Crafting Your Company's Social Media Policy…Keep it Simple!
Every day, people discuss, debate and embrace The Coca‐Cola Company and our brands in thousands of online conversations. We recognize the vital importance of participating in these online conversations and are committed to ensuring that we participate in online social media the right way. These Online Social Media Principles have been developed to help empower our associates to participate in this new frontier of marketing and communications, represent our Company, and share the optimistic and positive spirits of our brands.
COMPANY AND AGENCY ASSOCIATES’ ONLINE SOCIAL MEDIA ACTIVITIES
The Company respects the rights of its associates and its authorized agencies’ associates to use blogs and other social media tools not only as a form of self‐expression, but also as a means to further the Company’s business. It is important that all associates are aware of the implications of engaging in forms of social media and online conversations that reference the Company and/or the associate’s relationship with the Company and its brands, and that associates recognize when the Company might be held responsible for their behavior.
The following 10 principles guide how our Certified Online Spokespeople should
represent the Company in an online, official capacity when they are speaking “on behalf of the Company:”
Online Social Media Principles
1. Be Certified in the Social Media Certification Program. All associates who wish to officially represent the Company online must complete the Social Media Certification Program prior to beginning or continuing these activities.
2. Follow our Code of Business Conduct and all other Company policies. Our Code of Business Conduct provides the foundation for these Online Social Media Principles: “As a representative of [the Company], you must act with honesty and integrity in all matters.” This commitment is true for all forms of social media. In addition, several other policies govern your behavior as a Company spokesperson in the online social media space, including the Information Protection Policy and the Insider Trading Policy.
3. Be mindful that you are representing the Company. As a Company representative, it is important that your posts convey the same positive, optimistic spirit that the Company instills in all of its communications. Be respectful of all individuals, races, religions and cultures; how you conduct yourself in the online social media space not only reflects on you – it is a direct reflection on the Company.
4. Fully disclose your affiliation with the Company. The Company requires all associates who are communicating on behalf of the Company to always disclose their name and their affiliation. It is never acceptable to use aliases or otherwise deceive people. State your relationship with the Company from the outset, e.g., “Hi, I’m John and I work for The Coca‐Cola Company....” This disclosure is equally important for any agency/vendor/partner/third party who is representing the Company online. They must disclose that they work “with The Coca‐Cola Company.”
5. Keep records. It is critical that we keep records of our interactions in the online social media space and monitor the activities of those with whom we engage. Because online conversations are often fleeting and immediate, it is important for you to keep track of them when you’re officially representing the Company. Remember that online Company statements can be held to the same legal standards as traditional media communications. Keep records of any online dialogue pertaining to the Company and send a copy to online.relations@na.ko.com.
6. When in doubt, do not post. Associates are personally responsible for their words and actions, wherever they are. As online spokespeople, you must ensure that your posts are completely accurate and not misleading, and that they do not reveal non‐public information of the Company. Exercise sound judgment and common sense, and if there is any doubt, DO NOT POST IT. In any circumstance in which you are uncertain about how to respond to a post, send the link to online.relations@na.ko.com.
7. Give credit where credit is due and don’t violate others’ rights. DO NOT claim authorship of something that is not yours. If you are using another party’s content, make certain that they are credited for it in your post and that they approve of you utilizing their content. Do not use the copyrights, trademarks, publicity rights, or other rights of others without the necessary permissions of the rightsholder(s).
8. Be responsible to your work. The Company understands that associates engage in online social media activities at work for legitimate purposes and that these activities may be helpful for Company affairs. However, the Company encourages all associates to exercise sound judgment and common sense to prevent online social media sites from becoming a distraction at work.
9. Remember that your local posts can have global significance. The way that you answer an online question might be accurate in some parts of the world, but inaccurate (or even illegal) in others. Keep that “world view” in mind when you are participating in online conversations.
10. Know that the Internet is permanent. Once information is published online, it is essentially part of a permanent record, even if you “remove/delete” it later or attempt to make it anonymous. If your complete thought, along with its context, cannot be squeezed into a character‐restricted space (such as Twitter), provide a link to an online space where the message can be expressed completely and accurately.
Online Social Media Principles (12/15/09)
Also of interest are Sun's Guidelines on Public Discourse. Large or small Social Media shall affect them all! As a Socialteer, make sure you are crafting a simple to follow Digital Code Of Conduct for your company.
~ Now it's your turn to comment & keep the conversation going!
How Do I Stay Current with Social Media?
The Social Media Landscape changes daily! So how do you (as an emerging Socialteer) stay on top of the latest & greatest? One popular method to stay informed is to budget at least 30 minutes daily to read publications from leading Social Media Thought Leaders, here are a few to get you started:
For advanced Socialteers, in addition to the resources mentioned above, try setting up a Twitter List to access near real-time Social Media developments. Here's a list of must-haves to help you start your Twitter List:
@Techmeme
@alleyinsider
@alltop
@twitter
@facebook
@youtube
~ Was this helpful? We'd love to hear from you! Tell us how we can improve :-)
~ Was this helpful? We'd love to hear from you! Tell us how we can improve :-)
What Is A 'Socialteer' Anyway?
What Is A 'Socialteer' Anyway? are YOU a socialteer?
- A person or company who develops & advances a digital community to encourage a deeper level of philanthropic engagement and/or the consumption of goods & services, both on-line & off-line. The term covers a range of communication and collaboration activities concerned primarily with listening to, participating and analyzing online conversations.
Related forms:
Socialeer, Socialter
Origins:
2009
Word combination of an advanced online 'Socializer/Socialiser' and 'Marketeer'
A Socialteer may be mistaken for a Social Technology Engineer. The term may be considered synonymous with Social Marketer/Marketeer, Social Media Director, Social Media Lead, etc.
~ Now it's your turn (we love comments and to hear directly from the community)!
~ are you a Socialteer? What's your definition of Socialteer?
So your company has a what? BLOG!
You ARE a part of the Community...
Join the conversation. You are the most important part of the eco-system and community that surrounds that blog. If you are using blogger I've outlined a few steps below to help you help your organization and start the conversation!
Join The Conversation
1. On the Blog page you'll see an small section on the screen called FOLLOWERS. Click the Follow button
2. A lightbox will pop-up and ask for an account to log you in.
3. Don't have any of these accounts? No Problems! Sign-Up. Blogger allows you to interact with the Blog as long as you have a Google, Twitter, Yahoo, OpenID, AIM or Netlog account.
By Following the Blog it shows other readers that there is a community surrounding this blog. It instills confidence in the reader and shows them that the content is worth paying attention to.
Start The Conversation
Lets first start by leaving a comment. Relate to a posting, tell a story or make a remark. The more insightful, intriguing and warm your comment is the more likely somebody else is to also join the conversation.
One of the biggest mis-conceptions in social media today is that employees should not join a conversation. How powerful could it be to have the entire company chatting about their experiences with some of the blogger's experiences and insights. Have you tried that recipe? Have you changed it or modified it in anyway to make it better? The more you can think of the better.
Posting Comments
Click on the comment link in the Blog.
Up pops the comment box. Write what ever you would like! Make some comments, ask questions and start chatting!
An Intro to Social Media Marketing
Social media marketing is a term that describes the act of using social networks, online communities, blogs, wikis or any other collaborative Internet form of media for marketing, sales, public relations and customer service. Common social media marketing tools include Twitter, blogs, LinkedIn (www.linkedin.com), Facebook (www.facebook.com) , Flickr (www.flickr.com) and YouTube (www.youtube.com).
In the context of Internet marketing, social media refers to a collective group of web properties whose content is primarily published by users, not direct employees of the property.
Social media marketing has three important aspects:
Did you know?
A special thanks to Wikipedia.org and the rest of the social community!
In the context of Internet marketing, social media refers to a collective group of web properties whose content is primarily published by users, not direct employees of the property.
Social media marketing has three important aspects:
- Creating buzz or news worthy events, videos, tweets, or even blog entries that attract attention, and become viral in nature. Buzz is the piece that makes social media marketing work, it replicates a message not through purchase of an ad, but through user to user contact.
- Building ways that fans of a brand or company can promote it themselves in multiple online social media venues. Fan pages in Twitter, MySpace of Facebook are exactly this.
- It is conversational. Social media marketing is not fully controlled by the organization, it allows for user participation and dialogue. Potentially a badly designed social media marketing campaign can backfire on the organization that created it. That is the reason that SMM (Social Media Marketing) campaigns must fully engage and respect the users.
Did you know?
- There are 77 million Facebook users, according to the study. Facebook captures a wider range of users, from high-school and college fun, leisure user to business and parents and grandparents. They are more likely to be married (40%), caucasian (80%) and retired (6%) than users of the other social networks. They have the second-highest average income, at $61,000, and an average of 121 connections.
- Average number of facebook registrations per day is 250,000
- Twitter users are the super-user group. Twitterers are more interested than the others in many subjects but skew particularly high in all news categories, restaurants, sports, politics, personal finance and religion. They’re more likely to buy books, movies, shoes and cosmetics online than the other groups.
- The average Twitter user has 126 followers
- Only 20% of the Twitter traffic comes through the website. Third party software on smart phones and computers contribute the rest.
- Educate your self
- Sign Up
- Tell everybody you know
- Contribute to the community
- Help Others Contribute
A special thanks to Wikipedia.org and the rest of the social community!