Looking to In-house Geeks for Support
Your built-in IT department (if you have one) can be a wonderful resource for your online reputation management strategy. It’s best to channel the energies of your online conversationalists into online activity rather than wrestling with network engineering. Here are seven things your local techie can contribute to the effort:
Installing updates
Keeping hardware in order
Keeping software in order
Individual help on aggregators/tools with team members
Training on new and existing tools
Customization of open source tools
Integration with existing internal network
The most important thing your IT department can contribute is to devise a troubleshooting ticketing system for your team so that every complaint gets resolved with a clear history for anybody else to see. I show you more options for this in Chapter 5, where I introduce you to all the most popular online tools.
Connecting with savvy, energetic PR interns
Believe it or not, most of the time when social media management agencies brag about having an extensive team of seasoned social media professionals they’re usually exaggerating about the abilities of their college interns.
I’m a big fan of hiring interns because they’re comfortable and familiar with social media networks, having grown up with them, and will probably be able to pick up your own system pretty quickly. The trick is to use them for monitoring and making conversation within clear guidelines. Savvy, energetic interns can
Save you time
Save you money
Give responsible college students a chance to try their wings (that equals good karma!)
Give you a boost with the audiences they already have
Stimulate good conversation most of the time
Hiring professional community managers
As a brand manager, you may decide you need a qualified, professional community manager who can brainstorm with you and then share your vision for where you want to go with your brand. A community manager is an online brand representative who engages with people personally via social networks and blogs. He functions as a brand evangelist, peacekeeper, and market research analyst, since he becomes the heart of the brand online. Here are some guidelines you can use to better understand what he contributes to an online community:
He’s really excited about your brand.
He adds value to the conversation.
He knows how to graciously enforce house rules.
He recognizes people who add to the discussion.
He keeps his finger on the pulse of the mood in your community.
He understands the art of online engagement.
Investigating their profiles thoroughly
Nothing’s more important than knowing you’re hiring the very best people to represent your brand and influence what actions people take with it online. You want to be sure that the people you’re trusting are able to handle the unexpected with speed, savvy, and presence of mind.
When you evaluate people as possible team members, ask yourself: How’s his or her emotional energy? If the individual generally is snarky or sarcastic, even if really funny, approach with caution. Such people may not be the best voice for your brand during a crisis. It may be like throwing gas on a fire.
Some ideas for checking out their communication skills:
Look for how they are already communicating online
Listen for the tone they use most of the time
Look for people who exhibit levelheaded responses in hot situations
Check out how positive their status updates tend to be
Researching your job candidates
It’s always useful to follow up on a candidate’s references. However, since references can just be people who want to help out a friend, the information you get may not be totally objective or accurate. I suggest going beyond references to research your potential job candidates.
These days, the Internet is quickly becoming an online resume of people who have trusted you at some point in time, in different capacities. You can find out quite a lot about your potential employees by searching for them via Google, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and YouTube. Be sure you cross-reference your research with photos and background info, where possible, so that you can be sure you’re looking at the right person!
With this in mind, check out how this person relates with people online and ask yourself the following questions
Does this person appear like she consistently exercises sound judgment?
Does this person appear to hang out with trustworthy people?
How does this person appear to handle pressure?
Is this person genuinely friendly?
How current are her profiles?