An organization’s employees are its greatest asset when it comes to social media efforts, as the employees are the ones who become the drivers of effective adoption across departments. But leaving them to take it on themselves isn’t just risky for the company, it can discourage them from taking further action if these efforts are less than successful. And as social media becomes integrated into a company’s daily operations from marketing and sales to customer service, it can be challenging to have employees across all departments working cohesively and sticking to a unified strategy.

So, how can enterprises ensure their employees are safely using social media in ways that are consistent, on-brand, and properly targeted?

The answer lies in enablement and education. By empowering employees with the tools and training they need to succeed, they develop the skills needed to leverage social media in their current roles, as well as future roles within the organization. With an agreed-upon process, workflow, a set of policies, and social education, an organization’s employees will have the confidence to fully undertake on-brand, compliant social messaging and gain real-world skills to effectively use a social relationship platform.

And there isn’t a better way of ensuring these employees are prepared and empowered than creating a Center of Excellence.

Download Scaling Social Media: A Guide to Implementing a Social Center of Excellence for the organizational models step-by-step information on successfully implementing a social Center of Excellence that works.

Learn how to build a social Center of Excellence—a social steering committee and/or dedicated team that sets social media policies and processes, and acts as a board of governance to maintain standards and consistency as social media is adopted across an organization.

A successful Center of Excellence acts as a driver for scaling social across the organization as it expands its social presence—locally, regionally, internationally. But before jumping in, it’s important to assess where the business is in terms of social media maturity. The guide lays out three organizational models that enterprises can utilize as they progress along the maturity path: the Hub, Hub & Spoke, and Distributed Hub & Spoke. Learn which model your business best aligns with, and what approach will help you work towards enterprise-wide social media adoption.