Different businesses have different approaches to social media. Some embrace it, and some workplaces ban it altogether. In this Q&A, our panel of social media experts addresses social media both as taboo and as tool. Our expert panel members are:

Heather Angus-Lee, a marketing and content strategist at PROsocialmedia, expert in search engine optimization and social media optimization, and blogger extraordinaire.

Boyd Neil, Senior Vice President at Hill & Knowlton Canada, an international communications consultancy.

April J. Rudin, Founder and President of The Rudin Group and an acclaimed financial services marketing strategist and social/digital media expert.

A firm’s number one strength and weakness can be communication. Do you agree with this statement? How does social media play into this enhancing of strengths or weaknesses in communication?

HEATHER ANGUS-LEE: Even if you have expertise and real value to contribute, if you don’t communicate it well, who knows that you have it!? Storytelling is key on social media (“Tell, don’t sell”), as it is in any good communications. What’s so cool about social media—some forms in particular—is its effectiveness in a wide range of types of communications.

Social media plays to the strengths of your existing business efforts. Conversely, social media can enhance a person’s or an organization’s weaknesses. If they don’t have real value to add to the marketplace, you can be sure that social media will reveal it!

BOYD NEIL: Agreed. The definition of reputation is performance plus behaviour times communication. Performance and proper behaviour are core, but you need to communicate this well. It’s not enough to be a good company if you don’t tell people. Communication is critical, as many companies only pay lip service to it. To build your corporate reputation you need to invest in communication, and today in particular that means investing in having a social media presence. Twitter isn’t just a place for teenagers anymore. Journalists are on Twitter looking for their next story every day.

APRIL RUDIN: I agree. To interact effectively you need to create a community and actively dialogue so that you can communicate bad news as well as good. This way you aren’t talking only to your stakeholders when something is wrong. Consistent and constant interaction is why a newsletter or blog is a good forum. Take ownership in your communication and express disappointment. Advisors who show that they’re “in it” with their clients have better relationships. People who interact with their clients only when they make the big scores are also the ones who hide under their desks when a loss happens because they don’t know what to say.

Many companies block access to social media sites on the job. Does this impact employees’ ability to connect with their clients or impact any other aspects of their jobs? Do you see this changing? What is your advice to companies that still block social media sites?

HAL: The blocking of social media sites on the job has a detrimental effect on how employees interact with their clients, press, partners, vendors, etc. Virtually anyone they need to work with in this day and age is into social media and expects your employees to be there too. Blocking smells like communist government policy. (I’ve been to Cuba, and boy are they hungry for a taste of Facebook!) Managing the “risk” of social media participation by your employees is, like many things in life, a matter of common sense, trust, and clear expectations.

As well, if you block social media sites at work, you are missing an opportunity for real strategic internal collaborations among your employees as part of your social media strategy. Having an employee policy on social media will go a long way towards avoiding the need to block sites and relieving any perceived risk of employees “wasting” time on the job and/or making inappropriate comments online.

BN: The only thing that blocked access means is that people are interacting with their social networks on their smartphones or iPads below their desks. It is a legacy trend that is ludicrous. Instead, put policies in place to guide usage of social platforms on work computers. By banning access, organizations are missing out on a massive opportunity to have employees be their brand ambassadors online.

AR: The reason that companies block access is because they can’t monitor that many people and they haven’t approached it in the right way. Blocking people is counterintuitive. If you allow them to connect via social media, and provide training and policies, then everyone is happy. Blocking these sites forces people to use their iPad and phone to communicate. Online is better than off-line because you can have a written record of communication with stakeholders via social media.