Social Media Risk

I just got an email from Radian6, a groundbreaking social media monitoring company. They announced a new enterprise desktop version of their software that will allow multiple people to monitor and respond to online dialog.

My first thought was – “Awesome! Incredible! I love it!”. I immediately sent a link to this YouTube video to a client of ours, who we’ve been helping with planning, governance, and content development.

Then I thought about it some more. All of a sudden, people throughout the organization will have access to respond to customers and engaged consumers in real time. This could be a good thing or a bad thing. It’s like nuclear power – it can change the world in some really good ways, or it could totally destroy everything your brand has worked for.

It depends on the people wielding this powerful technology.

If there is no response plan in place… if there is not a strategy behind the tool… if there is no governance or moderation structure…. some very, very bad things could happen. Imagine an under-informed, untrained staff with little understanding of social media, marketing strategy, or customer service attempting to use a tool like this. It’s enough to turn your chief legal counsel and your compliance team white with fear.

This is a stellar tool for social media monitoring and moderation, and it is easy to get really excited about the possibilities – but before you invest in any tool, make sure you have a plan in place. Make sure roles and responsibilities are clearly defined. Ensure that everyone in the organization understands the approval and governance guardrails. Build an FAQ for common inquiries, and call center-style flow charts for response planning.

You may also want to enlist the services of someone who has experience with the tool – like a Radian6 reseller / service company to help you put a plan in place to deal with your social media planning and execution. There are very few companies with real-world experience in this space, but my company, Raidious (similar name, but no relation) is one of them.

All that being said, Radian6’s tool is the industry standard for monitoring and moderation – and I would agree with their video – this desktop app is the biggest game changer yet. Just be careful where you point that thing.

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