Page 10 - index

RESEARCH, ANALYSIS & TRENDS

Social media means cherishing and

taking care of friendships

Social media is a true gift to marketing, thus, community Manage the cooperation
managers should appreciate the user-driven communi-
cation tool and pay attention to the following to improve Create rules for the sharing on social networks that ap-
their media skills: ply to their users and also within your company. Write
them down in your "Social Media Guidelines". This
The network determines the rules framework determines who is allowed to represent you
in social networks, who decides what, and how to re-
First, become familiar with the terms and policies of the spond in case of escalation. But determine there as
platforms on which you are represented, before you re- well how your employees are allowed to react on cor-
ally take off in social networks. If, for example, your Fa- porate issues with their private profiles. In particular,
cebook fan page gets deleted because of a violation of large companies should define a "tone of voice".
the terms of use, you, as a community manager, hardly
have a chance to bring your site back online. And just as essential are clear guidelines for users that
regulate their interaction with each other on your site. In
Particularly treacherous is the fact that the platform op- short: through your “netiquette” you help to neutralize
erators change their policies often without communi- your spam, trolls and insults quickly. Formulate your
cating this. Especially Facebook comes here to my rules in a clear and unambiguous way and publish
mind, which makes Facebook’s Newsroom and Market- them, e.g. on Facebook, as own "Netiquette Tab"
ing page a valuable source of information for all those
who need to be in the know regarding these changes. The netiquette even allows you to delete particularly
But, of course, modifications do not just apply to Face- unwanted posts, without incurring the wrath of your
book, but Twitter, YouTube and Google+ as well in the fans. However, since the freedom of opinions enjoys a
recent past. Given the limitation of tweets to 140 char- high status on the internet, you should allow more ag-
acters, dealing with complex issues on Twitter is any- gressive post as well. Take the writers serious and re-
way difficult to achieve - at most via a link to further in- spond in a reasonable, calm and level-headed tone. In
formation. And in contrast to other networks, discus- this way you can successfully de-escalate the situation
sions on Google+ are amazingly high level content. in most cases.
Therefore, it is important that you know all these distinc-
tive features to master and then adjust your communi- Without doubt you will have to put lot of work and effort
cation accordingly. in your social media activities, but the many benefits
are worth it. So, never forget to thank your fans honest-
In addition, your company’s individual communication ly and sincerely for the profitable cooperation.
style should be recognizable in your communication on
social networks to remain authentic and gain the trust of For this purpose, it is advisable to regularly offer your
fans and followers. An internal rule to a single tonality is fans events and activities that are fun and further en-
therefore particularly necessary if several employees hance the mutual bond, such as e.g. parties or video
serve the social services. chats. And keep in mind that these activities can even
take place outside of the networks. Have fun! ◊

By Daniela La Marca
10 Asian eMarketing March 2014 - Social Media Marketing