Page 125 - Social Media Marketing for Dummies

formal policies. This is especially important because when something is
expressed in the social domain, it’s easily amplified by others. Just ask
Domino’s about the crisis it faced when two employees published obscene
videos online.
» Respect for copyright, fair use, and financial disclosure laws: Regardless
of the media being published, employees should still respect all local, state,
and federal laws, especially in the realms of copyright, fair use, and financial
disclosure.
» What to do when they make a mistake: Regardless of what an employee
publishes, at some point he is going to screw up. We’re all human, after all.
The guidelines must address what employees should do if they make a
mistake. That means being up front about the mistakes, correcting the errors
immediately, and accepting responsibility.

These guidelines are culled from an analysis of several social media guidelines,
with the IBM guidelines, shown in Figure 5-4, serving as the primary source of
inspiration because they represent the most complete set. If you’d like to see the
complete set, go to www.ibm.com/blogs/zz/en/guidelines.html.

FIGURE 5-4:
IBM’s social
media standards.

CHAPTER 5 Developing Your SMM Voice 109