Ever heard of Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn? What about TweetDeck or HootSuite? Do you know what a Tweet is?

All of these terms encompass social media, with Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn being popular social networking sites and TweetDeck or HootSuite being Web sites designed to help Twitters send and receive Tweets, which are essentially micro-blog posts on Twitter.

While to some these terms may sound like New Age slang, many Wisconsin companies are making it their business to learn more.

Aurora Health Care is one such organization. Approximately a year and a half ago the company hired Jamey Shiels as director of social media and digital communications to develop its digital presence.

Today the organization, which has provided social media access to all of its 29,000 employees, regularly uses Facebook, Twitter and YouTube to supplement its other public relations and marketing offerings. The company recently hosted a live Twitter broadcast of a double-knee replacement to promote its orthopedic services and highlight custom knee implants.

“The Tweets drove recipients to a Web site where they could receive more information,” says Shiels. “We scheduled 14 surgeries because of that Twitter cast.”

Aurora’s success offers a prime example of what can happen when companies engage in social media. But when a company’s social media presence becomes plagued with inconsistent messages and misuse, it can spark a digital nightmare that damages reputations and fuels lawsuits.

“Social media can be like jumping into the deep end of the pool when expectations and boundaries aren’t defined,” agrees Andy Narrai, chief operating officer of Scheibel Halaska, a Milwaukee-based strategic marketing communications firm.

“Companies need to devise a well-defined plan and take a well-measured approach.”

Do your homework

Successfully navigating the social media highway requires some upfront work. It begins with considering why you want to use social media in the first place, says Scott Seroka, vice president of Seroka, an integrated advertising and public relations agency based in Milwaukee.

“Ask yourself what you think it will do for you and what your objectives will be,” he says. “It depends on the industry and the customers you serve. Social media isn’t necessarily for everyone, 100 percent of the time.”

Strategizing and defining goals beforehand aids companies in selecting appropriate social media platforms.  For instance, Aurora’s blueprint defined using social media to create awareness, generate business and enhance patient experiences. They determined Facebook, Twitter and YouTube were the best fit for these goals, for different reasons. Today the company uses Facebook to communicate health information to patients and potential patients; Twitter to blast short communications to many, such as updates about upcoming classes or events; and YouTube to post videos highlighting its physicians as experts.

Peter Raisch, director of public relations and emerging media at Kennedy Communications, an integrated marketing firm based in Madison and a honoree in the 2009 Corporate Report Wisconsin Small Business Success Stories awards, describes how Culligan International Co. used social media to raise its market presence.

When company officials mapped their social networking goals, they uncovered a strong desire to be seen as a thought leader. Their resulting efforts evolved into a blog called Water Wise Guy and the CulliganH20 Twitter page.

“We are now seeing tangible ROI from this,” Raisch says. “We actually had someone in Philadelphia buy a water softener because we answered their water question.”

Who you gonna call?

Selecting the right platform also involves knowing the differences and strengths inherent in each.

If a company wishes to emerge as a thought leader in the marketplace, then a blog may be the best format. A blog provides a means of intellectually interacting with current and prospective customers to position companies as market leaders.

“It gives professionals the ability to communicate their perspective and engage with customers on a much deeper level,” Seroka explains.

But if a company seeks to regularly release snippets of relevant information, then Facebook or Twitter might be more appropriate. Facebook’s features include e-mail, instant messaging and image and video sharing, while Twitter allows users to grab ideas in byte-size chunks and use updates as jumping off points to other places. These features help deliver content customers find meaningful, whether it is links to other sites or trends in the industry.

“The key here is to regularly post information customers find valuable because if they see things that appeal to them they will keep coming back, which in the long run will win the company new customers and help keep current ones,” Seroka explains.

Cooking up content

Incorporating thoughts and feelings, steering away from extremely controversial topics and including some sort of call to action are all part of the recipe for successful social media content, agree the experts in this article.

“We try to craft content that has a personality and is fun to read,” says Raisch. “You don’t want to bore people; you want to interact with them.”

He advises fully researching topics and writing in tones that respect customers’ participation in the buying process.  He also recommends thinking carefully before posting. “Every time you post something you have to ask yourself if it is in the customers’ best interest,” he explains. “Likewise, employees need to ask themselves if a post is in the best interest of their company.”

Sloppiness, inaccuracies, argumentativeness and so on can turn people off and open a company up to litigation.

“You have to make sure what you’re talking about is true, is not defamatory, and when using third-party material, that you have cleared the rights to use it,” says Chris Cain, a partner with Foley & Lardner LLP, a Madison law firm specializing in corporate law

Including calls to action helps measure the success of social media interactions. Aurora found that when it posts materials related to classes and other events, event registration increases by 30 percent; patients click through information about new procedures to schedule appointments; and visitors answer open-ended questions that invite comments. The organization uses these responses to highlight their success.

“We have to continue to show the value of social media, simply being in the space is not enough,” Shiels explains. “For this reason, we try very hard to make sure everything we post has a call to action.”

Limiting liability

Companies lacking digital communications policies may quickly find themselves in social networking hot water. There are defamation concerns, libel issues, misrepresentation woes and more to worry about, says Daniel Kaplan, a partner at Foley & Lardner.

Companies should familiarize themselves with laws governing social media before entering this space, he says. For instance, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) recently published a new set of online conduct rules for advertising and marketing. The directive looks at endorsements and states that if an employee, customer or friend is asked to review or discuss a product, that individual must disclose their relationship with the company or they will violate FTC online conduct rules. Further complicating matters, if employees appear to be representing the company in their comments — even if they are made in their personal space on personal time — a company may be held liable for their posts, according to Cain.

A technology policy can mitigate many of these concerns. Unfortunately, many existing information technology policies do not address social media. Policy revamps should spell out the company’s expectations for both personal and professional social networking. The policy should instruct employees to set security levels high on personal accounts and keep their personal social networking sites separate from work ones to ensure personal posts remain personal.

Aurora’s policy reminds employees to respect HIPPA laws (even in personal posts) and distinguish between their personal and private lives online. Even putting something as simple as noting their statements represent their personal views and not that of their employer on personal pages can help.

Policies also can address the proper ways to designate the company and its services online. On LinkedIn, for example, it’s not uncommon to find 100 individuals working for the same company, with each person writing the company name and description differently. These instances become missed opportunities to unify a company’s brand in the marketplace, says Narrai, who is also national treasurer of the American Advertising Federation.

The work doesn’t end once a policy is in place, however. “While a policy should outline authorized and unauthorized uses, a policy is of absolutely no value to the employer who fails to regularly monitor employee use and enforce the policy,” stresses Kaplan.

No panacea

Finally, it’s critical that companies keep expectations realistic, adds Raisch. Social networking is not the Holy Grail of advertising and marketing.

“Social media can be used to more intimately echo what your broad-based media is already trying to deliver,” he explains.  "Broad-based media, like radio and television, are still going to be the big winners, but social media is the force multiplier.”

And remember, customers need to be exposed to a brand in multiple ways before advertising offers any measurable impact. As Raisch says, “Just because social media is easy to measure doesn’t mean it’s the absolute best and only way to get your message out.”

By Ronnie Garrett

Ronnie Garrett owns and operates Garrett & Co. Studios, a Fort Atkinson company providing editorial, photography and graphic design services.

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