Sensitive data such as client contracts, financial results, internal strategies, and upcoming product launches should never be disclosed without authorization. Federal agencies — such as the National Labor Relations Board — have found some policies to be restrictive. An overly controlling policy prohibits employees from mentioning working conditions, for example. Christina Newberry has been writing about digital marketing since the prehistoric days of 2002, when email opt-ins were every marketer’s biggest goal. With a deep understanding of how to connect to online audiences, she shifted her focus to social media and has been contributing to the Hootsuite blog since 2016.
It also has a specific section to help those who post to social media on behalf of the ICO or are contacted by the media for comments as representatives of the organization. An unhappy former NBA employee retained login credentials to the brand’s Facebook account and posted this scathing rebuke of the league. A section of your social media policy should cover how to offboard former employees. A social media policy is a document written by your organization to provide guidance to employees about their actions and behaviors online. Along with implementing a social media policy for employees, some brands create a separate policy for content creators and influencers.
But you may need to bend the rules a bit for specific social campaigns or platforms. You should also define your call-to-action (CTA) placement in captions. For example, some brands opt to put links in the comments on LinkedIn rather than the post itself. These rules apply to your social media post captions and any comments or replies from your brand account. There will always be new platforms to join, and as your brand sets its sites on the latest popular channels, these guidelines will come in handy. Main social media accounts – The University of Alabama social media accounts run by the Division of Strategic Communications.
For over a decade, Sprinklr Social has helped the world’s biggest brands reimagine social media as a growth driver with a unified platform, industry-leading AI and enterprise-grade scale. Easily access and e-sign custom templates for new and existing employees. This sample Employee Social Media Policy is a good starting point for fleshing out your own policy for use of social media in the workplace by your employees.
By highlighting the dos and don’ts, you can keep things above board and avoid any legal headaches down the road. In general, your time in field and the resources provided to you in your field placement are to be used for field related matters. Before using social media communication tools on behalf of your agency, be sure to seek approval of any messages or posts. Be careful not to endorse or promote a product, cause or position without prior approval. If you have personal sites, it is best to maintain them on your own time using your own computer. Managing friend requests and maintaining privacy settings is critical regardless of whether you use social media for personal and/or professional reasons.
He specializes in social media, content marketing, SaaS, small business strategy, marketing automation, and content development. The guidelines can protect your clients’ brand reputations while streamlining your agency’s workflows. Vista Social’s Post Approval Workflows streamline reviewing and approving scheduled social media posts.
From content creation to legal approvals, everything should follow a documented, repeatable process. That consistency ensures nothing slips through without the right eyes on it. Platforms like Hootsuite make this easier by letting you assign custom access levels to every team member and set up simple, built-in approval flows. That way, the right people review content before it goes live, reducing risk and keeping everything on brand. Start with a social media audit to uncover social accounts related to your brand. Any brand that works with outside salespeople needs to watch for inappropriate claims.
By specifying what is considered confidential, it ensures employees don’t unintentionally leak proprietary details, financial data, or internal strategies. Once, social media accounts were for showcasing your gourmet dinner and cat pics. But now, social media is the communication epicenter for both personal use and colossal enterprises. First and foremost, always consider the implications of what you post and follow the terms of service or community guidelines of the platforms you use. All members of the UMBC community are also expected to follow applicable university policies (e.g., Code of Student Conduct, Faculty Handbook and Staff Handbook).
If an employee uses their personal Facebook account to post derogatory remarks about a colleague or engage in online bullying, this could lead to a toxic work environment. A good social media policy would address how to handle online harassment, even if the behavior takes place on personal accounts. Imagine an employee posts an inappropriate comment on Twitter that includes offensive language about a competitor. This kind of behavior could tarnish the company’s image and create unnecessary conflict. In response, a well-defined social media policy would outline the specific consequences for such actions. Employers should set clear expectations about when and how employees can use social media at work. [newline]For instance, personal use should be restricted to lunch breaks or non-work hours.
It covers both official channels and personal accounts, outlining expectations and rules for posting content about the company. A style guide keeps your team on the same page with distinct guidance and rules for each active platform, saving you from slip-ups and eliminating confusion about your brand’s dos and don’ts. It also acts as a roadmap for brand storytelling on your digital platforms ensuring consistency and resonance when sharing narratives that reflect your essence. For comprehensive tools to help define and maintain your brand’s identity across all touch points, consider exploring different brand management software.
Ensure employees understand image usage rights, copyright, and other legal constraints. When using images of people, always ask for their permission before posting. While AI tools can assist in speeding processes up, it’s crucial to verify permissions manually to avoid any potential legal complications. For example, there might be a common problem you’re hoping to solve with your new policy — like employees posting too much profanity.
Incorporate Legal And Ethical Considerations
Don’t just read the document to them; walk them through the why behind the rules. Your guidelines are there to provide a stable foundation for your brand identity, but they have to be flexible enough to bend without breaking when new opportunities pop up. With social media ad spend projected to hit $276.7 billion and U.S. social commerce sales rocketing past $90 billion, every comment is a potential sales touchpoint. Clear rules are essential for turning this massive audience into customers. You can discover more insights on the growth of social commerce to see just how big the opportunity is.
Scope Of The Policy
In regulated industries, all communications on social media need to be archived. That includes ads, replies, comments, Stories, Reels, DMs, edits, and even deleted content. Staying compliant on social media means building consistent systems that ensure every post, workflow, and interaction follows the rules that apply to your organization.
Social Media Policy Examples
Clarity is essential—especially when explaining what’s allowed, what’s prohibited, and what the consequences are for policy violations. This term does not include Diocese Entity Websites or Social Media Accounts. The term “Content” shall mean any digital information that communicates a message, including but not limited to text, photos, audio files, and video files. A great response protocol doesn’t just solve problems—it makes your followers feel seen and valued. You need to be crystal clear here to maintain consistency, especially since colors can look slightly different from screen to screen. You wouldn’t use the same tone to celebrate a huge company win as you would to handle a customer complaint, right?
You can do this by making your employees aware of these attacks and requiring them to use a 2-factor authentication or a VPN during work hours. Now, let’s look at the benefits of having a social media policy within your organization in more detail. Due to social media increase, many businesses have a digital media presence which they use to communicate with their customers and promote their products and services. Employees should always be cautious about sharing any proprietary information, whether it’s through posts, comments, or direct messages.