The Friday Wrap #1: Search upgrades, gamification, blacklisted apps and Twitter email

I review a lot of content during the week. Much of it comes from curated collections I follow, such as Smart Briefs. I get email updates from several sites, like AdAge and ZD Net. I subscribe to the RSS feeds of hundreds of blogs. I check the links that cross my Twitter stream, thanks to my Paper.li daily. I click through a lot of items shared over Google+ and Facebook. The ones I find interesting, I publish to my link blog on Tumblr. Some of these find their way into blog posts. A couple make it into my reports on the podcast I co-host with Neville Hobson, For Immediate Release. The rest…well, they just sit there on my link blog.

… Read More »

Research is at the heart of successful social media training

This is the third installment in a series on social media training

The best social media training effort is one that has been tailored to your organization’s requirements. Off-the-shelf training programs may cover the basics, but the basics will get you only so far. The payoff can be huge if you invest the time and effort to get the information you need to make sure your training addresses the unique circumstances of your company—and every company has unique circumstances!

That’s why research is the most important phase of the training development process.

What you need to know

Everything from the content of your training to the… Read More »

Franchisee staff: the forgotten social media audience

One of the participants in an internal social media workshop I taught in Chicago last week raised an interesting question. He worked in employee communications for a nationally-recognized auto service brand and wondered about the use of internal social media among franchisees.

It’s not unusual for franchise operations to set up extranets that let them establish communication with franchise owners. It just makes sense to distribute new pricing information and marketing materials digitally, and to answer questions asynchronously; it can reduce calls to the call center. Companies like Burger King and Ben & Jerry’s have set up just such… Read More »

Getting buy-in for social media training

This is the second in a series of posts on social media training for employees

A new multi-dimensional training program for all employees probably won’t excite most budget-conscious executives. One that on first glance focuses employee attention on Facebook and blogs is likely to inspire even less enthusiasm. How do you get past those initial objetions to build support for a social media training effort?

There are three fundamental approaches to take in gaining buy-in:

• Cite internal research
• Appeal to the leader’s interests
• Demonstrate the risks in not training employees

Cite internal research

You need to undertake some internal… Read More »

Introducing a series on social media training

According to a study from The Altimeter Group released last year, companies that provide employees with social media training and open access—rather than simply blocking social sites—experience fewer crises. The crises they do experience aren’t as severe as the companies that figure the best way to avoid problems is to bolt the doors and lock the windows (an approach that is both futile and stupid).

In fact, Altimeter’s conclusion doesn’t go far enough. According to the report, “A written policy is not sufficient on its own – companies must establish a baseline process to reinforce and update the policy, as well as train incoming… Read More »

Training employees on social media improves engagement, boosts company reputation

Companies accrue far greater advantages from providing their employees with social media training and letting them engage with their communities than they do from blocking access. I’ve written here before about the results of The Altimeter Group’s study that found the organizations that avoided crises or kept their impact to a minimum were the few deemed “advanced,” the ones that conducted such training and didn’t block access.

I’ve talked over the last several years about several ways open employee access serves the organization’s interests, from recruiting and access to subject matter experts to idea-testing and brand evangelism.… Read More »

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