I don't know how many companies today have a policy around what you can or can't say through social media channels such as Twitter, Facebook and or Blogs. I don't even know what my companies policy is on it, as it doesn't seem to be in the handbook. But some things are clear be polite and respectful and be
TRANSPARENT!
I love blogging and tweeting about the cool things my company works on because we have created a
great culture that allows people to be themselves and be proud of what they do. This in my mind is how social media is suppose to work. People socializing with other people, not companies pushing their crap down our throats.
Other companies that have embraced this corporate culture and allowed their people to talk on their behalf is
Digg,
Zappos and
Amazon. All three have become fan favorites in this new social dynamic that all companies are desperately looking to connect on.
Digg encourages everyone from the CEO to the receptionist to contribute on their corporate blog and be the companies voice. Through this approach Digg has really connected with its customers so much it has been able to create
Diggnation a weekly tech/web culture show based on the top digg.com social bookmarking news stories. It's hard to believe a bunch of nerds actually became rock stars in this approach. But, by keeping it real and not just having the CEO talk Digg and other companies are able to build up their people and create engagement beyond any paid social media marketing plan.
I heard a CEO once say he didn't want his employees contributing to their corporate blog because he didn't want headhunters taking his people. Really? Recruiters are smart and have so many tools today they will find whomever they want. I thought to my self why doesn't this CEO focus more on making his business a place people would not want to leave no matter what they are offered because they love the culture and embrace it.
Zappos is another great example that has done a wonderful job building up its employees and allowing them to speak on the companies behalf, so if the CEO Tony Hsieh steps away the company brand presence doesn't fall over. Jeff Bezos at Amazon is another great example.
Social media succeeds when real people connect and share real experiences whether good or bad about your brand. Corporations should learn that pushing content to consumers through social media will likely fail but creating virility in the culture will organically grow as people can't wait to talk about it.
One thing I've learned in my career is a team has to be emotionally invested to succeed. Imagine if every team in that company is; then it is headed down the right path for exponential brand loyalty. Think about the stories in sports where all the seniors come back to play and win that year. That stuff really works!
Alex Hunter from Virgin.com spoke at
F.O.W.A. in Miami on corporate culture and branding and highlighted all this very well. He said marketing alone was the cancer on the nut sack of creativity and if companies focused inside to create a great creative corporate culture people would connect with their company in so many priceless ways.
So I say go tweet, retweet and update your status with the great emotions and connections you have with your company and you'll soon have friends asking you if you get a cut of the company or how can they come work there.