Accelerate the creation of your social media policy

Adopting social media can be a daunting task for any business. If you are in a regulated industry the social media mountain is seemingly insurmountable. Many firms get stuck right out of the gates trying to answer the question of “what should our policy be?”

The good news is that this is the right first step. And if you are FINRA regulated, 10-06 explicitly points out that having a policy in place is required if you are going to adopt social media for business. By not employing a policy, businesses are leaving themselves open to unnecessary risk. Research shows that firms are behind here. 43% of respondents from a recent survey said their firms either did not have a social media policy in place or were unclear if one existed.

To help kick-start this process Socialware has extended our Insights offering by creating a Social Media Policy Accelerator Kit (read the press release here). The kit provides in-depth analysis and guidance on the key areas your policy should address. In addition to the sample policy language, the kit provides an overview of the corresponding procedures your firm should address. Also included is a policy checklist to help guide you through the process and ensure all steps are addressed before activating your employees on social networks.

Every firm still needs to work through the process of defining their business needs, possible risks and the appropriate ways to leverage social media. What you no longer have to do is repeat the hundreds or hours of research required to pull together best practices and answers around creating a formal policy.

Wade Wilkinson, President and Chief Executive Officer of Securities Service Network, Inc. (SSN) summed it up well. “The guiding principle for our early adoption of social media is to support the growth of our affiliated registered representatives and obviously, we have to use social media in a manner that complies with the rules of our industry. The Social Media Policy Accelerator Kit from Socialware helped us write policies that ensure compliance and afford SSN registered representatives the best opportunity to succeed in their social media endeavors. This guidance has been key to our progress and will continue to provide direction moving forward.”

In addition to the Social Media Policy Accelerator Kit please join Steve Selby (LIMRA, Director of Regulatory Services) and I this Thursday at noon CST for a webinar where we will discuss moving through the Policy Stage of the Social Media Adoption Lifecycle. If you miss the live session you can register and view the recording at any time. In addition, head over to SocialTurns to continue the discussion on this topic.