Writing a social media policy is no small task and each company will need a policy that addresses their unique needs.  It needs to be consistent with your company culture, your brand, your industry and your objectives.  It needs to address internal and external participants across the organization.  While the stress may be building as you think of all the variables to consider in your policy, hang on because simplicity is really the key to success.

I love Best Buy’s policy: Be smart. Be respectful. Be human.  

If your organizational goals can be supported by empowering employees (or a subset of employees) on social media channels, then your policy should by all means include support statements. (What should they do?)

And,  Thomas Knoll of Zappos.com said, “Our social media policy is be yourself and don’t be stupid.”

If you use the language, don’t be stupid or don’t be disrespectful, provide examples of what that means so employees are clear on your expectations.

While writing your policy isn’t as simple as one sentence (the Zappos and Best Buy policies really are more detailed), it is critical to stay away from legal language that may lack the clarity needed for employees to understand what is expected.  A great social media policy is easy to understand, easy to implement and specific in objectives.

Here are 5 tips to help you write your GREAT social media policy: 

1. Start by developing a small task force to discuss your organizational goals and how they relate to social media and other online communication channels. Talk through these questions:

• Can online communication channels help you reach your goals? If yes, how?
• To whom should the online channels be opened (internally and externally)?
• What are the pitfalls to opening up the channels? List them.

2. Most policies will need to clearly address:

• What can employees do?
• What can’t they do?
• What should they do?

Start discussing and documenting the answers to the What questions with your task force.

3.  Ford’s social media guidelines model how to encourage correct usage and explain incorrect usage. Review this PDF with your task force and to create your own unique short and simple guidelines. 

4. Learn from the Social Media Governance Database where you can read more than 240 policies of organizations in a variety of industries. Find your industry and pick 3 to review and discuss as a team.  Document what you like and then adapt to your policy.

5. Finally, check out the Social Media Policy Tool to make it is easy to develop the copy after doing your research.

Goals and Objectives. 

Strategy.  Tactics.  Logisitics.

All are essential for business growth.

Take a quick assessment:

1. Have you written your goals for 2013?
2. Developed your marketing strategy?
3. Defined the tactics?
4. Mapped the logistics?

If you answered no to any (or all) of the questions, start now.
You can start preparing for 2013 business growth right now.

Let’s keep it simple. The most common goal among professional service providers is this:

Increase my client base.

Is this one of your goals for 2013? If so, right or type it right now in a place that will be visible to you daily.
Your strategy will need to be unique but the tactics don’t have to be.

Here are 5 tactics you don’t want to leave out of your 2013 online marketing strategy:

1. Build and nurture your email list (client and prospect base) by providing timely answers to problems they face. Email has been around since the early 90’s but it is still the hub of business communications.

Daystar New Media Client Example: Last year, a decades old insurance provider entered the email marketing arena by compiling an email client list.  The second email newsletter they sent out to the list contained info on how to protect property with adequate flood insurance coverage.  They were careful to include a call to action: Buy a new flood policy or increase flood coverage. The results were immediate. They received 15 calls resulting in 7 new policies from a single email.  Have you emailed your clients lately?

2. Commit to blogging your expertise. Unlike PPC, print ads and in-person networking, the value of the blog investment grows exponentially over time.

Daystar New Media Client Example:  Two years ago, one of my clients, a law firm, committed to blogging for the purpose of building visibility and credibility with a very targeted commercial audience in the legal industry.  The pay off for the more than 200 posts, has been an increase in visits from 800+ in year 1 to 8000+ in year 2. Unique visitors are up from 300+ in year 1 to 5000+ in year 2. ROI has also come in the form of conversation and feedback about the blog from important stakeholders and industry leaders. You can’t buy that with ads. Have you increased your traffic and your credibility strategically?

3. Create short, passionate video messages that contain content to HELP your audience accomplish their goals and overcome their challenges.

Daystar New Media Client Example: A commercial real estate company plans to provide informational videos to introduce not only the unique client workspace available at his location but also become the resource about how to utilize commercial tax credits, a complicated but very valuable opportunity for businesses. What content could you offer in video format that would HELP your clients/prospects?

4. Communicate with your clients & followers regularly using status updates. Use this space to offer quick actionable content such as tips and best practices. Make it worth their time to read what you post.

Daystar New Media Client Example: A real estate company maintains statistics on local home price trends and publishes them on the company web site.  Using social media status updates, this info is streamed out across social networks increasing the company’s visibility and driving traffic back to the website.  What content is sitting on your web site that is under-utilized?

5. Create a core message that you deliver in person to quickly communicate the value you offer on your blog, email list and/or social media spaces.

Daystar New Media Client Example: A CPA Firm partner regularly attends networking events.  He plans and practices his 30-second introduction. In 2013, after clearly stating the firm name and website, he’ll invite small business owners to subscribe to the firm blog so they can learn how to increase their profits by earning and keeping more money.  Let the people you meet in person know what’s in it for them to subscribe your blog, visit your facebook page or follow you on twitter.

To learn how we can help with your 2013 online marketing plan, contact us at info@daystarnewmedia.com or call 504-780-9255.

About Michelle Cullison: Michelle is a professional speaker, trainer and consultant.  Since 1993, she has helped hundreds of clients expand their businesses from web site to the web presence.   Michelle knows how to leverage the power of the social web with tools like WordPress, Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.   Today, through her speaking, training and consulting services, she equips companies to expand from web site to web presence by developing and implementing effective social media strategies.

This month we’ll be talking about LinkedIn, THE business social network that currently has 161 million members and adds on average 2 new members per second. There’s a reason for that: It drives new business. Join the show to learn:

5 Ways to Generate NEW Business
with LinkedIn.

Register Now

The Marriage of Mobile and Social Marketing.

These 2 are currently experiencing wedded bliss. Are you sharing the joy or are you frustrated?

The Daily Expansion Show will air live via webinar on the 1st Wednesday of each month at 12 PM CT.  Each month, Michelle Cullison will present the principles of Daily Expansion: How to grow your business on the social web every day all year long.  Anyone can register for this FREE monthly learning event.

To keep you informed on the ever-changing products and best practices for social business, we always feature short segments: What’s New, What’s Working and What Isn’t.  Don’t miss it!  The Daily Expansion Show airs LIVE via webinar on the 1st Wednesday of each month at 12 PM CT.  On the show, Michelle Cullison will present the principles of Daily Expansion: How to grow your business on the social web every day all year long.

Want to be reminded of this webinar series and others?  Sign up for our weekly email, Daily Expansion.

Timelines are here! If you haven’t configured your page for the new look, follow these 5 steps today:

1. Use the Visual Nature of the new Timeline to make Facebook Page Visitors FEEL like they’re comin’ by your house.

a.  Use your cover photo, profile picture and About text to connect with your guests’ emotions. Use images that stir positive feelings about your company, brand, product or service.  Tip for cover photo selection process: How will this image make page visitors feel about my company? Not sure? Ask your clients.

 
b. The cover photo should be 851 X 315 pixels to fit perfectly in the available space. Any other size image will be re-sized by Facebook.  Be sure to review Facebook’s Guidelines for cover photos which include: No discounts, calls to action, contact info or Facebook references Like, Share, etc.

c. Make sure the profile picture complements the cover photo and that it looks good positioned on top of the cover photo and as a stand-alone image when shown in 32 X 32 and 180 X 180 pixels. Will it provide the page visitor with a good experience? Hint: If the profile picture contains words, they will likely be unreadable at 32X32. Make it easy on your visitor’s eyes.

d. Give special care to the About Box that displays right under the cover photo. This text space should tell visitors what they can expect to experience and receive from this page. You have approximately 175 characters including spaces to communicate WHAT you are ABOUT.

2.     Give ‘em a great experience or they might go up da road!  Give your guests what they want with Timeline Apps.  On the Apps Tabs, you CAN include calls to action, discounts and contact info. But what should you put here. Well, what do YOUR guests WANT? If you were in the CRAWFISH business? Your guests would want crawfish, corn, potatoes and your unique blend of spices. When it comes to YOUR business page, keep your calls to action very closely aligned to your mission.

a. Give them what they WANT and NEED from you.  Give page visitors VALUE and stay on topic. Think Frequently Asked Questions, product info, customer rewards, discounts, industry insights, education (SUCK DA HEAD, SQUEEZE DA TIP).

b. Mix the value content with content that reveals your brand personality.  From Meet the Team to Company History, deliver information in a way that is unique “you.” Think trust development. Put your company story in a slideshow and play it with the Slideshare App. Meet the team via Youtube and play the video on Facebook in a Youtube app. Load the Product Line page code from your website directly onto your Facebook page using an HTML app like the one provided at Involver.com.

3.  Be sure and tell your Guest to Looka! Sometimes you’ll even say, “You may Wanna pass by here…”

With the new Highlight and Pin features of Timeline, FB Page admins are given full control over the way content flows on the page. Like a traditional web site, content can be moved to the top of the page with Pin it or stretched across the full-width of the page with Highlight. This is the big opportunity that timeline brings to businesses.  I once heard a sales trainer say, “Tell them how to give you money.” With timelines, you can guide the visitor through the most important steps of your sales process. Engage, educate and ask for the sale. Timeline’s Highlight and Pin features help you communicate what the main thing is on your page.  Use these features strategically!

4.  Like a walking tour through the French Quarter, make your company history an interesting stroll.

Tell a story that demonstrates the values/strengths/mission of your company through the years. Be creative. Make it interesting. The Milestone can be used to keep the most momentous historical information visible all the time.  Ideas:

a. Use testimonials from years gone by to demonstrate you’ve been around with happy customers for a long time.

b. Make it a historical photo album. Use images of your retail location, your president(s)/team or products (now and then) to demonstrate your experience and how things have changed “through the years”.

5.  Finally, like all N’awlins host, you’ll want to greet (hug and kiss) your page guests personally. Now you can (speak to them anyway!) with the new Timeline feature, Messaging for Brands.

This tool is a God-send! With it, fans can talk to brands privately. Fans won’t have to “shout” on your wall that your crawfish are too small or not spicy enough. They can whisper in your ear through messaging.  Irate or indiscriminate guests may still shout on the timeline but page admins now have an easy way to quiet the conversation and move it out of the public eye when necessary.

Page Timelines mean big changes and great opportunities for businesses to create experiences that have customers saying, “I’LL TAKE ME A …….  Fill in the blank with whatever YOUR BUSINESS offers! Thanks for reading and be sure and stop by facebook.com/socialmediaexplained and comment with a link to your business page to let me know Whe’re yat on Facebook!

The Winner is: The Cupcake Fairies! 

Stop by and LIKE the page now to see it BEFORE the makeover – and stay tuned for the Makeover announcement to see it transformed!

Thanks to everyone who participated.

Does your Facebook Page need a makeover?

You might need a makeover if:

1. You don’t know what I mean when I say TImeline is coming to Pages.
2. You haven’t had a new LIKE in a day, week or (YIKES) months!
3. Your page says “0 talking about this.”
4. The Photos on your page are from 2011.
5. Your Facebook Insights (Facebook Analytics) are flat-lined. 

If any of the above statements are true of your Facebook Business Page, you might need a Makeover-an EXTREME Facebook Makeover!

Daystar New Media is giving one away!

REGISTER NOW at Facebook.com/SocialMediaExplained

Click the Register to Win Facebook Makeover button at the top of the page.

The Winner will be selected in a random drawing to be aired on Facebook on April 11th at 12 PM CT.

Don’t miss your chance to make your Facebook business page EXTREMEly Business Ready!

Register to watch the recording of  the March episode of The Daily Expansion Show.

From industry tradeshows and community events to educational seminars and product launches, event marketing can be a very effective way to develop new business relationships and strengthen existing ones.  This month, we’ll be talking about How to MAXIMIZE the impact of event marketing with social media using  B-A-D Practices!

You are invited to register for the next Daily Expansion Show.  If you want to be reminded of this webinar series and others, sign up for our weekly email newsletter, Daily Expansion.

To tweet or not to tweet? That is the question meeting planners, facilitators, speakers and attendees are asking when it comes to meetings.  Well, they may not REALLY be asking about twitter specifically but they are asking, What is the role of social media in meetings?

Today, I was asked to share my opinion on how social media should be used for a facilitation session of up to 25 people.

Here’s what I said:

The most important role of social media (in my opinion) is post-meeting to keep the discussion going among those who attended and extending the discussions to other key people who didn’t attend.

To set the stage for a successful online conversation later, I recommend taking time at the in-person meeting to answer the following questions and make sure everyone understands the plan:

1. Where will the ongoing discussion will take place? Facebook (group or page), LinkedIn Group, Google Group
2. What are the objectives for the continuing conversation?
3. Who will be included (public, private, by invitation)? Can attendees invite people who didn’t attend the live meeting?
5. Who will moderate/motivate/manage online discussions & handle group access issues if any?
6. Who (what team of people) will get the initial content out on the group or page to frame the initial conversations?

In regard to day of meeting social media activity, a few positive tweets or status updates by those who love to post in the moment will spread goodwill about your organization and likely won’t disrupt the group process. However, I typically recommend protecting the in person face time from distractions of structured social media. With a group of 25 or so, everyone should be able to have a voice (in person). Using tools such as Twitter to poll or facilitate result in an added burden to the facilitator (even if the feedback is all positive) and it would likely disrupt the flow of live discussions.

What do you think? Have you used successfully used social media in large or small meetings? If so, what did you do and how did it work? Be sure and describe the group size and setting also.

From retailers and restaurants to law firms and local churches, the typically not so attractive QR Codes (Quick Response Codes) are everywhere.

But, why are they being used?

If you’ve ever typed in a search term, a new contact or a URL on a smart phone, you will appreciate the benefit of QR Codes. QR Codes enable smart phone users to replace typing with scanning.  How do you scan? EASY! Once you install a QR Code Reader app (there are many to choose from) , you simply open the app and point your phone’s camera at the code and off you go to perform the QR Code’s instructions.

QR Codes can take you EASILY to all kinds of virtual destinations on your smart phone: websites, PDF docs or contact info to be added to your contact list.

Let me give you some examples:

Retailer:  A Nursery can place QR Codes on the plastic plant tabs with a link to a website with info on what is required to care for that plant.

Restaurant: A restaurant can place a QR Code on the table signage with a question like “What do you want for dessert?” The QR code links to a video or image gallery of dessert choices. Want to make it social? Ask them to LIKE or SHARE on your Facebook page which dessert looks best to them.

Law Firm: A law firm can make it easy for attorneys to share contact info on business cards by adding a QR Code that stores contact data in the VCard file format.

Religious Institutions: Churches can make it easy for people to take the message home by using a QR Code on the Sunday bulletins or worship folders. The QR Code links to a PDF of sermon notes or a website that archives videos of sermons.

QR Codes help smart phone users access information with ease. Ready to create one of your own? That’s EASY too.  Check out these QR Code Creation tools: QR Stuff (VERY Easy)  Raco Industries (Advanced.)

As you explore the use of QR Codes for your business, think first about the kind of information people are looking for in a mobile setting when they are engaging with your business.  One of the primary ways to make QR Codes helpful is to use them to link mobile users to info they want and need without having type on their mobile phones.

Are you using QR Codes in your business? I’d love to hear how. Share your ideas here!

Are you stuck when it comes to writing status updates,  publishing blog posts or shooting videos for youtube?

Creating good content (useful, valuable content) for social media (blogs, Facebook, twitter, Linked, Youtube) can be a daunting task.

A great exercise to get your content flowing is to identify the common questions that prospects ask about your industry, expertise, products or services.