How To Implement A Social Media Policy That Protects Your Brand’s Online Presence

How To Implement A Social Media Policy That Protects Your Brand’s Online Presence

It’s 2021 and everyone has multiple social media accounts now. A brand’s online presence no longer refers to the official social media account. Every employee and employer has their social media accounts that can also be used against the brand’s image. Implementing a strict social media policy can be a great way to tackle this, however, implementing a policy that delivers can be a bit hard. Some employees might want to keep their social media policy accounts strictly private, while others might fear taking any kind of risk by posting about the brand.

Social media policy is a mutually shared professional values agreement that can keep the rules the same for everyone, and at the same time not ask your employees to change who they are as people. In this article, we will look into detail how business owners can successfully implement a social media policy and protect their brand’s online presence.

Also Read: 12 Keys To Building A Successful Online Community

How to implement a social media policy?

How to implement a social media policy

Here are a few things to remember while making a social media policy:

  • Traditional rules apply online: Your traditional rules of ethics and professionalism offline should be the same as your online presence. Values such as transparency, accuracy, humanity, and accountability play a huge role in forming the core ethics and values.
  • Respect privacy: Employee advocacy is a great way to promote your brand’s online presence. However, it is also important to respect the data privacy of your employees. For example, transferring names and private information from an online discussion to a company CRM can get someone in big trouble as it violates the Data Protection Regulation. 
  • Be careful of your content: The privacy settings on social media policy platforms change regularly. Even when you have information in a privacy setting, it can very well get leaked and hacked. This is why it is vital to be mindful of what you publish. Try not to post anything that can ruin your professional career and brand image.
  • Remain professional and respectful: While this is a thumb rule for any interaction we have with someone, over the internet it can prove to be rather important. Every employee must refrain from using ethnic slurs, hate speech, obscenity, or reply to trolls. One wrong comment/post can play a role in making or breaking your career.
  • Copyright laws: It is fairly easy to copy and paste things over the internet. However, employees should seek permission if they wish to use the brand’s logo, audio/video files, or any other content under copyright. If employees still use the content, they may face legal repercussions.
  • Brand ambassadors must identify themselves: If you are advocating on behalf of the brand, feel free to identify who you are as an employee. This will also help you build your e-reputation. Once again, transparency comes into the picture for building trust.
  • Authenticate information found on social media: Everything on the internet is not true.  But we all know that. There are a ton of fact-checking websites that you can look into before sharing anything online. 
  • Admit when you are wrong: This is the most important! Making mistakes is a natural part of being online and you should not shy away from it. If you have made a mistake, immediately issue an apology and delete the post so that the content does not get shared. Admitting you are wrong means you are ready to own up to your mistakes and learn from them, a quality every employer seeks.
  • Keep internal deliberations confidential: Every brand has the right to keep its internal communications confidential. Social media policy Strategy meetings and rumors are not something that should be published or shared online. If you are confused about what content is appropriate, you can always ask before publishing/sharing.

To sum up: 

More and more brands are finding a place for themselves online and therefore it becomes extremely crucial to have a great persona! After all, since everyone is online nowadays, the primary form of communication becomes social media policy. We hope this article has helped you understand the importance of an online presence and how you can ensure the protection of the same. Thank you for reading and all the best with your brand! 

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