Of course, trusting your employees
is an important requirement of social
media execution. “If you trust your
employees, they should be your big-
gest asset to leveraging social media,”
Smith continues, acknowledging that
because it goes beyond the workplace,
social media adds a layer of complex-
ity to the way associations use it. “If
[your employees] have their own per-
sonal Facebook page and they’re put-
ting weekend pictures out there, they
have to know that’s going to be seen by
volunteer members and possibly affect
their credibility or negatively impact
them if it’s not appropriate.”
To mitigate the risks of employee
representation, Smith advocates working
with HR to create policies that govern
employee maintenance of social media
channels. As social media is leveraged
more and more as a marketing tool, for
instance, many employees opt for dual
Facebook profiles — one personal and
one professional. This can be especially
helpful in the association profession,
where members are eager to connect
with staff outside of the boardroom and
beyond the annual conference.
Create;Content
Although ethics is the backbone of
social media marketing, the meat is
always content.
In the same way that associations
attract diverse members, social media
attracts diverse users. Content, then,
must cater to a variety of constituents
and stakeholders, according to Smith.
“I think you’re always going to have
the lurkers who just consume data and
content,” she says. “It’s almost like a
checkbook member, where they pay for
their membership and they never par-
ticipate, but they’re going to be loyal
to you; they’re going to follow you and
they’re going to support you, but they’re
not going to participate.”
These lurkers are still worth your
time and consideration because they
can spread valuable word of mouth.
