Personalized Service: Using Social Media to Showcase the People Behind the Brand

Last week, I spoke at FOHBOH’s FoodServices Social Media Universe conference about implementing social media policies for employees. The restaurant industry has a uniquely positive energy towards both its customers and its employees. While many industries think about reaching customers through social media, the restaurant industry is ahead of the curve in its desire to embrace the concept of employees as brand ambassadors. Indeed, we all know that business relationships are built on trust and confidence. Social media presents a unique opportunity for the customer not only to know the brand but also to know the people behind the brand.

At the same time, marketing managers and human resource personnel worry how to control content and brand image. They fear that allowing employees too much freedom to speak online could put their images in jeopardy. The answer is centralization. Companies that allow their employees to engage in social media do so most successfully when they broadcast from central locations.

Some examples:

• The company blog might allow different employees to contribute pre-approved copy to the blog on a weekly basis.
• The company Facebook page could highlight an employee each week so that customers get to know the faces behind the brand.
• On Twitter, rather than having one tweet feed for the brand as a whole, a company can bolster its Twitter presence with feeds from each department.
• Franchisors can set up regional social media pages, thus allowing for local features and dialogue with local customers.
• Brands should allow employees to link personally to their mentions on company social media pages, driving traffic to the approved pages.

On a policy level, it is essential to provide clear guidelines to employees of what kind of linking, commenting, and posting is acceptable. And don’t forget to obtain releases from your employees (and anyone else in their photos or videos) before posting their names, images, likenesses, etc. on your social media pages.

Losing control of intellectual property or brand image is a real concern. Hiding from social media engagement is not a solution. Instead, companies should train employees about speech standards in social media and excite them about representing the brand in a positive way. They should empower employees to speak through centralized social media outlets and vet posts based on approval standards. By giving employees a public face, a brand increases not only its social media presence but also its credibility.