Are you a fan of social media marketing and driving it for your business? When did you last stop to check that you were protected by your company social media policy or your employee policy allows you to access Facebook, YouTube or Twitter. In many cases, companies do not have a clear policy so the sharing of company information on social networks without the express permission of Marketing or PR could leave you in an iffy situation.

Why You Need a Social Media Policy?

I discussed a few of these points recently and the main reason you need a policy is to protect yourself and your company. Some other points are:
•Policy should recognise that we all use social media & social networks every day
•Usually needs HR to set up a staff usage policy
•May need IT to allow access to Facebook & YouTube
•Can’t be open to using social media and then block staff from using it

Draft Policy Guidelines

  1. We all use social media every day and that’s ok – from LinkedIn to Twitter to more traditional marketing and news sites but we are also here to work.
  2. There are some things that its not ok to talk about – such as revenues, customer numbers and any other confidential information
  3. We respect each others right to be a human being – anything that is discriminatory, abusive or threats of violence related to you or any other person is not acceptable
  4. Being personal and open – don’t hide behind a fake name or attack customers or other brands. No astroturfing
  5. Never bait, incite, flame or be abusive – using company accounts or even with your personal accounts that are linked to company
  6. If you have a work related or professional website or blog, be clear that these are your opinions not the company’s view.
  7. Never second guess or make future looking statements – like the feature roadmap for the next release.
  8. Don’t create new social media accounts in the name of the company – but do share if you think a new account or network is cool.
  9. Any doubts on this policy please ask [xxxx]
  10. A serious breach of this policy is not something anyone wants to happen, so if you are ever unclear you must ask [xxxx]
  11. HAVE FUN! Using social networks at work can be seriously damaging to your health

Free Download Social Media Policy Template

You can save this free sample social media policy template

Tags: policy, Social Media, template

Read more from my blog for an introduction and quick tips on developing in Hugo or UCTD.

Meet the author

Photo for Damien Saunders
Damien Saunders
An experienced management consultant and business leader interested in digital transformation, product centred design and scaled agile. If I'm not writing about living with UCTD (an autoimmune disease), I'm probably listening to music, reading a book or learning more about wine.