How to Write a Social Media Policy (With Examples)

Struggling to write your first social media policy?

Twitter Usage Policy

Learn more about these social media policies here

Let’s look at how to get started.

The first step is to identify its purpose. The second is how it relates to other policies.

Once you have defined the purpose, the rest of the Corporate Social Media Policy begins to fall into place.

How to define the Purpose of a Corporate Social Media Policy?

Ask yourself:

1. Why were you asked to write this document?
2. Who will benefit once you publish these guidelines?
3. Where will these guidelines be published, shared and read?
4. What is the most compelling reason for writing this document?
5. What is the greatest risk to your organization if the document is not written?
6. Where have you seen these documents add value for other organizations?
7. What Social Media channels do you need to control most?
8. What issues have you encountered with Social Media that impact your brand?

Define the Corporate Social Media policy in one sentence. This abstract helps clarify for others where you stand with Social Media. Keep this short, under three sentences and use simple terms.

For example:

‘The Business supports the use of social media to reach audiences important to the organization, such as potential employees, employees, journalists, customers, and potential customers etc. This policy establishes the criteria and procedure for creating a presence or participation on social media sites on behalf of the business.’

You can further expand on this:

Our participation on social media sites includes:

• Social Media sites established by the business on business-owned domains
• Social Media accounts on sites such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube, etc. on behalf of the organization
• Social Media personal accounts on sites approved for use or participation by our employees as part of their job duties.

Who Does This Policy Apply To?

You can outline who this Corporate Social Media Policy applies to:

This policy applies to all staff, including employees, consultants, and contractors, who use Social Media channels for work-related purposes or were asked by Line Managers to use or participate in Social Media as part of his or her job responsibilities.

Social Media Policy Templates: Benefits

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.

Learn more about these social media policies here