Social Media Policy – How to Create One? (Before It’s Too Late)
It is essential to have an effective and clear social media policy.
When it comes to your company’s social media presence, you can focus on preventing major social media fails that could hurt your company image in irreparable ways.
But a good social media policy will go beyond simply preventing disaster and improving company productivity and conversion. Social media posts and practices should lead to measurable results in the company bottom line.
Let us share with you some important considerations we have learned from our experience:
Who Is Responsible for Your Social Media Policy?
A critical question is who exactly should have a say when determining your social media policy? Often, a policy is created in board rooms and executive meetings or behind closed doors with your marketing team. While this may help in theory, or look good on paper, it will do nothing to create a space where amazing social media can happen.
An effective social media policy needs to first take the time to understand the needs of the company. For example:
- Who will be doing the social media every day?
- What other departments may contribute with social media campaigns (marketers, sales people, customer service, your graphics and web team, etc.)
- What will help them be successful in their field, and how can you encourage them to do their best work through social channels?
Who Has Permission to Do What?
Just because someone has a saved seat in the car does not mean they should be given the keys to drive. It is important on each platform to know what your options are for administrative access.
For example, on Facebook permissions range from an “Analyst” who can only view statistics, to an “Admin” who has full access and can add other administrators, and even delete the whole page. Find out what each person needs to do their job well and fit their access accordingly. This step alone can solve a multitude of problems.
How Is Social Media Training Done?
Just as important as social media itself, is ongoing training for your staff to keep your social media channels up to date. Make sure your training includes information about new trends in social media, and that your employees understand the aspects of each individual platform (i.e. correct use of hashtags).
Who Will Track Results and Make Recommendations?
It is extremely important to build into your social media policy a system to periodically review and update. You don’t want to discover that an employee fired three months ago still has rights to delete your Facebook page after the fact. The key parts of a review are:
- Tracking results from social media efforts compared to goals
- Making sure that permissions and responsibilities are up to date
- Adjustments are made to improve conversion and performance
Again, using tools will help with this considerably. Make sure one person is assigned to reviewing and distributing the reports on a regular basis, along with checking users and permissions.
Let Us Manage Your Social Media
Does your business already have a social media policy in place? Is it reviewed regularly? Have you seen any successes or failures because of your social media policy?
Our social media management services are designed to grow your company’s online presence. We help you establish trust and build relationships with potential customers. The benefits of using our social media management services consist of increased awareness, website traffic and lead generation. Additional benefits include influenced Google rankings, blog promotions, reputation management, and customer service to current and potential customers.
