Social media have become an effective way for businesses to communicate with their communities.
However, participating in online social spaces is not without risk for your business. To manage that risk, your company needs to develop a policy that communicates your company’s procedures in the social-media world.
Developing a new business policy can be overwhelming; however, no two social media policies are the same. Your policy should reflect your brand, company culture, business goals, industry regulations, etc.
Before writing your social media policy, consider these five tips:
1. Assemble a team
Your policy shouldn’t be written by one individual. Assemble a team from different departments (IT, human resources, operations, marketing, sales) to brainstorm and outline your company’s social-media code of conduct. Your code of conduct could include (but is not limited to) company culture, proper engagement techniques, discussion of competitors and their products, confidential company information, and consequences for breaking the code of conduct.
Once your policy is complete, have a lawyer review to ensure you are properly following the National Labor Relations Act. In a nutshell, this act states, employees can discuss their working conditions, even online.
2. Write to your audience
The social-media policy for Ford Motor Company is an infographic.
While you are creating a business policy, there is no need for it to be formal. You can write a succinct policy in a tone employees consider to be friendly and approachable.
You might consider making your social media policy visual like Ford Motor Co‘s.
3. Think about different policies
Your policy team may consider writing two policies: One for general employees who uses social media in their personal lives, which could simply address what can and can’t be said about your company; and a second for those employees using social-media for their jobs. The second policy could include setting goals, establishing roles and responsibilities, and detailing the code of conduct from tip 1.
4. Emphasize education
Your social-media team should work together to develop educational tools and resources for your employees regarding social media.
Educate your employees on topics such as image copyright laws, intellectual property abuse, best practices, and profile optimization. All are important topics when navigating the social-media world.
In addition, provide professional development opportunities for your social-media team. They allow your organization to be current on social-media platforms and strategies.
5. Review your policy
Social-media platforms are always evolving, which means so should your policy. Mark your calendar to review your policy every six to 12 months. The policy should be reviewed individually and as a team.
Following this tip will make sure your policy allows your employees to properly engage with your community in the quickly changing social media space.
Dive deeper
If you would like more information on social media policies here are two resources:
- Need some inspiration before writing your social media policy? This HubSpot blog post lists five companies that have policies that fit their company culture.
- If you are interested in learning more about management best practices in social media, check out the book A Necessary Evil: Managing Employee Activity on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn … and the Hundreds of Other Social Media Sites.
Final questions to ask
- Does your company have a social-media policy? If not, does your company need one?
- What do you like about your policy? What changes would you like to see made?
- How frequently is your social-media policy reviewed?