Housekeeping is the rule, not the exception. It is an everyday experience.” Then create the desired experience by proactively keeping house.

Keep up the great work. Communicate to be understood. 

Remember, I love ya. Don

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[1] Julie Wilson, As social media posts surface and cause backlash, businesses rethink policies for employees. ABC 11 Eyewitness News, Durham, NC. June 24, 2020. https://abc11.com/durham-nc-social-media-marketing-what%20--is/6263724/ Accessed 7/24/20.

Paid Social Media Empowers the User for Remarkable Results

The social media world is a vast array of users, buyers, and lookers. As I look out my window and the Pennsylvania Mountains, I see an array of trees filled with leaves. Social Media ads and promotions can be as vast as the number of leaves on the trees. Each leaf has it’s own shape and character and it serves it’s unique purpose in absorbing energy from the sun to supply the trees’ need. Paid Social Media is just as vast and just as daunting to navigate.

The Interactive Advertising Bureau reported that in 2018 over 100 billion dollars was spent in digital advertising, exceeding Television Advertising by 36.5 billion dollars. It is a big space filled with many ads and many more users looking for ads. It can be overwhelming and very intimidating.

I like how Talia DeDomenica addresses the need to bring awareness to your brand and striving to navigate the overwhelming waters of Paid Social Media. Talia offers advice while staying true to the basics. (1) Know your client, (2) Know who you want to hear your message, and (3) Strive for creative ways to spreading your message. As I tell my students, your audience is just as immersed in their demographic and psychographic as you are in yours. As the communicator, we need to move out of ours and reach in to touch theirs. People to don’t remember what you said, they remember how you make them feel. So, we make it our goal to (1) Know our client, (2) Know who we want to hear our message, and (3) Strive to be as creative in spreading our message as possible.

Former president Ronald Reagan told a story of his aunt who took him to purchase a pair of new shoes. The shoemaker asked young Reagan, "Do you want square toes or round toes?" Unable to decide, Reagan didn't answer, so the shoemaker gave him a few days. Several days later the he saw the young Reagan on the street and asked him again what kind of toes he wanted on his shoes. Reagan still couldn't decide, so the shoemaker replied, "Well, come by in a couple of days. Your shoes will be ready." When the future president did so, he found one square-toed and one round-toed shoe! "This will teach you to never let people make decisions for you," said the shoemaker.  The president said "I learned right then and there, if you don't make your own decisions, someone else will." Now, I do not know how true this story is or if the president just made it up.

Regardless is this is true story or one that is totally fictitious, there is truth in it. Paid social media empowers the buyer to make the correct decision concerning the best fits for their need. Paid Social Media ENABLES the brand to reach the right client while promoting the product, the cause, or the need among the vast world of users.

Keep pressing forward. Remember as mom used to say,  be good, be safe, because you know I love ya.