Council to ensure responsible use of social media

Alterian has announced the launch of the Social Media Marketing Council, an independent committee designed to ensure the responsible use of social media and the resulting data by organisations.

The council, announced at DMA09 in San Diego, has been set up to ensure that data collected by businesses through social channels is used ethically and responsibly.

The Social Media Marketing Council (SMMC) will be an independently chaired organisation with a mandate to: help regulate how businesses harvest and use data from social networks and other online channels; provide guidance on what constitutes responsible use of social media data; and encourage organisations to use best practice when they interact with consumers.

Michael Fisher, senior vice-president of sales and marketing at Alterian, said: 'Nobody joins a social network or uses online public communications tools to become a sales target, however, it's inevitable that organisations will recognise the opportunity that emerges when a huge mass of people congregate.

'By establishing the SMMC, we are championing best practice in how businesses market using social channels, while relying on third-party communications experts to lead the way for the most responsible use of consumer data generated via such social channels.

The council will be chaired by Bernice Grossman, principal consultant and founder of the DMRS Group, and includes representatives from marketing services providers such as Merkle and Targetbase.

Alterian is sponsoring the formation of this group to help foster a positive approach for businesses to the use of social media for marketing purposes.

Grossman said: 'The explosion in social media has dangled a huge carrot in front of organisations that see it as nothing more than an opportunity to scrape e-mail addresses and phone numbers for their direct marketing efforts.

'This council is designed to bring together industry leaders to draw the line of what is acceptable for organisations to do when gathering information from, or marketing via, social channels.

'We are hopeful that businesses will pledge their support for the SMMC to demonstrate that they're interested in the rights of the consumer, not just in making a fast buck.

The SMMC will provide guidelines, documentation and best practice advice for organisations on exactly what kind of data it is acceptable to source through social media, and how they should be using it responsibly for lead generation and customer service.

There will be an online portal to provide access to these resources, which will include a discussion forum and opportunities for companies to demonstrate that they are exhibiting best practices.

The council will meet for the first time at the DMA in San Diego and thereafter on a quarterly basis to discuss the latest developments in this space, with the first objective to define what constitutes the unacceptable use of social media information.

Don Patrick, chief operating officer at Merkle, said: 'We all have responsibilities when it comes to using social media for marketing purposes.

'Customers will rapidly grow tired of aggressive social targeting and businesses are likely to do themselves more harm than good by trying to over-exploit social channels.

'As responsible marketers we need to be self-governing to ensure we have the consumer's best interests at heart.

The council is made up of the following representatives and organisations: Bernice Grossman, founder and principal consultant at DMRS Group; Jennifer Barrett, global privacy and public policy executive at Acxiom; Don Patrick, chief operating officer at Merkle; Trae Clevinger, vice-president strategy and innovation at Targetbase; Jim Schwab, vice-president business development social media at Alterian; Janet Rubio, chief insights officer at Engauge; and Mike Coakley, vice-president marketing technology at Epsilon.

Barrett said: 'Maintaining one's privacy, especially online, gets more challenging and important to individuals every day.

'Businesses are equally challenged to identify the boundaries around what represents responsible use of social media for marketing purposes.

'The formation of this council is a step in setting the acceptable standards for organisations and ensuring they think about what they do with the information they have access to.

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