Risk Mitigation & Social Governance
Risk mitigation and social governance are important components to any Social Media initiative. When it comes to negative commentary online, prevention is better than cure, so it is important to protect your brand; be prepared and have a clear plan for managing unpleasant situations.
For many brands, the words Social Media evoke fear.
There are many cautionary tales about the risks of Social Media. Reviewing these stories, many issues arise because organisations either communicate carelessly with random content that doesn’t align with their brand’s values; fail to enforce policy; or because of the absence of regular and responsive community management.
A social media strategy should define and address all of these so that errors are minimised. The strategy should also assess risk and only recommend venturing onto a platform if the available budget covers the resources (financial and human) necessary for success. works with a range of Risk Management tools to reduce the threat of these public relations nightmares.
The Social Media landscape can feel unstructured and sometimes as though you have no control over your own brand’s message. Social Media Risk Mitigation documents guide:
- The actions of your employees that will participate in social media; and
- The behaviour of your community members to protect the brand, it’s platforms and community members.
SocialProofing works with a range of risk management tools to reduce the threat of these public relations nightmares. Some of these tools include:
An internal Social Media Policy that informs staff of what they can and can’t do on the platforms – providing legal protection for employers and a means to control and contain potential situations.
House Rules clearly articulate the purpose of your Facebook page and how you expect your community to engage; what constitutes inappropriate content and what action will be taken if the House Rules are breached.
These rules are housed on a tab on the Facebook page.
What are T&Cs?
Terms & Conditions (T&Cs) are generic house rules which articulate the communities expectations on multiple platforms. Users are redirected to the T&Cs housed on the brand’s central website/blog, when they misbehave on platforms such as Twitter and YouTube which don’t allow room for House Rules to be hosted within the platform.
A Conversation Matrix details potential posts from the public and how your organisation and it’s community managers are to reply and respond in each situation.
Tone of voice: a definition of the organisation’s online (content) attitude and style of language for writing posts and responses
Emergency management plans are essential for contacting the right people who can take decisive action when a situation occurs.
The first step in handling a social media crisis is actually preparing people, processes and plans, as it will help counter the element of surprise.
An Emergency Response Plan helps map out who are the people responsible for responding and what are the processes they have to follow for the various levels of concern.
Contact the SocialProofing team to discuss how your investment in risk mitigation protects your organisation, it’s employees and brand in the long and short-term.
