B2B to B2E (Everyone): Employees as Social Media Brand Ambassadors

October 11, 2011

1 International Conference

Bohlmann, McManus, Philips

The Issue: Many large companies today struggle with empowering and allowing

employees to engage in social media while also protecting against potential risks to

corporate reputation. With social media rapidly growing in importance as a critical

business tool to foster dialogue with stakeholders, corporate communicators must

engage employees enterprise-wide as brand ambassadors, using social media, through

dialogue, knowledge sharing and training, a collaborative structure and approach and

policies – all governed by a strategic framework with business goals at center.

Research shows:

the emergence of social media

“mega-portals”

that the world’s most successful

brands also have the most active

employees on social media

that word of mouth is the

influence of today and

tomorrow

social media use without

policies increases risks for

companies

What makes a good brand

ambassador?

Specialized expertise

Credibility through their role @ your company

Some existing visibility & stature in industry

A unique or provocative point of view

Presenters

Jaya K Bohlmann, APR – Corporate Communication and Design Consultant

o Jaya.bohlmann@verizon.net

Michael McManus – Director, Social Media, Sodexo

o Michael.mcmanus@sodexo.com

Rob Philips – VP, Digital Media, Golin Harris

o rphilips@golinharris.com

Social media means we have to

give up control and channel our

professional expertise to the

areas of education and

empowerment. We have an

opportunity to expand the work

of PR beyond our teams to

engage the entire workforce of

our organizations as brand

ambassadors.

B2B to B2E (Everyone): Employees as Social Media Brand Ambassadors

October 11, 2011

2 International Conference

Bohlmann, McManus, Philips

Ability to let personality shine through

Will take guidance from communications function

Time to participate

Recommended Programs to Engage Employees as Brand Ambassadors on Social Media

Training

Leverage subject matter experts enterprise wide for blog response and proactive outreach

Engage internal influencers through collaborative meetings and groups

Ask/coordinate employee efforts on various online communities on behalf of the

company

Employees contribute to corporate blogs

Employees participate in online monitoring

Minimizing Risk/Enhancing Efficiency (Policies and Systems)

Include in policies:

Ethical conduct and legal reminders

Description of “confidential information”

Boilers and disclaimers to include in any personally owned social media

Contacts in PR for clarification and situational assistance

Clearly state sanctions for breaches

Publicize the policies and train core groups of employees

Systems: Blogs and social media should have a clear business purpose. Evaluate by

asking:

Purpose (should be measurable and business-related)

Intended company business benefits

Potential risks to business and how those will be mitigated

Intended audiences (demographics, size)

Weekly time required for maintenance and plans for staffing

Budget needs plus availability

Success Story: Sodexo (http://blogs.sodexousa.com/)

Corporate blogs, Facebook and Twitter, issues management website, community relations

website, internally shared structure and content ownership