Get your organization ready for the Social Web

Social Media Policies

You hear a lot of companies doing their best to jump on board constructing “social media policies” (SMP). SMPs provide the foundation that you must not only hire from, but mandate how anyone within your company who uses social media tools interacts in this environment.

Lately, we’ve heard how a few key strokes can ruin brands with the misuse and lack of understanding how to use social media properly. This is more and more critical as each day goes by and is something you MUST do in today’s socially-driven professional world.

The primary backbone of all SMPs are as follows:

• Introduction of purpose – the who, what, why of your company, and what you intend to do inside the social space.
• Engagement – set delivery expectations and assign a goal of when you and how often you will be distributing this material.
• Authenticity and transparency – above all you must pledge to be honest and direct in your social messaging.
• Ethics and judgment definition – ensure proper social etiquette as you would in the real world.
• Copyrights, fair use and linking – understand that what you reference, quote or link should credit with proper attribution.
• Confidentiality of your company – never knowingly divulge or discuss anything about your company that could cause harm to your reputation or intellectual property.
• Consistency – always be consistent in your messaging and campaign directives.
• Digital finality – let it be known that what you share in the social media space should be considered exposed for all time.

Here’s an amazing how-to checklist for your company as you begin to take measures in protecting your brand:

Who’s doing it right? Take a look at some of the most progressive SMPs in the corporate space.