b"Harnessing the Power ofSocial Media in Your Business Making the most of social media as a business means having a social media policy. Ashley RobinsonWHEN IT COMESto social media for yourWant to read the full conversation about why you and company, it can be a daunting task if youyour company should be using social media? Check out: dont understand how it can fully be utilized. Ashttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eLOHcJkdVCA&t=1s a company, you dont want to go viral for the wrong reasons, and that may make you timid in your approach to social media. Social media is an integral part of business these days though, andtheir face at the top of their profile, right? It just hits having a social media policy is a non-negotiable. differently on social media. So yeah, the more you It's a fairly new territory as far as policiescan bring them into the fold the better, he says.go, Crystal Mackay, founder and CEO of Loft32,On top of that, you need to make sure your says on the June 15 episode of Seed Speaks. Sheemployees understand the importance of social encourages companies to share their social mediamedia, both corporate and personal accounts. policy with employees to make sure its fully utilizedMackay says being a good brand ambassador and doesnt get forgotten about. should be part of the onboarding experience for To start making a social media policy younew employees. You should lay out what is con-should think of it as a circlewho are you? Whatsidered offside for posting, such as swearing or do you do? Charles Tweed, owner of Tweedia, saysexcessive party pictures.from there you should re-ask yourself those ques- Let's have a conversation about how you're tions, shaping them as, who are your people? Whyrepping our brand all the time, and how does that did you start your business? From there you caninteract with your personal brand? I think it's really start thinking about social media platforms andimportant to give employees the freedom to have response strategies.some personality in their posts and to share their We see a number of companies that are, whatpersonal experiences, she says.we call, serial posters. So, they post every day, butTweed adds its important to help employees there's no one actually in those accounts in thoseunderstand how the success of the company, platforms creating conversation or even answer- which includes social media, is tied to their own ing basic questions that people are asking on theirpersonal success. If an employee doesnt under-posts. Which, I mean, that's just a huge faux pas,stand why social media and their personal brand is he adds. important, then the companys social media pres-An important part of social media is workingence isnt going to work, he adds.with all employees on it. Tweed says that whenAt the end of the day social media isnt going Tweedia works with a new company, theyll sitanywhere, and Tweed says if you havent taken a down with the employees and go through socialserious look at it as a business then you need to media training plans. This work focuses on whattake an examination of why that is.the brand is, how theyre going to present it onWe have producers in southwestern Manitoba social media and what they want their brand tothat have 4,000 followers. And when they say sound like. something about some of the brands we work for, The truth is, (social media) resonates differ- it resonates and it means something. It's incredibly ent coming from a real person in your office withimportant, he adds.SW64/ SEEDWORLD.COMSEPTEMBER 2022"