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As an online business owner, you know reputation is everything. No reputation means low website usage, and a bad reputation turns away potential customers. By growing and cultivating your business profile, potential and current consumers will see your website as progressive and reliable. One way to do this is through the use of social media platforms. However, whilst your organisation can effectively use a social media policy to reach more consumers and for brand awareness, you must also limit potential damage through naive or malicious posts. One way to do this is through a social media policy.
This article will explore the crucial role of social media in improving the reach of your online business, as well as the benefits of a social media policy when you have a social media presence.
What is a Social Media policy?
A social media policy sets out boundaries for social media activity. This is important because one controversial social media post can undo months or years of sensible usage.
Your social media policy applies to all those who work for your company and any individuals who help manage your social media accounts. Whilst most organisations hire staff or use existing employees to manage their social media, some businesses use an external agency.
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What Does a Social Media Policy Usually Contain?
Like most business-related documents, the contents will depend on the nature and principles of the business. So, for example, an organisation that values renewable energy would not retweet posts from an oil company.
You may use a social media policy template from an online search engine when creating your social media policy, but this can be risky as the social media guidelines may not suit your business.
Most social media policies will confirm the following measures:
- any approval process ahead of a social media post;
- restrictions on approved social media post topics; and
- how to handle complaints or abusive comments from social media users.
We explore each of these three measures in turn below.
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1. Approval Process
A social media post is equivalent to a press release on your website. You should approve all comments made under your company’s name, whether on social media or otherwise. Social media is not an exact science; most approvals rely on the common sense of the decision-maker. Your social media policy should, therefore, set out the approval process. This is particularly important with social media, given that Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram posts tend to be frequent.
A robust approval process aims to avoid unauthorised access to your social media platforms. So, for example, the guidelines should make it extremely difficult for an unauthorised individual to access and post unauthorised content. A robust approval process should also make it as difficult as possible for an outsider to hack into your social media accounts and post abusive or controversial messaging.
2. Topic Restrictions
Different companies present alternative images online. Some companies keep their social media postings neutral and sensible, treating a social media page as a digital advertising platform. Whilst other organisations try to stand out, usually through humour or mention of charitable initiatives.
Whilst many companies tend to limit social media posts to announcements of new products and significant staff hires, some seek to make a major impact on their social channels. On Twitter, two examples include Ryanair and Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream. They both stand out for different reasons:
- Ryanair regularly uses humour to comment on popular new items, such as offering a seat to a significant political figure who leaves office; and
- Ben & Jerry’s has a political slant, which is relatively unusual in the USA and comments on election cycles and employee advocacy through unions.
In the UK, comment on politics and the use of risque humour is relatively uncommon. However, much depends on your company’s ethics and the brand you wish to portray to potential consumers.
3. Complaint and Abusive Comment Procedure
You will inevitably receive complaints from social media users regarding certain posts, which can include uncontroversial posts. It is helpful to have a plan in place for handling complaints. It is a bad idea to announce the findings of a small investigation on social networks. Instead, you should conduct this through private messages. Invite the individual to send a direct message or email to a particular place to investigate the complaint.
Unfortunately, social media has a dark side with individuals sending abusive messages far more frequently than they would if facing someone in public. Most companies tackle this issue within their corporate social media policy in some of the following ways:
- seek to remove violent or abusive comments through website tools or request to the platform operator;
- ban the user account from following the company on that platform; and
- ignore commenting on the post to avoid it becoming more high-profile.
One of the worst mistakes made by most social media operators is to respond to aggressive messages. In most cases, this is just what that individual wants to rile up the social media handler and waste their time. Social media operators are human and, absent an effective abusive message procedure, may snap and react unfavourably.
Key Takeaways
Effective use of social media platforms can constitute free advertising and reach far more individuals than posts on your main website. However, the use of social media requires an effective social media policy. This ensures, for example, that unauthorised individuals cannot post on your social media and that the topics of all posts are pre-approved, and any comments are free of aggression or controversy.
If you need help with a social media policy, our experienced E-Commerce and Online Business lawyers can assist as part of our LegalVision membership. For a low monthly fee, you will have unlimited access to lawyers to answer your questions and draft and review your documents. Call us today on 0808 196 8584 or visit our membership page.
Frequently Asked Questions
Not really, no. Using a social media policy template has potential risks, such as the social media guidelines not suiting your business.
Most businesses would say yes – the risks of using social media sites are similar to those of advertising. However, you can usually mitigate them by using clear guidelines and avoiding controversial personal opinions.
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