In many large enterprise organizations, communicating is difficult without some level of governance. Global governance is a way to create accuracy, consistency, and repeatability in a process when teams are spread out far beyond just a functional group or business unit. The ability to work with global teams becomes imperative when establishing this governance and developing strategies to communicate with the social customer.
In social media, this means establishing a formal set of guidelines that instruct sanctioned communicators on how best to represent the company externally. Guidelines and process documentation can include up-to-date lists of approved social media vendors, process for being trained in social media or launching a new Facebook page, social media playbooks—including feature templates for building social media strategies, press releases or even decision trees for crisis communication and PR disaster.
Some organizations are creating Digital Conversation Guides and distributing them to global teams in preparation for product launch, marketing initiative and in some cases events. A Digital Conversation Guide is a document that includes the following:
- A high level overview of the product, event or initiative to include important messaging i.e. product name, availability, functional specs, featured speakers if it’s an event
- Important dates i.e. when the press release hits the wires
- A list of assets to include important URLS, links to videos, blog posts, online FAQ tagged with a consistent URL shortener like Bit.ly
- Agreed upon hashtags, the corporate Twitter profile as well as any other Twitter profiles that may be relevant
- Sample Facebook status updates and Tweets
The following is an example of a digital conversation guide of a company introducing a fictional new laptop into the global marketplace:
Hello Social Media Practitioners & Community Managers,
On Monday, October 23rd, we are bringing to market Gadget – our new, ultra-thin laptop which will be available in North America, Germany, UK, Spain and Mexico. The Gadget will be available in most APAC markets in 2012. The press release hits the wires at promptly at 9:00 AM EST. Please wait to share any product related information until after the press release goes live.
Action:
Please help and support this product launch by amplifying it across your social networks and communities. Please remember to use your own voice and personal experience with the product.
Key Messages:
When communicating within your own micro communities, please remember the following:
- The Gadget is a high performance and ultra thin laptop that delivers a brilliant High Definition experience
- The Gadget out performs all competitors with 12 hours of battery life
- The Gadget is perfect for the student, mom and business professional that expects a high quality video experience and long battery life
Assets:
- Blog post announcing the launch – http://bit.ly/jAoyR1
- Video Demos on Gadget.com – http://bit.ly/jAoyR2
- FAQ – http://bit.ly/jAoyR3
- Be sure to follow @gadget on Twitter and join/share the Facebook Fan Page - http://bit.ly/jAoyR4
- Hashtag: #gadget
Sample Tweets (please use your own tone/voice):
- So excited that we just launched the Gadget! http://bit.ly/jAoyR1 – now I can watch 12 hours of HD movies! #gadget
- I travel all the time. With the new Gadget laptop, I can work on presentations during the entire flight http://bit.ly/jAoyR1 #gadget
- Interested in the Gadget laptop? Watch these cool demos! http://bit.ly/jAoyR1 #gadget
Sample Facebook Status Updates (please use your own tone/voice):
- Friends and Family – as you all know I have been working heads down on launching this new product! I am so excited that we just launched the Gadget! http://bit.ly/jAoyR1 – now I can watch 12 hours of HD movies!
- Interested in the new Gadget laptop? Watch these cool demos on and join our fan page to get exclusive video content! http://bit.ly/jAoyR1
This simple email communication is an excellent way to communicate with global teams and get everyone on the same page for a specific product launch. It ensures a level of message consistency and also empowers employees who are sanctioned to engage externally with social media to communicate using their own voices.
To establish global continuity it’s important to facilitate bi-weekly or monthly social media integration meetings. It’s imperative that global teams come prepared with case studies and programs to share best practices, key learnings, and successful failures as well as discussions to improve collaboration and communication between the teams. Social media integration meetings also present an opportunity for corporate teams to pass down important messages that involve corporate governance initiatives. An email is effective; but an email along with consistent communication is more effective.
I write at length about this very topic in my upcoming book , Smart Business, Social Business: A Playbook for Social Media in Your Organization scheduled to be released in July 2011. You can pre-order by clicking on the below social business book cover. 100% of all book royalties are being donated to Not For Sale; a global non profit organization trying to abolish human and sex trafficking. Thank you for your support.
