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Our Social Policy

Animal Friends recognises has a social obligation to participate and engage in online conversations to better its service, its products and brand values. We are committed to ensuring that we participate in social media in the right way. We have developed this social media policy to outline our objectives, make clear our aims and to offer guidance to our associates as we embark in social marketing communications. We want to enable our colleagues, friends and partners to share in the optimistic and positive spirit that the Animal Friends brand is built upon.

At Animal Friends we have created Feel Good Park, a place for anyone and everyone to participate as a community of pet lovers and share the values that we live by as an organisation and as individuals.
Here at Feel Good Park, we resolve to:

  1. Continue to support and promote the work of our fantastic network of charities.
  2. Continue to provide our readers with great advice, hints and tips via our blog feeds.
  3. Continue to establish Animal Friends as the nation's Feel Good insurer!

We encourage all of associates, colleagues and customers to explore and engage in appropriate social media opportunities. We endorse common sense and judgement, by the individual, that best practice, business conduct and responsibility are at the heart of our online social communications.

Social Aims

  1. Increase Brand Awareness through the appropriate social channels.
  2. Help and support worthy charities online through donations and campaign awareness.
  3. Educate owners in animal welfare and how to maintain healthy living with their pets.

Objectives

  1. Promote Feel Good moments (#FeelGood) through Facebook and Twitter.
  2. Engage users online; promote two way conversations with useful, interesting and relevant topics. Get people talking about Animal Friends in a positive light. 
  3. Achieve over 10,000 followers on Facebook and on Twitter.
  4. Enhance the ‘brand appeal’ by illustrating our charity, events and promotions.
  5. Enhance customer loyalty/retention.
  6. Create rich media to enhance the ‘Likeability’ and added value to the products.

Our Commitment

We are committed to providing an interactive, engaging experience through all of our social channels, whether online or offline. We are passionate about our core values and the way our messages are perceived. We therefore expect the same level of commitment from all our representatives, agencies, individuals and vendors.

Below we have set out 4 core values of our social media activity.

  1. Transparency - Animal Friends does not condone the manipulation of communications by designing ‘fake’ content designed to mislead or misinterpret conversations.
  2. Privacy – Animal Friends will not discuss personal matters or individual cases over the social channels. If you have an issue, or have found comments eluding complaints please forward to the appropriate member of staff via direct communication methods. Our social channels are not forums for negative sentiments. 
  3. Data Protection – With our customer Data Protection policy in mind, Animal Friends will not discuss details about claims or personal accounts. Please contact the appropriate representative to discuss your matters. 
  4. Technology – Whilst we use technology to monitor social communications we will not fall trap to deploying excessive tracking software, adware, malware or spyware which can intervene in the user experience. 
  5. Best practice – With all social media communications we endorse the use best practice whilst listening and engaging with the online community. Have fun but be safe when participating in online communications.

Our Expectations for contributors

We welcome the concept for online discussion amongst individuals and customers. However, bear in mind that speaking "on behalf of the Company" and speaking "about" the Company are very different virtues. Our duty, as a marketing company, is to ensure our brands and products are spoken about favourably and that our reputation is upheld. Therefore we ask that any contributors or discussions with regards to Animal Friends:

  1. Adhere to the Code of Business Conduct and other applicable policies.
  2. Ensure that ultimately anything you post or say, you are responsible for. Whether positive or negative. 
  3. Allow key responsible people/experts to respond to any negative posts/comments. If you find or see any negative posts please inform the company directly. Please avoid the temptation to react yourself.
  4. Never disclose confidential company information online and be conscious about what you disclose in your personal time/social accounts. Remember that customers, colleagues and managers often have access to your posts and comments. In addition taking public opinions which are potentially harmful towards the company may cause conflicts of interest.

Official Online Spokespeople

We have a range of official spokespeople for Animal Friends, whether internally or externally. Those officials have been made aware of their position to manage the company’s reputation online.  These representatives are tasked with selectively engaging in conversation and content posts on a daily basis. We expect the same from our representatives as any contributors with the addition that:

  1. They must act with honesty and integrity.
  2. They reflect the positive spirit in our brand throughout their communications. 
  3. Be respectful of any religious and culture specific views.
  4. Be open with regards to their position within the company. 
  5. They keep track and records on online social interactions so that we may learn and understand with whom we engage.