Are you having trouble with your staff whose first activity of the day is checking out his Facebook? Is his frequent Twittering giving you a headache that you have set a date to fire him out? Well, turn your adversity to prosperity – that’s what they say. Social media addicts can be your company treasures for marketing your business. With social media training, you might want to reconsider your decision of firing someone.
I stumbled upon communications consultant and trainer Puseletso Mompei’s article (read full article) about how social media could help your business. Let us take a look at what she believes are the benefits of social media training.
The pros of social media training:
1. Understanding the language of online media
It takes literacy to understand the intricacies of social media. While majority of employees working in an office are connected to social media, a considerable number are not actually well-acquainted with the sites. Mompei exclaims:
“Don’t assume that everyone is clued up about social media. Chances are some team members can tell you the difference between flickr and MXit in a second, while some only have vague social media knowledge. Social media is extremely dynamic, so your people need to be able to separate fact from fiction, see the of online interaction and understand how and why people use different platforms. Social media touches on every facet of business, from IT and HR to marketing.”
2. Ensuring privacy and security
Social media is not all about chatting. There are security and privacy issues that one should take caution. How does social media training help?
“Knowing how to own and protect information and profiles (both personal and business) is key. Training helps employees understand issues around security and privacy. For example, private chats, conversations and postings can be found and deleted pictures can still show up on web searches. Employees benefit from understanding security issues – for example, downloading files without consideration can pose a risk to equipment.”
3. Contextualizing business
Social media has become an effective alternative platform to socialize and have fun. But how amazingly its role has expanded that a significant number of companies have integrated social media as an indispensable tool in their marketing platform.
“Many people tend to think that social media is just about chatting with friends or sharing funny videos, but when you start to understand it as a business tool, there are numerous opportunities to share information, build goodwill around your brand and find new leads. Having the full picture helps the employee align their activities with the business strategy and use existing networks and their love of being connected to boost the business”, says Mompei.
4. Maintaining company integrity
Social media have been found effective to promote a company, but a misguided use is a recipe for disaster. Preventing such catastrophe is highly preventable; this is where social media training comes highly valuable. Mompei declares:
“Protecting your brand from negative opinion is a team effort. With the right information and awareness, your team can avoid triggering negativity with inflammatory, careless or ill-considered remarks. Being able to monitor comments and flag possible issues in time is essential for containing crises and proactively building a positive online reputation.”
Taking full advantage of social media as your product promotion tool is timely. As many people are hooked to Facebook and Twitter, your staff can truly fuel up the growth of your business.
What is your point on social media training? Please share your thoughts in the comments below.
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