Social Media Policy

Companies of all shapes and sizes are increasingly adopting social media in Marketing, Operations, Customer Service, IT and many other departments. Social Media is not just a set of unrelated platforms that are used in employees non work hours but is a new business culture and a new way of doiing business. This makes social media policy a hot topic for companies for companies to come to grips with in the new socially mobile way of working that the majority of existing and certainly new employees are looking for.

Therefore, regardless of your company size, social media policy, process and guidelines are now critical to the way your business communicates with audiences online and is key to the success of your business. As the size of the company increases (such as publicly listed or large global brands), then inevitably there are layers of risk and opportunity throughout your organisation – all have to be managed effectively,

Social Media Policy from WSI Digital Marketing

The WSI Social Media strategy allows business leaders to create pro-active social media policy, understand how to engage with customers and prospects with positive social media guidelines. Our Social Media Policy can strengthen areas of revenue with in-depth social media training programs. This Social Media Policy approach enables executives to understand what types of digital assets can be created within employee and evangelist groups, while protecting valuable brand and corporate assets that may have regulatory, legal, or compliance issues affecting revenue, human resources, or investor relations.

Why have a Social Media Policy?

A social media policy is a document that outlines the corporate guidelines and principles of communicating with the public using social media technologies. The social media policy applies to all employees and is effective at all times – both during and after work hours. Whether or not your company is active in the social space, your employees are likely interacting on the social portals – even when they’re not on the job. Therefore, regardless of how active your company is in the social space, you must ensure you establish a corporate social media policy.

Your employees must be aware that any mention of your company (whether in professional or personal use of social media) must be done in a responsible manner. It is vital that your staff understands that all content associated with them must align with your company’s values and professional standards. Also, a social media policy will reiterate for employees that company loyalty extends to all forms of communication, both inside and outside the workplace.

How to Write a Social Media Policy

Here are some basic guidelines of how you should go about the business of putting together a social media policy for your company. Every company is different so you made need to tailor these or expand this outline in more detail.

Include a definition for “social media” - The terms “social media” and “social networking” are often used interchangeably and can mean different things to different people.

State an objective - Tell employees right from the start what they will take away from reading the policy. This will usually be covered in the “overview” section of the policy.

Define your company’s philosophy toward social media - What is your company’s overall position on social media? What type of attitude should employees have toward social media?

Specify branding standards - Include information on how your company’s brand should be represented in the social space to responsibly represent your company’s brand.

Discuss confidentiality - Be sure to educate your employees on the importance of protecting your company’s intellectual property.

Reiterate copyright and legal issues - Your employees should understand that they must comply with copyright/plagiarism laws at all times.

Update your policy regularly - The social media world changes by the minute. New tools and applications are introduced to social network users virtually every day.