From LinkedIn: Social media policy essentials
I’m hearing social media horror stories from friends and peers, and all suggest that a social media policy is essential for any organization seeking a foothold in that space. What are your top tips, biggest surprises or best sources of direction for companies and agencies crafting social media policies?
Here is a quick look at a few starting points.
Emphasize what transparency means to the organization. Social media tools are used by businesses who are looking for barrier-free communication with their communities, however they’re defined. This can be misinterpreted as blind transparency unless you include better definition.
Understand what your business’ primary goals are in using social media tools.
Social media has a variety of benefits. Understanding what your business’ goals are allows your team to effectively navigate the necessary team, content, and tools it’ll take to achieve success. Because social media is still considered “new” by many organizations, this is often overlooked leaving campaigns lacking a concrete look on the return-on-investment.
One of the biggest benefits to defining your business goals before the policy is that it helps you cut out shiny object syndrome and focus on why you’re actually there. Even though the latest and great tools are released (weekly), you don’t necessarily need to jump on every bandwagon.
Some benefits are measured qualitatively:
- PR value
- community engagement
- brand interactivity
Some benefits are measured quantitatively:
- search engine optimization
- traffic
- conversion rate
- referring traffic sources (and more!)
Explicitly identify topics that you don’t want published online, even if they may seem like common sense.
Yes, there are some issues your business wants to communicate, but that doesn’t include internal company drama, private client information, or technical compositions of your network systems. Define what is off-limits.
Use this information to craft a guideline of expectations: Social Media Employee Policy Examples from Over 100 Organizations
Make the social media policy worth reading
Don’t allow this document is sit in the inbox of your employees. Invite them to be a part of your company’s conversation around social media and use their feedback to better mold and define areas of your policy.
What would you recommend to add to this brief list?
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