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Social media is revolutionizing the way we interact with others, creating a world in which information moves faster and more freely than ever before. And this revolution is only beginning. From maintaining friendships to effecting social and political change, social media plays an increasingly prominent role in every aspect of our lives. According to a recent study, 98 percent of Internet users in the U.S. regularly engage with social media tools.¹

Of course, the implications for business are equally profound. Organizations are employing social media heavily in a broad range of areas such as marketing, PR, lead generation, customer service and recruiting. Companies are increasingly incorporating social media into their employee communication and engagement strategies as well. In fact, 70 percent of organizations globally plan to increase their use of social media internally over the next 12 months.² In addition, half of organizations currently have internal or external social media policies in place, and another 28 percent are developing policies currently.¹

But what should the introduction of this media look like for your organization? What social media strategy will best support your business objectives? How will you ensure that your approach complements your organization’s culture and meets employees’ needs? And how will it integrate with your broader communication and engagement efforts

We work with organizations to answer these question using a focused, two-part process, which involves first collecting the information needed to create a clear picture of the organization’s current social media usage, readiness, opportunities and challenges, and then defining the components for the organization’s unique social media strategy.

This process is based on our SOCIAL model, which includes the following steps, each of which is outlined below:

• Situation & Stakeholders – Assess your organization’s current situation as it relates to social media, including your technology capabilities and restrictions, resources, employee demographics and culture to determine the landscape for social media implementation.
• Objectives & Obstacles – Clearly define what your organization wants to accomplish through social media. How will social media truly contribute to business success? What purpose can it serve that that isn’t already being served by other media or what can it do better? Once your objectives are set, identify any obstacles that must be addressed to achieve your objectives.
• Content & Channels – Explore which social media channels to employ based on your organization’s needs and objectives, and what types of content are appropriate for each channel. Each channel that you employ should have a distinct purpose and content so that people clearly understand its use.
• Integration – Determine how your social media will integrate with the organization’s existing communication channels. It should not be a stand-alone or something that exists on the side. Rather, it should be fully integrated into your existing channels. Scenario testing is a good way to create this mix. For example, if there is a critical situation that could impact your organization’s reputation negatively, how would you integrate social media channels with more traditional channels to create a holistic employee communication strategy?
• Action Planning – Create a detailed plan that includes both the internal buy-in and funding process and the execution process for incorporating social media. The steps outlined above will help you build your business case for the investment and resources that will be required.
• Learnings – Social media is changing a breakneck speed. So while you need to establish a plan for execution, you should remain aware of the changes occurring in social media technology and practices. You also will want to establish a measurement strategy for how you will monitor the success of these new tools once they are implemented. It’s important to start with a well thought out and comprehensive communication strategy that is very fluid so you can revise your approach as needed.

Social media should build and strengthen connections with and among employees—not just for the sake of it, but to create pathways for breakthrough work and to galvanize people to achieve results. Through a holistic process, you can create a truly business-focused, purpose-driven strategy for harnessing the power of social media within your organization.

What are your thoughts on leveraging social media as part of your employee communication and engagement strategy? Join us for a free one-hour virtual roundtable on Friday, May 4 from 11:00 AM to noon EDT. We’ll be exploring this topic through best practices and real-world examples. It’s sure to be a lively and interesting discussion!

For more information, please contact Chris Gay at 614.775.9706 or chris.gay@bridgecnslt.com.

¹ ComScore, Social World Study, 2011
² Towers Watson, Change and Communication ROI Study, 2011
³ ABC Research Foundation/Buck Consultants, Employee Engagement Survey, 2011