Starting to feel left behind? You’ve been seeing your competitors set up social media programs and hearing tales of new business, growing reputations, and engaged customers. 
You’d like to jump in, but you’re wary of regulators or where to start. Don’t feel bad. You’re not alone.
No matter if you’re a financial organization, a consulting firm, a mid-size broker dealer, or advisory firm, stepping into the social media river can be less daunting if you take a four step approach. For some of you—associations and consulting firms—steps one and four may be enough.
- Step One: Establish a corporate social media presence
- Step Two: Create a pilot program for a handful of employees
- Step Three: Go wide, allowing more employees to participate
- Step Four: Review systems, strategy, and training.
In today’s blog post, I’m going to focus on the first step: establishing a presence. In the future, I’ll write about steps two through four. I’m not going to detail all that’s involved—just provide an overview. If you need help, my contact information is at the bottom of this page.
If you are a regulated organization, this phase is required. Your social media plan will need to include how to connect to the company’s archiving and review system, how compliance will oversee communications, and the frequency of monitoring. Is it permissible to engage on business topics on your personal profiles not subject to company archiving and review? Probably not, so state this and other content standards clearly. This is just the beginning of what needs to be in your plan.
If you’re not regulated, you still have decisions to make. One is the importance of clarifying your areas of focus, so the operators of your system will know not to stray outside of those limits. That will help to strengthen your differentiation. It helps to state your social media voice and the audiences you are trying to reach. Will you comment on other blogs? If you use LinkedIn, how will it be used?
Build a System
Set up your social media platforms, analytics, and redesign your website to include web 2.0 best practice elements. If you have regular news or promotions, post the copy to a blog to appear on your home page. The copy can be automatically be distributed through an email list, an RSS feed reader, and—most popularly—on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. All profiles should be uniformly branded with your logo, colors, and mission statement. Share and follow buttons should be placed across platforms to increase reach by expanding social networks. Advanced analytics will measure social media tactics and progress toward your goals.
Engage
You have several options for how to go about putting your spanking new system into play. You can train those within your organization that will operate your new social media system against your policy and let ‘er rip. Or, you can add a consulting firm for additional training and answer inevitable questions. Another option is to hire a social media marketing firm to handle it all for you. We do that, too.
Need help with your program? Contact us. We can help.
SCOTT PETERSON, co-founder of Relay Station Social Media LLC, has over a decade of experience in market, securities, and regulatory communications. His firm provides integrated Internet marketing, compliance training, and more to a wide range of organizations.
To find out how you can receive a free Amplification Guide to learn advanced social media techniques, click here now.
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