The reason I laughed is that the first thing to know about social media is that everything you need to know is out there for free.  Specifically for local government there are excellent free resources from committed and knowledgable bloggers such as Dave Briggs (who also has a post on this subject).

Free is pretty much the key word and ethos of social media.

The giants of the game, such as Twitter and Facebook, operate a business model whereby they are free to the user.  There are first class apps and widgets you can download to interface with them and these also are free.

I should make it clear that I have not read the toolkit and it is probably a useful document, but I would suggest that you can save yourself £200 by judicious use of a search engine and/or common sense.

Some key things I can tell you, for free, are:

1) Social media are online resources that foster user content creation and interaction. They are not ends in themselves, they are a means. You need to work out how they fit in with your existing communications strategy.

2) Lots of people will tell you that social media strategy is about ‘joining the conversation’.  What this means is that you can use it to connect with your customers/users and respond to criticism and praise directly. You need to consider whether this ‘chatty’ dynamic is appropriate to you and your organisation and adapt accordingly. See point 1.

3) The phrase ‘social media’ is something of a buzzword that refers to the rapidly evolving digital landscape.  Digital is no different from any other tool available to you. Intelligent use of it will bring benefits to your organisation and foolish use will damage it.

One final piece of advice that seems apposite: I would also suggest to you that if you see an advert in a newspaper that reads ‘I got rich, send me £200 to find out my secret’, what you will get in response is the single phrase:  ‘I put an advert in the paper that reads I got rich, send me £200 to find out my secret’.

The fact is that the discussion (or Lion, perhaps, if we are to continue with the Ostrich analogy) remains, whether you acknowledge it or not, and ignoring it may put you or your organisation’s reputation in jeopardy.

This report by Emarketer makes interesting reading, showing how companies worldwide are using direct engagement. Even though it is the favoured method, only 47%  of those surveyed are employing it.

A couple of years ago I saw the US Airforce’s clear rules of engagement set out for addressing online discussion of their organisation, the flow chart offers useful advice for any company or individual with an online presence, check it out at Globalnerdy.

Now Pfizer in Canada have taken the chart and developed it to suit their company, click for a full sized image:

See the blog of marketing4health for further information and a comparison of the two.

In my experience, working for campaigning charities for instance, a friendly and well informed response to an erroneous and/or negative posting can be very productive.  Engaging with the author and offering a chance to discuss the issue, addressing their concerns or issues and at the same time informing them of facts relating to misunderstandings and/or negative perceptions leads to a positive outcome.  At the very least, an outcome more positive than being eaten by a Lion you can’t see.

He's there, whether you acknowledge him or not

Photo credit: kakisky from morguefile.com