Page 269 - Social Media Marketing

requirement for Social CRM, so right there you have a reason to create allies in Legal. 247
Moving forward on a social technology program without first establishing the ground
rules—aka “social computing policies”—for participation within your organization ■ BUILD A SOCIAL CRM PROGRAM
is a very bad idea. In the best case, failing to develop such policies ahead of time will
expose your program to the possibility of avoidable setbacks. In the worst case, those
setbacks will actually happen, and your program will fail as a result.

For many applications of Social CRM, there are a handful of primary consid-
erations that are common across the promulgation and adoption of social computing
policies. For example, advising those who may be using social tools to post in a busi-
ness context to avoid the use of the first-person plural (saying “we” implicates the firm
along with the person posting) and instead always using the first-person singular “I,”
or posting “forward-looking” financial or operational information—talking in advance
about an upcoming product launch—or failing to disclose one’s relationship with the
company or organization (all of which are potential offenses under the law). All of
these are essential practices that employees in an organization using social technology
must understand.

As a starting point, take a look at Altimeter’s compiled examples of social com-
puting policies: The easiest way to get a comprehensive set of social media policies in
place is to craft a couple of relevant examples, and then take them to your legal depart-
ment and ask them to review and develop a version for your company.

Social Computing Policy Examples

Altimeter has compiled a representative listing of social computing policies, including large
and small businesses as well as nonprofit and service organizations. You will find the listing by
searching “social computing policy examples” or by visiting the following URL:

http://wiki.altimetergroup.com/page/Social+Media+Policies

Measure Impact and Results

Finally, develop your plan for measurement in advance. Alongside your business
objectives—step 1 in the planning process—pick off the financial or quantitative Key
Performance Indicators (KPIs) that are relevant to the Social CRM program you are
designing.

An important note here: While I have stressed the importance of quantitative
measures, not all relevant assessments are purely numerical. Your business and mar-
keting “gut” is part of this too. It’s important to strike a balance between the needs of
your Operations or Finance departments and those of the other members of your team.
This is why it’s essential to understand your company culture, and to build your team