I'm in Hershey, PA today preparing to give a keynote presentation on the "future of social networking" to PANPHA — the Pennsylvania association of non-profit senior services. One of the key takeaways for my audience will be that in this new era of social media every employee is now a marketer. That is every employee by his or her actions — or inactions — can either enhance or tarnish your organization's reputation.
In this new era, anyone with a cellphone and a social network has the ability to immediately comment on an organization's service by tweeting, blogging or sending a YouTube video to dozens, hundreds, thousands or, potentially even millions of people as United Airlines recently experienced at the hands of this clever YouTube video by a disgruntled passenger.
For a more concrete example of now every employee is now a marketer, I'd like to introduce you to Zach Fogel — an employee at the Hershey Lodge where I am staying. As a "VIP" representative (every guest is a VIP, I think) Zach called to ask me if a I needed anything. "Yes, as a matter of fact, I do," I said. "I left the charger to my iPhone at home and I called the concierge to see if the hotel had one but she said, "No." Zach then informed me he was an iPhone user and that I could use his cord for the evening. To make the situation even more impressive, Zach was on his way home for the evening but took the time to run the cord up to my room.
For this simple action, I am now not only singing Zach's praises but I am also giving the Hershey Lodge a little free publicity on my various social networks because I think their management understands how every employee is now a marketer.
