Don't Have A Social Media Policy For Your Company? You're Not Alone.

We are all still adjusting to a world where everyone with an internet connection is a media outlet. Social Media is bring a raft of changes to the way we communicate and do business.

There are great rewards for businesses that embrace Social Media and do it well. There are also a few train wrecks from companies who have seen opportunity and jumped without developing a sound strategy and policy.

Last year Manpower released a study into how companies across the globe were using Social Media called Social Networks vs. Management Harness the Power of Social Media. The report found that only 31% of Australian companies (which is slightly better than the global figure of 25%) had instituted a Social Media policy for employees. Brain Solis shares some handy tips for getting started with a Social Media Policy for your business.

The Top 25 Best Practices for Drafting Policies and Guidelines

1. Define a voice and persona representative of the brand’s purpose, mission, and characteristics
2. People expect to interact with people, be personable, consistent, and helpful  
3. Keep things conversational as it applies to portraying and reinforcing the personality and value of your brand and the brand you represent 
4. Add value to each engagement — contribute to the stature and legacy of the brand  
5. Respect those whom you’re engaging and also respect the forum in which you participate  
6. Ensure that you honor copyrights and practice and promote fair use of applicable content  
7. Protect confidential and proprietary information  
8. Business accounts are no place to share personal views unless they reinforce the brand values and are done according to the guidelines and code of conduct  
9. Be transparent and be human yes, but also do so based on true value propositions and solutions  
10. Represent what you should represent and do not overstep your bounds without prior approval  
11. Know and operate within the boundaries defined, doing so protects you, the company, and the people with whom you’re hoping to connect 
12. Know when to walk away. Don’t engage trolls or fall into conversational traps  
13. Stay on message, on point and on track with the goals of your role and its impact to the real world business in which you contribute 
14. Don’t trash competition, spotlight points of differentiation and value  
15. Apologize where applicable and according to the established code of conduct. Seek approval by legal or management where such action is not pre-defined 
16. Take accountability for your actions and offer no excuses 
17. Know whom you’re taking to and what they’re seeking 
18. Disclose relationships, representation, affiliation and intentions  
19. Refer open issues or questions to those most qualified to answer 
20. Practice self-restraint, some things are not worth sharing  
21. Empower qualified spokespersons to offer solutions and resolutions  
22. Seek the approval of customers and partners before spotlighting their case studies  
23. Take the time to interpret the context of a situation before jumping in with a response  
24. What you share can and will be used against you – The internet as a long memory
25. When in doubt, ask for guidance 

 Via Brain Solis http://www.briansolis.com/2011/03/the-rules-of-social-media-engagement/

If you need assistance developing a Social Media Strategy or Employee Policy for your business contact us at Byron New Media to find out how we can help.

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