Coca-Cola Social Media Policy Guidelines

If your boss asks you how many pages will the Social Media policy be, you can do two things.

1. Show him Coca Cola’s Social Media policy and

2. Give him a blank sheet of paper.

Why?

Because your Social Media needs to suit your own unique requirements. And, until you start, you don’t know how long this will be.

The best way to get up and running is use an existing Social Media Policy template pack as a framework and then build on that.

You can get some of these for free on the Social Media Template Policy site or buy some from us.

Disclosure: we contribute to SocialMediaTemplatePolicy.com.

Business Risks

How many companies do you think DON’T have Social Media policies?

More than 55% according to Deloitte. Writing Social Media policies is not the problem - it’s implementing them.

And them monitor the guidelines. Coca Cola has started this process by publishing its own Social Media guidelines. What’s interesting here is how the company has provided a set of flexible guidelines, rather than fixed rules.

Do 3 Page Policies Work?

Pamorama explored this subject and gave us permission to reprint this article.

'The buzz about social media and how to leverage it for branding, marketing, advertising, PR, and CRM has been building over the past few years.

For the most part, companies have made up their approaches to this new medium as they went along.

Many that took the plunge did so by accident, guided by technically-savvy employees who urged their employers to recognize the value of social nets and to become early adopters.

As a result, many companies are just beginning to develop corporate social media policies.

According to  Deloitte’s 2009 Ethics and Workplace Survey, “55% of executives admitted that their companies do not have an official policy for social networks — and 22% would like to use social nets, but don’t know how.”

Those that were savvy enough to draft initial guidelines are now tweaking them as the playing field shifts.

Coca-Cola released a new social media policy that’s short and to-the-point, offering common-sense guidelines for its employees.

Here are the best parts about Coke’s new policy:

• It’s 3 pages. A social media policy should augment existing company policy — you don’t need to create a code of conduct from scratch.
   
• Always remember who we are and what our role is in the social media community. “The same rules that apply to our messaging and communications in traditional media still apply in the online social media space; simply because the development and implementation of an online social media program can be fast, easy, and inexpensive doesn’t mean that different rules apply.”
   
• Have fun, but be smart. “The best advice is to approach online worlds in the same way we do the physical one — by using sound judgment and common sense.”
   
• Transparency is of paramount importance. “Every Web site, “fan page”, or other online destination that is ultimately controlled by the Company must make that fact known to users… We also require bloggers and social media influencers to disclose to their readers when we’re associating with them, whether by providing them with product samples or hosting them at Company events, and we need to monitor whether they are complying with this requirement.”
   
• Be conscious when mixing your business and personal lives. “The Company respects the free speech rights of all of its associates, but you must remember that customers, colleagues and supervisors often have access to the online content you post. Keep this in mind when publishing information online that can be seen by more than friends and family, and know that information originally intended just for friends and family can be forwarded on.”

Read more: coca-colas-shrewd-new-social-media-policy

How to Control Employees on Facebook

How we control our employees’ use of Social Media is a sensitive area.

At what point do you trust your employees to do it right? Where do you draw the line between trust and common sense?

After all, we record most Customer Support calls and business emails. What would we not do the same with Social Media?

And what happens if you don’t monitor your employees’ interactions on Facebook and Twitter?

It’s a balancing act between wishing to trust your employees with your brand and core values and checking that they’re doing it right.

Benefits of a Social Media Policy

A Social Media Policy document helps you to:

• Establish a set of guidelines for all employees when using Social Media sites
• Ensure employees understand their legal responsibilities when interacting online
• Ensure employees understand their responsibilities when writing about our company, its products or services, on their personal blogs, Facebook pages and Twitter accounts
• Other goals include increase brand awareness, finding new markets, and positioning your company as a thought leader

Role of Social Media

Social Media Template Pack

This template Pack includes:

• Social Media Policy Template (64 pages) Use this template to define your Goals, General Policies, Confidentiality, Disclosures, Legal Issues, Intellectual Property, Brand Guidelines and more.
• Twitter Usage Policy - outline how employees may use Twitter to share, interact and communicate professionally.
• Facebook Usage Policy - show staff how to be an Ambassador for your business on Facebook Fan pages.
• LinkedIn Usage Policy - series of guidelines for using this professional network site and using LinkedIn groups
• Company Blogging Policy - guidelines for employees writing on corporate blogs; how to respond to comments, queries, feedback, and press enquiries.
• Personal Blogging Policy - use this to help employees understand their obligations when using personal blogs.
• Social Media Risk Management Policy - guidelines to reduce risk for employees and managers using Social Media sites.
• Brand Usage Policy - use this to ensure that your brand is used consistently across all social media network sites.
• Code Of Conduct - extensive list of Do's and Don'ts when using social media network sites.

Click here for the Table of Contents and more Screenshots.

Sample Personal Blogging Policy