Why You Need A Social Media Policy

As your business grows, social media gets more complicated. When you’re the only one managing your accounts, monitoring what goes out is straightforward. But once you start delegating that responsibility to employees, you need a clear set of rules in place. That’s where a company social media policy becomes essential.

What Is a Social Media Policy?

A social media policy is a set of guidelines and best practices for anyone posting on behalf of your business. Without one, employees may post content that conflicts with your company values, or worse, something that creates legal exposure. Having a social media policy in place protects your brand, your team, and your business as a whole.

What Your Social Media Policy Should Cover

According to Sprout Social, every solid social media policy should address a few non-negotiables. No sharing proprietary or confidential information. No posting defamatory, derogatory, or inflammatory content. No implying illegal activity through posts or images. These rules protect you legally as much as they protect your brand reputation.

Designate Specific Users

Not every employee needs access to your social media accounts. In fact, giving too many people access creates unnecessary risk. Instead, choose one or two reliable, mature employees, or build a small team of people you genuinely trust. Keep everyone else off the accounts entirely, for their protection as much as yours.

Create Posting Guidelines and Train Your Team

All employees who post on your behalf need to understand what your company stands for and the story your social media presence tells. Every post should carry the same tone. The default is respectful and polite, though some companies deliberately go a bit more conversational or edgy. Either approach works as long as the person posting has the maturity to think through the impact of every comment before it goes live.

Your guidelines should also cover what sources employees can and cannot reference. Sharing a headline from a satirical site like The Onion raises serious questions about your credibility. Linking to a reputable news source is a different story entirely. People find it much more credible and it reflects well on your brand. Every person posting for your company needs to understand the difference.

Create a Plan for Criticism and Negativity

At some point someone will leave a bad review or post a negative comment about your business. It happens to everyone. How you respond, though, is what defines you. That person must know how to keep their cool, even when they feel insulted. Politely responding to disparaging comments is a core part of the job. All interactions between company employees and customers should stay professional. Outline a plan so your team knows exactly how to handle negativity before it ever comes up.

Clearly Outline Consequences

Employees need to know upfront that there are real consequences for violating your social media policy. Create clear rules, define the consequences for breaking them, and make sure you communicate those expectations directly. This prevents confusion and gives you a solid foundation if you ever need to take action.

Update and Revise Regularly

Social media platforms change constantly. Review your policy every three to six months to make sure it still reflects your vision and the current landscape of the platforms you use.

Hold Regular Training

Whenever you make changes to your social media policy, make sure you communicate those changes to your employees immediately. Even when nothing changes, annual training is still a good idea to keep the rules fresh and top of mind.

Employee Personal Accounts

Your policy should also address how employees represent themselves on their personal social media accounts. You cannot control what people post on their own time, but you can make clear that posts reflecting poorly on the business may result in disciplinary action or termination. Make both the personal and business policy documents available to your employees at any time and encourage them to ask questions. Clarity now eliminates confusion later.

For those of you looking to build your social media presence, check out this previous post on getting more Instagram followers.