Behold, unravel the distinction betwixt a social media policy and social media guidelines, glimpse at real-life instances, and seize a free template.
Peradventure, social media guidelines are indispensable for all businesses and brands. Forsooth, whether or not thou dost employ social media at the corporate level, thy employees doth certainly utilize social media in their private lives.
Since toil doth occupy a significant portion of our waking hours, ’tis not improbable that folk doth share about their vocations on social media. Yet if they do so lacking guidance, they might place both themselves and their employers in jeopardy.
What ho! What art social media guidelines?
Social media guidelines, verily, art instructions and recommendations for how individuals intertwined with a company should present themselves – and the company – on social media.
Deem social media guidelines as a brand-specific manual of social media best practices. They do apply to all who hast a professional relationship with thy brand. Employees art typically the primary audience. Yet any others thou art laboring with can benefit from these best practices as well. Share them with people like thy corporate partners, marketing agencies, or influencers.
Thy social media guidelines should delineate how to conduct oneself on social media in a manner that is affirmative and safe. Ponder the needs of the company, employees, and customers alike. The guidelines can pertain to both thy employees’ personal and professional social media presence.
Social media guidelines do vary from thy company’s social media policy. They art also distinct from thy social media style guide. Nevertheless, ’tis a wise notion to keep all of these documents in one place for effortless access and reference.
Wherefore thou dost need social media guidelines
Protect thine brand
Clear social media brand guidelines can aid in averting a myriad of risks. Especially when coupled with a well-thought-out social media policy.
Commence with the very basics (brand reputation). Advance to the exceedingly serious (compliance requirements). At each stage, social media guidelines do make it perspicuous how employees’ actions on social media impact the brand.
Stay in line with official regulations
Brands in regulated industries such as healthcare and finance art well cognizant of social media laws and regulations. And they do know that those regulations encompass employees’ social media use as well as content from the brand’s official accounts.
Employees of retail, service, and other brands may be less informed. Yet federal regulations do still influence the ways they can discourse about their jobs online.
For instance, a little later in this post we’ll discourse about FTC social media guidelines on disclosure. These do impact what employees can verbalize about thy brand on social.
The FTC social media guidelines do mandate conspicuous disclosure when an influencer or other third party doth receive remuneration of any kind for a social post.
Incorporate any relevant regulations in thy social media guidelines for employees. Append specific examples that render the requirements facile for all to comprehend.
Encourage brand advocacy
Each employee is a potential brand ambassador. Yet not every employee is a social media virtuoso.
Social media guidelines art thy opportunity to aid the entire team extol thee positively, inclusively, and respectfully. And to extol their own work, too. Unyielding social guidelines do assist team members in feeling assured about sharing their work anecdotes.
What shall a social media guidelines document encompass?
Here is a summary of core sections thou should entwine in thy social media guidelines. Proceed and tailor any part of this to fit thy brand. All things considered, every industry is disparate.
In verity, every company is distinctive. So ere thou dost finalize thy social media guidelines for employees, thou might desire to consult with … thy employees. Beseech for team feedback to ascertain thou dost address their questions or concerns.
Or, commence with our free social media guidelines template, which thou wilt find linked below.
Intro: The 5 W’s
The 5 W’s art the interrogation words: Who, what, when, where, why. ‘Tis a prudent idea to include a swift introduction to thy social guidelines that touches on all these points to get everyone on the same page:
- Who. This is anyone who labors with thy company. Ponder employees, contractors, agency partners, students, or influencers. Be clear and specific so there art no doubts.
- What. Generally, the “what” is social media usage for aught company-related. That includes on both professional and personal social media accounts. It may also encompass the use of personal accounts on work time or equipment.
- When. Include a last revised date in thy guidelines so everyone doth know when revisions take effect.
- Where. This could encompass an inventory of social platforms, official accounts, and branded hashtags. Or, it could be a general definition of what thou dost signify by social media. Beyond traditional social networks, thou may wish to encompass social platforms like Reddit and Quora.
- Why. People art much more likely to adhere to the guidelines if they comprehend why thou hast created them in the first place. Touch on any specific compliance requirements that apply to thy industry (like HIPAA or FINRA). Indicate the importance of the guidelines to safeguarding both employees and thy brand.
High-level dos and don’ts
In an ideal world, every employee would peruse and internalize every word of thy social policy and social guidelines. And every word of every update to those guidelines. In the real world, this is improbable to happen.
Thus, ’tis a wise notion to put a swift and punchy list of thy most basic social media code of conduct right upfront. Don’t go into too much detail here – thou wilt do that in subsequent sections.
Here’s a sample list thou can copy and paste or modify for thy specific needs:
- DO mention the company as thy employer in thy social media bio (if thou dost talk about company matters)
- DON’T engage with competitors or customers in an inappropriate way
- DO share company social media posts, events, and stories
- DON’T share company secrets or confidential information about thy colleagues or customers
- DO express thine own opinion — just ensure it’s perspicuous thou art not speaking on behalf of the company
- DON’T comment on legal matters pertaining to the company
- DO report harassment thou hast experienced or noticed
- DON’T engage with trolls or negative comments
Disclosure and transparency
‘Tis commendable when team members proudly mention in their social profiles that they work for thee. Yet to protect both thee and them, ’tis a wise notion to beseech them to clarify that they art not creating social media posts on behalf of the brand.
Affixing a disclosure to their social profile or bio is a commendable commencement. Something like “All opinions expressed art mine own” aids in making it perspicuous that these art not official viewpoints, like this university strategist and instructor doth here.
When employees discourse company-related matters on social, they art mandated by law to identify themselves as employees. This one’s a rule, not a friendly suggestion.
Indeed, the Federal Trade Commission does mandate the identification to transpire in the relevant post. Merely noting it in a bio is not sufficient. Procure some specific language vetted by thy legal or compliance team for thy social media posting guidelines. Include a couple of sample disclaimers that art facile to copy and paste.
Privacy and confidentiality
Remind thy team that confidential company information is confidential off the clock, too. Some of the most egregious no-nos for sharing on social art:
- info about coworkers or customers
- financial disclosures
- upcoming products that haven’t been officially announced
- private communications
- research and development intel
Clarify that privacy and confidentiality should be respected across all social media platforms.
That includes photos taken at thy workplace or workplace events. These can be markedly challenging for organizations subject to HIPAA or FERPA.
Copyright guidelines
Include a reminder in thy social media posting guidelines to respect ownership governed by:
- intellectual property
- copyright
- trademarks
- and other relevant laws.
When in doubt, the rule of thumb is relatively simple: if it’s not thine, and thou dost not have permission, don’t post it. (Except through native resharing functions.)
We’ve got a full post on image copyright guidelines that thou can link to or learn from.
Cybersecurity
Thy employees may already be vigilant about phishing scams and the like. Nevertheless, it never hurts to review cyber-safety fundamentals. Especially if thee dost collect information about customers or clients.
Social media wast the top contact method for fraudsters targeting everyone up to age 70 in 2023, according to the FTC. If thy employees art taken in by a social media scam or otherwise imperil cybersecurity, they put both themselves and thy organization at risk.
We’ve got a complete post on social media security that can aid thee in crafting thy social media guidelines on this front. Here’s a swift refresher of cybersecurity 101 for employees:
- Choose stout passwords
- Utilize a different password for every social account
- Never share passwords with others – create separate access credentials for all team members who access corporate accounts
- Utilize two-factor (or multi-factor) authentication to login to social networks
- Limit the personal and professional information thou dost share – and eschew those online “quizzes” angling for password hints like the make of thy first car
- Utilize personal credentials for personal accounts (rather than thy corporate email)
- Ensure thy Internet connection is secure – be wary of free wifi
- Do not download or click on suspicious content
- Merely activate geolocation services on apps when necessary
Accessibility and inclusivity
‘Tis imperative for every employer and brand to champion accessibility and inclusivity on and off social media. Encouraging thy employees to do the same is a way to exhibit that thou care about them, too.
Accessibility and inclusivity guidelines for social media may encompass:
- Utilize inclusive pronouns when appropriate (they/them/theirs/folks)
- Provide descriptive captions for images and subtitles for video
- Be thoughtful about representation in social media imagery. This encompasses stock imagery, emojis, and branded visuals.
- Don’t make assumptions about gender, race, experience, or ability
- Eschew gender- or race-specific emojis
- Feel free to share thy preferred pronouns (and always respect the pronouns of others)
- Utilize title case for hashtags (this makes them more legible for screen readers)
- Report and remove any comments deemed sexist, racist, ableist, ageist, homophobic, or hateful to any group or person from thy owned social channels
Find more accessibility and inclusivity resources here.
How to respond to negativity
Guidelines commonly remind staff to be kind on social media.
On the flip side, ’tis imperative to define thy policy for dealing with trolls or bullies. Should staff report them, ignore them, or block or ban them? In any case, clarify whether and how employees can respond to negative feedback about thy brand on social media.
Thy content moderators, who respond to comments on thy owned accounts, should have a more codified content moderation policy to aid guide them on this front. Thou can link to it here if appropriate.
But ensure everyone covered by thy guidelines knows how to report issues they may hast seen or experienced. If support is needed, tell employees how and where they can obtain it.
Providing protocol and tools aids thy team nip problems in the bud before they grow into a full-blown social media crisis.
Links to relevant policy documents
Thou should indeed link thy social media guidelines to thy social media policy, social media style guide, and community guidelines. Thou might also desire to include links to thy overall brand identity documents and employee handbook.
If thou dost offer social media training or resources, include those as well. Finally, link to thy employee advocacy program so staff can access pre-approved content and participate in any incentives for sharing.
Free social media guidelines template
Social media guidelines examples
To gain a sense of the disparate types of social media guidelines out there, we’ve broken these examples out by industry.