Although social media is a crucial tool for many businesses, too few take the time to create a social media policy. Here we pose 22 questions, which if answered thoroughly, will effectively result in a social media policy.

It almost goes without saying that if – in 2018 – your organisation does not have a social media presence, it is seen as being out of touch with today’s culture and general business practices. It therefore means that whether they like to, or not, many organisations end up having a presence on Facebook, at the very least, with Twitter and Instagram also being quite popular.

Further, many organisations actively track their impact on social media, particularly the number of followers in their networks. For the more discerning, other metrics, such as the reach, engagement, click-throughs and conversions, would also be tracked and examined.

With the still growing importance of social media, there is also a growing need for social media specialists, who can help organisations effectively and efficiently execute their marketing strategy in the social media space. Sadly, many individuals who do a fair job of managing their own social media pages promote themselves as social media experts. However, the latitude with which personal social media pages are managed, more often than not, is not acceptable in a more formal or corporate setting.

Unfortunately, many Caribbean organisations have not established any policy – to set out a framework for management of their social media pages.  Although some of us might roll our eyes and grumble that preparing a policy is too time consuming, and overkill in small organisations, a policy helps to protect the organisation’s brand, and foster consistency in the approach employed. Below are 20-plus questions that should be answered. Although the questions are not exhaustive, in carefully answering them, they begin to set out a policy for an organisation’s social media use.

Social media policy questions

  1. To whom does the policy apply?
  2. To what platforms does the policy apply?
  3. What is the purpose of the policy?
  4. Which employees can post for and on behalf of the organisation?
  5. What is the process (if any) that should be followed in order to get a post approved and published on one or more the organisation’s social media pages?
  6. What types of information should not be disclosed in Internet postings?
  7. When an employee is posting on behalf of the organisation, what should be his/her approach? What should he/she consider?
  8. When an employee is responding to comments on behalf of the organisation, what should be his/her approach? What should he/she consider?
  9. When an employee is trying to grow the reach or engagement of a particular post, on one of the organisation’s social media pages, what should be his/her approach? What should he/she consider?
  10. When an employee is posting on one of the organisation’s social media pages in his/her individual/professional capacity, what should be his/her approach? What should he/she consider?
  11. When an employee is responding to comments on one of the organisation’s social media pages in his/her individual/professional capacity, what should be his/her approach? What should he/she consider?
  12. What is the organisation’s position on the use of third-party material, such as images, graphics, video, sound?
  13. When employees participate in social media discussions, is a disclaimer to make it clear that their views do not represent those of the organisation?
  14. With respect to Internet postings, what is the organisation’s position on privacy, copyright, fair use, financial disclosure, and other applicable laws?
  15. Are there any subjects/topics that should be avoided on the organisation’s social media pages?
  16. What might some of the circumstances that would result in posts being withdrawn on organisation’s social media pages?
  17. What might some of the circumstances that would result in comments being considered inappropriate and removed from the organisation’s social media pages?
  18. Is there any behaviour, activity, content posted on the organisation’s social media pages by an employee that would result in the employee being subjected disciplinary action?
  19. In the event of customer complaints or other crises that are posted on the organisation’s social media pages, what process should be followed (to ensure timely and efficient resolution)?
  20. For employees that have administrator rights for the organisation’s social media pages, when and how should those pages be accessed?
  21. What process should be followed if any of the organisation’s social media pages becomes compromised?
  22. What is the organisation’s position on endorsing people, products, services, or other organisations on social media?

Image credit:  Pixabay (Pexels)

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