Is Your Social Media Policy Clear?

I thought I’d deviate from writing about knowing your customers through marketing research and customer service and shift gears a bit to social media policy.

Let me ask the question, do you have a social media policy for your company or organization?

Better yet, let me ask, do you have a written social media policy that clearly identifies critical elements of your social policy and everyone in your organization understands your policy?

Now, the answer to my second question might be a little different from my first question. So let’s dive right in this topic.

Why is a social media policy important?

A written social media policy will help everyone in your organization travel down the same path. It should clear up a lot of questions from who is responsible for social media to what type of content can be posted to what social media platforms will you engage in representing your organization. Consider it your map or your guide to social media. It should also serve to clarify your organization’s position on social media and clear up any assumptions people might be making.

When do I create a social media policy?

Ideally, create your social media policy up front, before you start using the various platforms. However, if you don’t have a policy, NOW is the best time to do so.

What should  I include in my social media policy?

At the very basic level you want to be able to clearly answer the following questions:

1. Who will be the spokesperson and voice of the organization?
2. Will your voice on social media be personal or professional or a combination of the two? If a combination of the two, what will the split be between the two?
3. Who will respond to conversations and social media buzz created?
4. Who will monitor social media effects?
5. What, if any, monitoring tools will or should you use? OK, so here I would suggest you identify how you will monitor your social media effectiveness and go beyond x number of followers or “likes” or contacts.
6. How will you protect your brand against negative comments/conversations?
7. Which platforms will you engage in regularly? (Examples: blogs, podcasts, message boards, videos, social networking sites, etc.)

Let me know if you have any questions. What other questions does your social media policy answer?