Social media guidelines are a must for all businesses and brands. Whether or not you use social media at the corporate level, your employees are certainly using social in their private lives.<\/p>\n
Since work takes up such a large portion of our waking hours, it\u2019s not surprising that people post about their jobs on social media. But if they do so without guidance, they may put both themselves and their employers at risk.<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n Bonus: Get a free, customizable social media guidelines template<\/span><\/strong> to quickly and easily create recommendations for your company and employees.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n Social media guidelines are instructions and recommendations for how people connected to a company should represent themselves \u2013 and the company \u2013 on social media.<\/p>\n Think of social media guidelines as a brand-specific manual of social media best practices. They apply to everyone who has a professional relationship with your brand. Employees are usually the primary audience. But anyone else you\u2019re working with can benefit from these best practices too. Share them with people like your corporate partners, marketing agencies, or influencers<\/a>.<\/p>\n Your social media guidelines should outline how to behave on social media in a way that\u2019s positive and safe. Consider the needs of the company, employees, and customers alike. The guidelines can apply to both your employees\u2019 personal and professional social media presence.<\/p>\n Social media guidelines are different from your company\u2019s social media policy<\/a>. They\u2019re also distinct from your social media style guide<\/a>. However, it\u2019s a good idea to keep all of these documents in one place for easy access and reference.<\/p>\n Want to learn more? Take Hootsuite Academy\u2019s free course Implementing Social Media Governance Within your Organization<\/a>.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t Create. Schedule. Publish. Engage. Measure. Win.<\/strong><\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tFree 30-Day Trial<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n Clear social media brand guidelines can help mitigate a whole host of risks<\/a>. Especially when combined with a well-thought-out social media policy.<\/p>\n Start with the very basics (brand reputation<\/a>). Work up to the extremely serious (compliance requirements<\/a>). At each stage, social media guidelines make it clear how employees\u2019 actions on social media impact the brand.<\/p>\n Brands in regulated industries like healthcare and finance are well aware of social media laws and regulations. And they know that those regulations encompass employees\u2019 social media use as well as content from the brand\u2019s official accounts.<\/p>\n Employees of retail, service, and other brands may be less aware. But federal regulations still impact the ways they can talk about their jobs online.<\/p>\n For example, a little later in this post we\u2019ll talk about FTC social media guidelines on disclosure. These impact what employees can say about your brand on social.<\/p>\n The FTC social media guidelines also require clear disclosure when an influencer or other third party receives compensation of any kind for a social post.<\/p>\n Include any relevant regulations in your social media guidelines for employees. Add specific examples that make the requirements easy for everyone to understand.<\/p>\n Every employee is a potential brand ambassador<\/a>. But not every employee is a social media expert.<\/p>\n Social media guidelines are your chance to help the whole team hype you up positively, inclusively, and respectfully. And to hype up their own work, too. Solid social guidelines help team members feel confident about sharing their work stories.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s a rundown of core sections you should include in your social media guidelines. Go ahead and tailor any part of this to fit your brand. After all, every industry is different.<\/p>\n In fact, every company is different. So before you lock in your social media guidelines for employees, you might want to check in with \u2026 your employees. Ask for team feedback to make sure you address their questions or concerns.<\/p>\n Or, start with our free social media guidelines template, which you\u2019ll find linked below.<\/p>\n The 5 W\u2019s are the question words: Who, what, when, where, why. It\u2019s a good idea to include a quick introduction to your social guidelines that touches on all these points to get everyone on the same page:<\/p>\n In an ideal world, every employee would read and internalize every word of your social policy and social guidelines. And every word of every update to those guidelines. In the real world, this is unlikely to happen.<\/p>\n So, it\u2019s a good idea to put a quick and punchy list of your most basic social media code of conduct right upfront. Don\u2019t go into too much detail here \u2013 you\u2019ll do that in later sections.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s a sample list you can copy and paste or tweak for your specific needs:<\/p>\n It\u2019s great when team members proudly mention in their social profiles that they work for you. But to protect you both, it\u2019s a good idea to ask them to clarify that they\u2019re not creating social media posts on behalf of the brand.<\/p>\n Adding a disclosure to their social profile or bio is a good start. Something like \u201cAll opinions expressed are my own\u201d helps make it clear that these are not official viewpoints, like this university strategist and instructor does here.<\/p>\n Source: <\/em>@WahibaChair<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n When employees discuss company-related matters on social, they are required by law to identify themselves as employees. This one\u2019s a rule, not a friendly suggestion.<\/p>\n In fact, the Federal Trade Commission requires<\/a> the identification to occur in the relevant post. Just noting it in a bio is not enough. Get some specific language vetted by your legal or compliance team for your social media posting guidelines. Include a couple of sample disclaimers that are easy to copy and paste.<\/p>\n Remind your team that confidential company information is confidential off the clock, too. Some of the biggest no-nos for sharing on social are:<\/p>\n Clarify that privacy and confidentiality should be respected across all social media platforms.<\/p>\n That includes photos taken at your workplace or workplace events. These can be especially challenging for organizations subject to HIPAA or FERPA.<\/p>\n Include a reminder in your social media posting guidelines to respect ownership governed by:<\/p>\n When in doubt, the rule of thumb is relatively simple: if it\u2019s not yours, and you don\u2019t have permission, don\u2019t post it. (Except through native resharing<\/a> functions.)<\/p>\n We\u2019ve got a full post on image copyright guidelines<\/a> that you can link to or learn from.<\/p>\n Your employees may already be vigilant about phishing scams and the like. Still, it never hurts to review cyber-safety basics. Especially if you collect information about customers or clients.<\/p>\n Social media was the top contact method for fraudsters targeting everyone up to age 70 in 2023, according to the FTC<\/a>. If your employees are taken in by a social media scam or otherwise jeopardize cybersecurity, they put both themselves and your organization at risk.<\/p>\n Source: <\/em>Interactive FTC graphic<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n We\u2019ve got a whole post on social media security <\/a>that can help you craft your social media guidelines on this front. Here\u2019s a quick refresh of cyber security 101 for employees:<\/p>\n It\u2019s important for every employer and brand to promote accessibility and inclusivity on and off social media. Encouraging your employees to do the same is a way to show that you care about them, too.<\/p>\n Accessibility and inclusivity guidelines for social media may include:<\/p>\n Find more accessibility and inclusivity resources here<\/a>.<\/p>\n Guidelines commonly remind staff to be kind on social media.<\/p>\n On the flip side, it\u2019s important to define your policy for dealing with trolls or bullies<\/a>. Should staff report them, ignore them, or block or ban them? In any case, clarify whether and how employees can respond to negative feedback about your brand on social media.<\/p>\n Your content moderators, who respond to comments on your owned accounts, should have a more codified content moderation policy<\/a> to help guide them on this front. You can link to it here if appropriate.<\/p>\n But make sure everyone covered by your guidelines knows how to report issues they may have seen or experienced. If support is needed, tell employees how and where they can get it.<\/p>\n Providing protocol and tools helps your team nip problems in the bud before they grow into a full-blown social media crisis.<\/a><\/p>\n You should definitely link your social media guidelines to your social media policy, social media style guide, and community guidelines. You might also want to include links to your overall brand identity documents and employee handbook.<\/p>\nWhat are social media guidelines?<\/span><\/h2>\n
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t#1 Social Media Tool\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span><\/p>\nWhy you need social media guidelines<\/span><\/h2>\n
Protect your brand<\/h3>\n
Stay in line with official regulations<\/h3>\n
Encourage brand advocacy<\/h3>\n
What should a social media guidelines document include?<\/span><\/h2>\n
Intro: The 5 W\u2019s<\/h3>\n
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High-level dos and don\u2019ts<\/h3>\n
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Disclosure and transparency<\/h3>\n
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<\/a><\/figure>\nPrivacy and confidentiality<\/h3>\n
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Copyright guidelines<\/h3>\n
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Cybersecurity<\/h3>\n
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Accessibility and inclusivity<\/h3>\n
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How to respond to negativity<\/h3>\n
Links to relevant policy documents<\/h3>\n