Social Media Policies & Guidelines

Posted by baroncmiller on Jul 12, 2010 in Blog | View Comments

Kathleen Ellis at the Insurance Journal wrote a nice piece on The Growing Risks of Social Media. Regardless of the size of your business, if you have employees that manage public communication through social media, I would recommend organizing and documenting a Social Media Policy and or set of Guidelines to follow. Although Kathleen focuses on reducing risk, this documentation can also set a company tone of voice and provide practical advice on representing the company to a wide internet audience.

The Cisco Social Media Playbook: Best Practice Sharing has been a recent popular example of a well-defined presentation and policies document model. The dedication to stats and worldwide social media usage at the beginning is important to ensure employees understand the landscape and the reach of online communication. The process and policies are also of vital understanding to ensure the culture of the community and the company represented is maintained.

Social Media is an efficient means of communication to the masses, but getting an understanding of its power and reducing risk in an organization is a critical first step.