Perhaps more so than anything else in an organization, its Social Media success starts and stops at the top.
It has nothing to do with the right or wrong way of doing business; it has everything to do with being compatible with the online world and/or the Social Media space.
An organization with an open culture is more likely to have an open Social Media policy. They are more likely to embrace the transparency nature of the online world.
On the other hand, companies who are struggling with Social Media and probably a lot of other things online don’t have to look very far for the reason. More often than not, its rigid structure and closed doors have already determined its fate online.
Think of it this way: if a CEO panics and defends like crazy when she sees a bad review online, where does that leave her employees?
Naturally, they defend like crazy just as their boss does — nobody wants to get yelled at or blamed on by the boss. This in turn leads to deletion of criticisms and negative comments which could lead to one of two things: 1) more criticisms or 2) worse, no more feedback from the consumers.
Because of its free/cheap nature, Social Media could be wildly underestimated of its importance.
Boss’ thinking 101: More money, more important. Free? Not so important.
While it’s perfectly okay to experiment things online externally, you should treat it as part of your job to educate internally — especially your boss(es) — about this new and exciting online world.
Let’s face it, all the right strategies and content don’t matter if your boss says, “No, I don’t want the world to see this.”
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