Lots of brands are seeing the benefits of employees being social media brand advocates, but many still hold concerns about turning employees loose on behalf of the brand. And those concerns are valid, companies can loose a lot of money - in the millions - if there's ends up being a major public relations issue stemming from a social media related incident.
On the flip side, some executives and managers remain hesitant to invest in training their employees on how to interact on social media when acting on behalf of the brand. I'm talking about real training here, with experienced community managers or social media experts.
Let me be clear, writing up what you'd like your employees to do, then having them read the policy, that isn't training. It's can be easy, even for the most well-intentioned person, to make a mistake and cause a problem, and if it does cause a problem, it'll cost your brand money. At that point, it's only a question of how much.
The issue is the yin and yang of social media training. In the following infographic we break down the stats to show you how big the issues are, along with the costs, and provide some tips on building a better employee brand advocacy program.