These platforms usually have their own policies and rules for how users should behave on their sites. For instance, Twitter’s rules for disciplinary action were changed after Elon Musk bought the platform for $44 billion in 2022. Define key performance indicators (KPIs) and metrics to measure the success of your social media efforts, such as engagement rate, reach, conversion rate, and return on investment (ROI).
Make Sure It’s Enforced
Work with your product team to ensure you’re accurately describing your products. Partner with your PR communications team to define how you handle crises on social. Similarly, the HR department can offer tips on employer branding or employee engagement initiatives.
By stating on your profile your views are your own, you help to protect the reputation of your company in any circumstances where you do express an opinion. Remember this when using AI too, make sure any content reflects your genuine thoughts. It’s easy to get swallowed up in social networking so just remind folks that it’s there to assist their role, so you expect responsible social media usage during working hours.
Outline The Process For Monitoring And Compliance
Rather than focus on the negatives and tell employees what they shouldn’t do, it promotes employee trust. The Additional Policy section of the template is open-ended, allowing you to add any specific information about your company or its services. Ensure you maintain an SOP or continuity book to ensure the account seamlessly transitions to new personnel. Use your command’s website or if your organization does not have a website. Social media managers are required to complete OPSEC training to avoid content on their unit’s critical information list (CIL).
A social media policy is a set of guidelines that outline your company’s expectations for employee behavior on social media platforms. It provides a clear framework for how employees should represent your brand online, ensuring consistency and protecting your company’s reputation. A well-crafted social media policy acts like your employee handbook but for social media. A well-crafted social media policy for non-profits is an essential tool for maintaining effective and ethical online communications. It safeguards branding, ensures compliance with legal standards, and empowers employees and volunteers to engage with stakeholders responsibly. By establishing clear social media guidelines, your organisation can enhance its digital presence while mitigating potential risks.
These guidelines should be consistently applied to all users and expected of all social media operators. With more than 70% of Americans and 80% of Canadians using some social media, social networks provide a vast opportunity to reach and engage your customers. That said, you’ll need to lay down some ground rules to ensure your business’s social media channels accurately and professionally represent your brand. Employees can also suggest social content (like event photos or relevant news) to your social team so that they can create posts that align with your style guide for social media. Finally, include a link to your social media policy and social media guidelines for more details on the appropriate use of social media for your brand and your employees.
Employees need to know what to do (and what not to do) when there are tricky things happening with your brand. Or when they encounter negative content about your brand on social channels. Some businesses may need to think more broadly about security risks and protocols. It also keeps the quality of your conversations with followers on brand. Here are some of the most important reasons to implement a social media policy.
It includes several specific rules about activities such as using proper branding, keeping personal and company social media accounts separate, and only posting verifiable information. A social media policy sets clear guidelines for what employees can and can’t post online to protect your company’s reputation. Use our customizable template to create a professional policy that promotes responsible use and safeguards your brand.
Authorized employees are not permitted to share access with other employees without receiving permission from the HR manager and chief marketing officer. A social media marketing strategy summarizes all your action plans for your company’s social media accounts. On the other hand, guidelines just tell you how to post or behave on social media. Your social media policy covers your brand’s official channels and how employees use social media platforms — personally and professionally.
To protect the brand image and help your employees feel confident posting on social media, here’s an overview of the 12 social media guidelines for brands that we recommend. Social media guidelines should be the cornerstone of your online presence. In a world where every tweet can become viral and having your reputation ruined can be caused by the right person sharing a bad take, social media guidelines are essential. And to protect your reputation and maintain those guidelines, well, there’s always Planable.
Easy-to-use design software can help create high quality marketing materials. Employees should be aware of and abide by age restrictions for social media sites. There is much political and societal unrest, and things get complicated when an employee’s views or even behavior after hours contrasts with those of the organization, its values, or its buyers. People use it to share their happy moments and grievances, ask questions, and even find jobs while employers market themselves and connect with their buyers. Manage all your social media in one place, measure ROI, and save time with Hootsuite. Sometimes there’s nothing like a real-world example to get things going.
Not everyone wants to have their photo shared all over social media. You should advise your employees to give some thought to the conversations that they have offline with colleagues or customers, giving them guidance around maintaining the privacy of those conversations. Remind employees to use their best judgement and common sense when engaging on social media. While AI tools can offer insights and suggestions, they are not foolproof and may not always understand the full context. Tell them that if they’ve made a mistake on social media make some headway towards fixing it and setting the record straight. When you finish writing, the next step is sharing the policy with your company.
Follow the tried and tested tips below to help you develop social media guidelines for your team. Let’s work together to create guidelines that reflect your unique brand voice and business goals. Establish guidelines for posting, including any topics to avoid and how to handle customer interactions. Prepare your regular followers by announcing the takeover in advance, building anticipation for the event. At Social Think, we’ve seen firsthand how these collaborative efforts can boost a company’s online presence and engage audiences in new ways. This section helps clarify some of the policy’s dos and don’ts, making it easier for employees to understand what’s expected of them.
By incorporating these elements into your social media brand guide, you can establish a solid foundation for building and maintaining a strong and cohesive brand presence across all digital platforms. Consistent adherence to your brand guidelines will help strengthen brand recognition, foster audience trust and loyalty, and drive meaningful engagement and conversions on social media. This social media policy applies to all [company name] employees, including paid interns, volunteers, contractors, and seasonal, part-time, and full-time employees.
First, Hootsuite allows you to create custom permissions for all users. You can require approvals from senior staff or compliance officers before content can be scheduled or published. The University of Texas at Austin’s generative AI policy is a great example of how to set clear, practical guardrails around these new tools. It breaks down exactly how students, faculty, and staff should (and shouldn’t) use AI. All healthcare social media marketers should get familiar with the HIPAA Privacy Rule.
Most employees don’t intentionally praise or bash competitors, though there are scenarios where the best course of action is unclear. First, give employees a list of who your competitors are and then clearly communicate what employees may and may not say regarding competitors. Employees may not intentionally alienate people, but as social standards continue to evolve, they may accidentally make a remark that leaves others feeling uncomfortable. Depending on the gravity of the situation, you can also offer counseling and other support to help employees. For example, an employee may accidentally forget to cite a source, or they might click on a malicious link and disclose company information. Those are all legit questions that any social media marketer worth their salt should ask.