How to Monitor Employee Posts on Social & Why You Must

by Mary C Long 

Many, if not all, of your employees are likely participating online. And you would probably prefer a few kept that online persona entirely separate from your business, so the thought of encouraging them to post on your behalf is the stuff of nightmare.

But you’re going to want to reconsider that thinking. Because now you can monitor what they post before they post it, and once you build it in to your process, they’ll be compelled to comply!

Now there aren’t any ways you can do this on their personal profiles (yet), but when it comes to posting on social media on behalf of your business, there’s a nifty new item out that’s got you covered. It calls itself an “employee advocacy” program (because that’s what it is!), but I call it a “business lifesaver you didn’t know you needed.”

It’s a two-pronged employee advocacy management solution called Brand Commandr — launched this week by Markr —that helps brands and agencies monitor and manage their social media channels’ content from multiple locations via pre-selected editors or social media managers. That’s a mouthful, hmm? Here it is in action: 

Markr co-founder Joshua Basinger described the app:

"From a brand’s perspective, we enable them to amplify their message from the point-of-view of some of their biggest supporters; their employees. At the same time, Brand Commandr alleviates the risk of posting something that may land them in hot water, they know the post will be approved before they share it."

And regardless of industry, this is bound to save you some time — and from suffering from angina at a young age. For although the online screw ups your employees make are endlessly entertaining for the rest of us, the cost associated with cleaning one up – and the resulting loss of existing and potential clients – is no laughing matter. With the prevalence of these instances increasing each week, it’s wise to consider some options for heading overeager employees off at the pass.

People are often proud of where they work and they like to feel like they’re part of something bigger, so tapping in to that makes sense. As Markr co-founder Joe Collins shared: 

"Your employees are often your biggest fans, so we created a tool that lets brands tap into that but also lets employees be engaged in the content creation process."

So this is a way to capture “authentic user-generated content” and sort through what does or doesn’t work quickly – and give feedback that will help those missing the mark better capture your company’s intended voice the next time around!

Users can quickly edit photos and videos, overlay visual-hashtags and include logos to create branded user-generated content to then share to multiple social channels, making a pit stop with the brand’s editor or “social boss” for approval. The post is then edited, approved and sent back to the original creator to post on the approved channels, which can be their personal page or a company page.  

"So any time an employee wants to post about your company, they need to vet it with you – even on their personal page. That could get interesting!" 

So what do you think – is this something more brands should use, or too much control for your tastes? 
 
This post originally appeared on Social Times