Trust, But Verify – The importance of social media monitoring

by: Ron Daly, President/CEO, DigitalMailer, Inc.

No doubt, connecting and communicating through Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn are catching on. As more companies and individuals embrace social media tactics, businesses are also catching on – to their need to keep a close watch over these activities as they relate to the workplace.

But how do you monitor who’s talking about your organization and what they are saying, given the explosion in social media usage? Consider that more than 750 million Facebook subscribers log 12 billion hours each month, 95 million tweets are recorded each day, and nearly 1 million new LinkedIn visitors access that site each month.

Today’s electronically connected world means more people may be applauding and criticizing your credit union to a large online audience. In a competitive and social marketplace, where control of the message is slipping away, it’s beneficial to know what people are saying and sharing about you – both good and bad. Not knowing can risk your reputation, your operations and even your bottom line.

Managing social media risk within your credit union and among public domains is essential – whether you are currently active in this space, planning to jump in or still weighing the options. But relying only on a policy in which you simply turn off access to employees’ use of social media at work or overlook posting activities on their public accounts may be short-sighted. Doing so, your employees miss opportunities to connect with members in their social comfort zones. Staff members can serve as your best brand ambassadors; yet by limiting their access to social media at work, you also limit an effective marketing approach. Keeping access open and observing activities allow your credit union to remain alert to the positive comments being shared … another potential marketing opportunity.

Social media monitoring offers other benefits, as well. It helps track compliance with regulations and disclosure requirements. This protects both your credit union and its employees. Internally, it can gauge negative talk about the company, which can damage employee morale if left unchecked, as well as measure staff’s personal use of social media on company time. In addition, formal social media monitoring can assist with legal issues, e-discovery requests and human resource decisions.

According to SocialLogix, a leading national provider of social media risk and compliance solutions, a typical company experiences up to 10 social media incidents a year. That translates into high-dollar costs for legal or regulatory problems – in some cases, more than $4 million. To mitigate the risk, having an effective way to screen, analyze and archive social media communications within your workplace and among public domains is a must in today’s social society.

A strong monitoring program protects your organization against known threats while identifying those that may be emerging. Bottom line: social media monitoring supports management’s efforts to be proactive and accountable, and encourages more-effective employee interactions.

Ron Daly is the President/CEO of DigitalMailer, Inc., a company he founded in 2000 to help organizations connect with customers through the latest online technologies. Daly sees electronic delivery channels as excellent ways for credit unions to reach their members while saving money, as well as providing credit unions cross-selling and revenue-generating opportunities. Daly is a frequent speaker at industry events, and has authored numerous articles on e-marketing and digital communication subjects.  www.digitalmailer.com