Train Your Employees on Your Business’s Social Media [INFOGRAPHIC]

If you want your business to participate in today’s social media scene (and you should), you have two options for implementing a social media plan. You can hire new personnel or a consultant to design a strategy for you. Or, you can train your current employees to translate their business experience into social media content for you. The second option is cheaper, and many companies find that their own employees make more natural company brand ambassadors. Check out this infographic (full size below) explaining ways that you can train your current employees to use your business’s social media tools.

The infographic suggests beginning by dividing your workforce up into 5 groups. The groups are a great idea, because they are intuitive once you think about them—but I’m not sure I would have thought of them! The groups are: The Digital Native, The Savvy Technologist, The Reluctant User, The Digital Contrarian, and The Digital Newbie.

The infographic gives a definition for each of these types of users, and then offers specific types of training that will be the most helpful to each kind of technology user. For example, the Digital Contrarian is someone who opposes the digital age and feels that social media is a waste of time. The infographic suggests training that explains how and why businesses benefit from social media campaigns, and show social media can affect a business and its company brand.

What a great way to implement training for a diverse team!

Personal social media use is also addressed. A whopping 76% of companies do not have a clearly defined social media policy. If you want your employees to promote your company brand, you’d better bet that you need one. Draft a social media policy with examples of what is acceptable and unacceptable conversation about the company. Provide examples of disclaimers that employees should use when expressing an opinion about the company, and be sure to make it plain that harassment and lewd language will not be tolerated. For more information about how to draft a company policy on social media, check out this article.

The final word on the subject from MindFlash: Keep Your Eyes Peeled. By allowing employees to represent your company brand, you have to understand that occasional misuse will occur. Watch your social media outlets closely for behavior that violates your social media policy. It will be important to address potential issues as soon as they occur.

Do you let your employees use your company social media? How has this affected your company brand? Leave us a comment below, and share your experience!

IMAGE: Courtesy of Mindflash.com