Social media policy - yep, you need one.
With most employees these days having personal social media accounts, it's crucial to have clear guidelines in place. This protects your business and also ensures employees know what is expected of them when it comes to social media use. A robust social media policy is a must, no matter the size of your business. If you have one employee or more - you need a social media policy.
Why social media policies are essential
Social media policies aren't just bureaucratic paperwork (although it can definitely feel like that sometimes); they're a protective shield for your business. They help protect your company's reputation, prevent legal issues, and provide clear guidelines for your employees.
In one of my previous social media leadership roles I had to deal with a number of issues of not so great behaviour on social media and having a social media policy to refer to and to share with the employees helped immensely. A couple of examples:
A employee shared a photo of chewed up food in someone’s mouth and said whoever guessed what the food was would get a voucher to the store. I’m sure I don’t need to explain why that is an issue!
During the pandemic, we received several messages from people angry that employees of the business were sharing anti-vax posts on their social media when the organisation was pro-vaccination. In this instance, it’s important to remember that employees have a right to voice their personal opinions on social media and a business should not be allowed to restrict that. But, in this instance it caused some confusion and gave the organisation a bad look.
Thanks to having a social media policy in place, I was able to effectively deal with these issues and ensure they didn’t become a bigger PR issue for the company.
So, let’s look at key components to include in a social media policy.
Start with an introduction into the purpose of social media for the organisation. Something like ‘ social media is a tool for [business name] to communicate and engage with customers. It is important that any social media channels representing [business name] adhere to this social media policy.
Next set out the purpose of the policy and the application (who the policy will apply to)
Now you can talk about compliance and what is expected of employees when managing social media for the business and also for employees in general. Mention here who is responsible for monitoring compliance with the policy and what will happen if a breach is identified.
Next I include any legal implications including gaining permission for use of photos and videos, ensuring there are no copyright violations and ensuring content posted is not harassing, obscene, defamatory, threatening, hateful or embarrassing to any person or company. You would also include any further legal implications specific to your business here
It’s important to include a section about confidentiality and reminders about what company information is shareable. In this section you might also like to include guidelines for what can and can’t be said on behalf of the company.
Next it’s time to tackle personal social media involvement. Make sure you cover off expectations for how employees represent the company on their personal accounts. Make sure to include a reminder to keep their accounts private and to not post anything they wouldn’t be comfortable justifying to their manager. Some suggested wording is: As a [business name] team member,you are viewed by our corporate partners, the public and other outside parties as a representative of [business name]. Whether or not you specifically reference or discuss your work, your participation on social media platforms is a reflection on [business name]. Always remember that anything posted on social media can go viral, no matter what your privacy settings may be, so be sure you’re only posting content you would feel comfortable justifying to your manager. Everything you post online can be traced back to you, so be sure what you post is appropriate before you post it. Your post may be shared with others and archived even if you delete it later.Do not voice personal opinions on any site that uses [business name ]or logo.
Every business is different and may need to add or remove sections that I’ve suggested but this will certainly have all the basics covered.
