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These days, almost every company has a social media presence. That is why it is important that your company have a clear social media policy that contains guidelines for posting.

Almost two-thirds of people surveyed said their employer has no social media policy. It’s surprising, but more than that, it is a big mistake.

Even if your company doesn’t use social media that much, your employees probably do, and you need guidelines for how they present themselves – and by extension your company – on social media. Here are a few tips for developing a social media policy.

1. What it is

A social media policy is a set of guidelines for how your company uses social media. It covers messages that explicitly represent the company, as well as the way employees use social media – in their professional lives and personal lives as well.

Having a social media policy is essential for a number of reasons. It helps you to establish and maintain your brand among different digital platforms. It helps you to stay compliant with legal and regulatory guidelines. It helps to prevent security breaches and can prevent a public relations meltdown, as well as enabling you to respond quickly to public relations problems.

2. What should be in it

A good policy will outline who is responsible for what areas of social media. For example, it will spell out who does the daily posting, who handles customer service, who handles strategy and planning, who does advertising, who handles security, who gets financial and legal approval, who is responsible for responding to crises, and who does social media training.

A good policy will spell out who exactly can speak for the company and who cannot.

The policy should also cover how security will be maintained – how often passwords should be changed, who is responsible for ensuring passwords are viable and who has access to them, and whether software is updated on a regular basis.

The social media policy should also contain a plan for how to respond to a security breach or a public relations crisis.

It is also important that that the policy provide some guidance on legal matters. For example, the instructions should explain how to follow copyright law, maintain privacy and confidentiality.

And the guidelines should give some idea how employees should comport themselves when posting to their personal social media accounts. For example, it should be clear that using hate speech, making threats, harassment, or using language that is racially derogatory are all off limits – and may violate the law as well. Employees need to know that they will be held accountable for what they say.

Looking for work in a volatile job market during a pandemic can be very difficult. A staffing agency like Winston Resources can help you with your search. We can help you navigate this new online hiring environment and plug you into our network of employers. Give us a call today.


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