How To: Establish A Social Media Culture In Your Company

851 days ago by Willis Wee, in Business

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A strong social media culture is beneficial for any company. But for those who still need reasons:

(1) An aggregated effort by the entire company can greatly increase your company’s online presence. This essentially translates to free publicity.

(2) Being social media-ish, consumers tend to associate your company with words like ‘cool’, ‘fun’, ‘approachable’, ‘lighthearted’ and ‘friendly’. Now who doesn’t like to do business with someone like that?

(3) If implemented successfully, it keeps your company committed and better bonded as a team.

Below are 5 ideas to help you achieve these benefits.

1. The Basics: Official Blog, Twitter and Facebook

To be social media-ish, your company has to lead its people by example! The basic ingredients must be there: Blog + Twitter + Facebook Page. They will act as your social media “headquarters” and plant your company’s flag in the social media world.

Blog: Keep this open to all staff and allow them to write with few restrictions. Submission of original posts should be done by a blog team to keep the style consistent and have inappropriate material filtered. Keeping the blog post short and sweet is key.

Twitter & Facebook Page: Either the CEO or a dedicated social media person should take charge of the official accounts. This will avoid communication breakdown and help maintain consistency.

2. Create videos if possible

Try capturing random happenings in your company. A video tells us a lot about how staff feels about the company. Obviously, the focus should not be on your product. Catch this funny example by Zappos:

Does Zappos look funky and friendly to you? This should attract some potential employees and keep existing staff committed.

Oh and don’t forget to share your videos through your blog, YouTube, Twitter and Facebook page.

3. Get them to use Twitter

Getting your employees to use Twitter with (or without) a company designed background is a good strategy to establish your presence on social media. Also, the company naturally becomes a community where staff is comfortable to share and connect in.

This idea came from Zappos, which has a leader board to rank its employees according to the number of followers they have.

With that said, don’t force your employees to be on Twitter. Let such activities be voluntary.

4. Let them tweet peacefully

It wouldn’t be called a social media culture if employees are banned from using it. Allow your employees to Facebook or Twitter at certain periods of time.

Even if you don’t, your employees are likely to use them secretly. So why not just give them the authority to do so openly? If they are not going to act like mature and responsible adults, why hire them in the first place?

5. Use social media business cards

Bring social media offline! Let your employees introduce themselves in a cool way by using social media business cards to connect with potential clients. If that doesn’t get them following you on Twitter or adding you as a friend on Facebook, I don’t know what will!

Have other ideas? Share with us in comments!

Tags: Business, culture, Marketing, Social Media

About Willis Wee

Co-founder of Penn Olson who is also an entrepreneur since 2005. He has had experience in crafting social media strategies for organizations such as Marriott Vacation Club, James Cook University, Reach Singapore and Unilever. Contact him at willis[at]penn-olson[dot]com

View all posts by Willis Wee →

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http://twitter.com/preppy_persona MST

@PennOlson Great post. Ques:How can U promote use of SM w/out compromising employee productivity?
http://www.penn-olson.com/2009/10/07/54-of-companies-prohibited-employees-from-social-media/ 54% Of Companies Prohibited Employees From Social Media | Penn Olson

[...] much for building a social media culture, seems like only 26% of companies believe in the benefits of personal social media use during [...]
strategic_growth_advisors

Well, I sort of meet halfway with MST. I think the use of social media in the office, in any company should be limited. Unfortunately, social media can eventually become a waste of time if not directed at the right channels. I guess a solid hour or two would be great for tweeting, posting things on Facebook or bookmarking interesting pages — and only for official reasons. Personal social media activities can be done during breaks. What do you think, Willis?
http://twitter.com/williswee Willis Wee

hmm it depends if the company has a team of responsible employees. If the employees wants to tweet while working, i'm sure they can find a way to do so. So why not let them do it openly but under the company's nose?
http://twitter.com/williswee Willis Wee

If the employee can't differentiate work and play, he/she is probably not worth hiring. While promoting social media in the company, it is important to let the employees know the objectives.

It is not important how much they tweet or update their facebook. The end result must be there. If not, adjust accordingly to the problematic area.

If your employees can't resist chatting all day long, it is best not to implement it. It is a trial and error strategy. Might not work for all.
http://twitter.com/groovygenie Isman Tanuri

Hi Willis, good post on getting businesses tuned in on first steps in social media. I certainly agree it is essential for companies to manage and ensure an online presence for exposure and visibility, especially in the social space.

However, beyond being 'fun' and 'cool', empowering employees with social media freedom (ala Zappos, which happens to be my most favourite brand I have never purchased from and connecting with customers and community provide a level of corporate transparency and openess that has immense value in today's environment. Especially when CSR is of growing importance in any corporate set ups these days.

Afterall, for a business building a community of customers through social media, a trusty and honest reputation is the most valuable asset that a business can have. As I see it, only social media can help connect a business to its customers at a comfortable level that promotes relationship-building based on trust and honesty.

My thoughts on mixing social media with business
http://twitter.com/williswee Willis Wee

I agree Isman! Thanks for the comment!
http://shenthilranie.com/ trafficdiva

interesting article there, for companies and businesses to embrace web 2.0 marketing there needs to be more education and awareness on this subject. from experience talking to business owners and organisations here it seems most are unfamiliar with social media marketing. also the big hurdle to cross is a shift in mindset.
Julian Chow Jian Sheng

I've been trying to implement usage of social media in my company for marketing and communications purposes, but the management is quite slow-moving on this, and I find that my suggestions are not acted upon. Just a question I'd like to ask, if social media isn't in the DNA of an organisation, especially when the founders do not understand social media, how do I go about trying to implement this?
http://www.penn-olson.com/2009/11/24/8-social-media-marketing-tips-for-retailers/ 8 Social Media Marketing Tips For Retailers | Penn Olson

[...] Last but not least, for retailers, it is important to integrate your offline and online marketing efforts to create maximum impact. How about making social media part of your company culture? [...]
http://www.penn-olson.com/2010/04/29/4-corporate-blogging-strategies/ 4 Corporate Blogging Strategies | Penn Olson

[...] a fun and casual culture might work for you. The aim is to reflect an authentic corporate culture to help others understand the company better. The end result is often a better bonding between the [...]