By Caroline Forsey

Like it or not, social media is ingrained in our everyday lives. 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.

This is all fine and dandy, but what happens if someone posts about work or voices a contrasting personal opinion? This murky middle ground is why having a social media policy is so important for your business.

Well-thought-out corporate social media policies help keep a company’s presence consistent and scalable, no matter who posts or where. Yet, 45% of companies still don’t have one in place. I’m here to help fix that.

Let’s break down how to create a social media policy that is right for your team and look at some examples done well.

Table of Contents

• What is a social media policy?
• Why is having a social media policy important?
• Components of a Social Media Policy
• How to Create a Social Media Policy
• 8 Examples of Great Social Media Policies

Does more than one person manage your social media accounts? Do you expect your employees to promote your business on their personal profiles? Or would you rather they don’t discuss office culture or their day-to-day period at all?

In organizations with a large online presence or well-established public images, a social media policy helps answer these questions and set guardrails for how the company should be represented.

Think about it: Every person you hire has their own personality, tone of voice, and views. That may even be the reason you hired them. But the truth is, we live in volatile times.

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.

Corporate social media policies help combat and navigate these situations. They can also help ensure that personal views don’t seep into posts on your brand’s social media accounts either.

Now, I know. Some of you may be worried that enforcing strict rules in a social media policy stifles creativity or restricts freedom of speech.

But if done correctly, it shouldn’t hinder employees. In fact, it should make them feel more comfortable amplifying your social media messages since they’ll know exactly what will or won’t be beneficial. They don’t have to guess.

Why is having a social media policy important?

Good social media policies remove ambiguity. They give teams a single, documented playbook to follow and ultimately help every post about the company align with a brand’s values, tone, and goals.

Also, while no one wants their social media policy to be grounds for disciplinary action, it does give businesses somewhat of a safety net should things go awry.

I witnessed the importance of this first-hand during a presidential election at a previous employer.

We didn’t have a social …read more

Source:: HubSpot Blog

Author: Aaron