Common Sense Social Media Policy

Common Sense Social Media Policy

I thought these suggestions social media strategy and policy suggestions from Octane and SK Murphy were incredibly on-target:

With a nod to Octane’s Report on Social Media there are five things to bear in mind when striking up conversation within social media.

1. Keep in mind your target market, Ask “Who am I writing this to (and why)?”
2. Always reach out to individuals with a personal and relevant message rather than the template approach– The default “I’d like to add you to my professional network on LinkedIn” is not cutting it.
3. Keep your professional head on at all times (obviously) — no flame wars, no extended arguments, etc.. Ask “Would my mother be offended by this?”
4. Rather than pushing an agenda, monitor these sources periodically and respond, respond, respond. The value is really created when you engage a customer, partner, or niche in their time of need.
5. Update as consistently as possible whether weekly, daily, or more often as appropriate for each service.

When it comes to updating your profiles with content and putting some value out into the world, the Golden Rule still applies. Also:

* Try to inject your expertise into larger topics and debates, to offer useful advice to individuals whether in the form of a blog post or comment, tweet, LinkedIn Question, Facebook status, or other formats.
* Share things that are funny, informational, insightful, or otherwise significant.
* Tell people what you are reading, working on, or care strongly about.
* When adding content anywhere, ask: “Is this something I would like to hear about?”

Hopefully this will come in handy when creating both HR, marketing, and customer development strategy.

Update: in addition to the original post, I would check out their social media guide which provides a quick overview of blogs, wikis, and social media basics.

Would you add or subtract anything?