social media policy

Writing Your Company’s Social Media Policy

social media policyIn today’s technologically advanced world, the workplace has changed. It emphasises fun, a relaxed environment and the desire to be laid back and cool. As businesses tend to move toward more casual atmospheres and less rigid structuring, the line between professional and personal conduct becomes thinner and thinner.

There are numerous benefits to a work environment that enables your employees to be themselves, there are certain boundaries that need to be set for any organisation. Creating a social media policy will actually benefit your employees much more than it will hinder them. It shouldn’t be painful or stressful to write such a policy, so here are some simple approaches to get your policy together and in use.

Why is a Social Media Policy Needed?

While social media is relatively new, many organisations may wonder why a policy is needed. Regardless of the size of your business, you need a social media policy to prevent a variety of issues. With an actual guide in place, employees can show their personalities without having to worry that what they are sharing for the world to see on social media could have a negative impact on your job or career.

Three main reasons to implement a social media policy:

  • Implementing a social media policy can help you protect the reputation of your company. It specifies what employees can post about your company on social networks.
  • Reduce the chance of confusion regarding legal issues and let errors be prevented by entrepreneurs and managers.
  • Increase brand awareness by having clear guidelines on how employees can use social media to help them attain business goals and advance in their careers. The policy should specify how employees can comment on social networks or blogs to boost brand awareness and increase website traffic.

After you have the ideas of why small businesses need social media policies to protect their organisation. Use this information to help you build your own policy.

Reason for a Social Media Policy

You need to think about the purpose of a social media policy. Why does your company need or want a social media policy and do you have previous experiences that can help you learn how to avoid these issues from repeating. Use this as a starting point and tackle these problems first.

Regulations and Rules

After you have come up with a clear purpose, you can start creating a social media policy. This policy should revolve around a set of guidelines and rules allowing personal input as needed. You will want to discuss how employees use personal social media and how your company uses its social media to promote the organisation.

Standard Guidelines

Build your policy on the top priorities and always realise there is room for changes as it will not be complete. New social media platforms are constantly being introduced, so you need to constantly adapt. Check out our Tips for Creating your Real Estate Agency Social Media Policy for more help on creating your standard guidelines.

Define the Roles

To be sure you don’t miscommunicate, define the roles within your organisation. When you have roles established before implementing the new policy, you alleviate potential problems.

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