It is always good to have a policy for anything you do..professionally or personally. Since social media is taking over as the traditional method of marketing it is good to have a policy specifically for your business’s social media. When I address this issue I am asked..What should I put in my social media policy. So, let me break it down for you.
What is in a Policy
Like in any type of policy you outline how you or your business will represent the company or the product or the service offered. Sometimes the policy is something simple which are the best policies. Sometimes your attorney may have some input into how the policy should be worded that is also good since policy are what govern how you will handle something.
Most of the time there is a need to break the policy down into categories. If your business has a large number of employees there may need to be a policy for different parts of social media. Maybe a manifesto is more appropriate if you only have one person working for you or you are just a blogger.
Either way, writing out your policy..how you are going to use Social Media and how situations will be handled and by who is what usually goes into a social media policy. Outlining how you are going to do something also serves as a guideline for you to follow to keep the quality of what you do consistent.
Why Should Businesses State Their Policy
Consumers turns away from a businesses that:
- Does not have a policy
- Has a policy that is impossible to read
- Has a policy with too many restrictions.
This is good and bad. Naturally, not having a policy on how your business is going to handle social media may not be something for public consumption, but if your business is social media, having a policy on how you use it would be an advertising point for your business.
I recently spoke with a business owner who drafted their business’ social media policy to be intentionally impossible read so to ward off the impossible people that are out in the market. If your method of social media is specific or only used a certain way then having wording in the policy that is more legally drafted could save someone a lot of headaches later.
Having a social media policy that is too restrictive to a point where an employee or consumer feels their hands would be tied up following the policy could be very anti-productive. However, again, if the restrictions are placed in the policy to govern the way a company handles its social media then some restrictions are needed.
A social media policy is drafted to help the business, or the person, understand how they are to react in situations and to know what they can and cannot do.
Benefits of a Policy
The question always comes up..Why should I have a policy on how I am going to use Social Media? The answer is in the benefits you experience from outlining how you will use social media.
As mentioned, in some cases where there is more of an entrepreneurial environment in the business a Manifesto on the social media usage for someone may fit better. In areas where there are many people working for a business’ a social media policy would offer a uniform way of stating how everyone is to use social media. The benefit of a social media policy in a large business would be in the streamline administration of the policy through out the organization.
Overall, a social media policy would eliminate a lot of problems.
Shortcomings of a Policy
Not having a policy in a small or large business may paint a picture to other businesses and consumers that the leaders or owners of the business are not very organized. Showing how a business or person is going to use Twitter…or not..will tell the viewer what to expect. Not having a do’s and don’t list for employees to follow on what they can or cannot do in the social spaces could result in a disaster for a company’s image.
Policies are good to have. They can make or break a business or in some cases a person just trying to blog. Let me know how I can help.
