Does your company need a lawyer every time
you post on Facebook? Obviously not if it is your personal page.
However, when you dive into social media to
promote your business you would be well advised to speak with a social media
law specialist to keep an eye on what you post. Look at it this way, when a
company creates an ad that makes certain claims about their product, that ad
has to go through a strict legal review to protect the interests of that
company.
This is the same approach you should be
taking when you begin engaging customers through social media. In other words,
get protected before you post. Here are some areas to think about with regard
to social media and the law.
Do you have an action plan?
On many levels, you can gauge a successful
social media campaign by the amount of followers or "likes" you
achieve. Yet when you drill down, an effective social media campaign is much
more than a numbers game.
Before you meet with a lawyer, you'll want
to put together your company's action plan. This can come in the form of a
prepared background document. Included in this document should be the
supporting data for the following:
- Current social media uses
- Lists of various social media platforms being utilized
- Type of material being shared (blogs, videos, Tweets, photos, etc.)
- Staff members responsible for generating social media content
- Any company policies regarding posting
- A review of competitors’ social media campaigns
- Guidelines for employees posting on behalf of the company such as language/photo use
All of these issues pertain to a certain
level of risk management with regard to employee interaction. Without
guidelines you could find yourself dealing with inappropriate posts that could
cause great harm to your brand.
Do
your employees know what they can or cannot post?
It's hard to imagine a company getting
through the course of business without creating a "disgruntled"
employee. Usually, these are the folks who are dismissed because of poor work
performance and go on to vent their frustrations. These types of comments can
be managed but what about posts from current employees that could be a problem?
Make sure that your employees understand that company secrets or making fun of a
customer are not something that should be done on social media.
All of these types of postings need to be
explored with your legal representative in order to form a comprehensive set of
rules for your staff. It is much better to work through all the possible
scenarios as opposed to doing damage control.
