Many businesses still assume that using social media will be too complicated, time-consuming or risky for them. But there are simple steps to follow to align social media and business goals while still meeting regulatory obligations.
At the heart of this is effective relationship management: something investment managers have built their very businesses around. Developing an effective social media presence is no different.
Businesses need to collaborate through and around social media. There needs to be policy development between the regulator and firms. And within organisations too, there needs to be effective communication between departments. Rather than operating in silos, IT, marketing, and compliance departments all need to be talking to each other with respect to policies and compliance supervision.
Social media compliance boils down to three simple steps: developing the right policies (that everyone is aware of), training all stakeholders and implementing an effective archiving solution to manage it and automate the process as much as possible.
James Thompson is regional director EMEA at Smarsh UK
ADOPTING AND GOVERNING SOCIAL MEDIA: BEST PRACTICES
Implement up-to-date regulatory guidance
Have a detailed, reasonable social media policy in place and review all applicable guidance notices to ensure your organisation’s policies and practices reflect them. Your policy is an active document, signed by your organisation’s representatives, that outlines:
• Exactly how and why your representatives may use social media.
• Which social media platforms and accounts can be used for business purposes.
• Who is authorised to use your organisation’s social media accounts.
• How social media activities are monitored.
• How your social media policy is enforced.
Train employees on social media policies
Your advisers need to know your organisation’s official social media policy and receive training on how to use social media in accordance with your rules. Ongoing employee training is a must, since social media platforms and practices change rapidly and regulatory guidelines evolve quickly. Key training topics include:
• Personal versus business social media.
• Which social media messages need to be approved before posting.
• Which messages need to be reviewed after posting.
• How to manage third-party social media content.
Supervise and archive social media activities
An archiving solution will enable your organisation to capture official records of posts and to search, supervise and produce those records in their original format when necessary, such as during an audit or examination. You’ll want to archive and monitor content from your organisation’s approved accounts on all of your different social media platforms and accommodate new platforms as needed.
