How to Create An Effective Social Media Policy (Before It’s Too Late)

If there is more than one person involved in your social media accounts, then it is essential to have an effective and clear social media policy.

When most articles talk about creating a social media policy, they focus on preventing major social media fails that can hurt a company image in drastic (and sometime irreparable) ways.

But a good social media policy will go beyond simply preventing disaster and improve company productivity and increase conversion. Social media posts post and practices that employ an excellent social media policy leads to measurable results in the company bottom line.

Let’s talk about some important considerations here.

Related Post: Social Media Marketing 101

Who Are the Stakeholders in Your  Social Media  Policy?

Another critical question is who exactly should have a seat at the table when determining your social media policy? Often, a policy is created in board rooms and executive meetings or behind closed doors with a legal team. While this may help in a lawsuit, or look good on paper, it will do nothing to create a space where amazing social media can happen.

A solid social media policy needs to first take the time to understand their perspectives and needs of its stakeholders. For example:

• Who are the people that will be doing the social media every day?
• What other departments may intersect with social media campaigns (other marketers, sales people, customer service, your graphics and web team, etc.).
• What will help them be successful at their piece of the business, and how can you empower them to do their best work through social?

Who Has Permission for What?

Just because someone has a saved seat in the car does not mean they should be given the keys to drive. It is important on each platform to know what your options are for administrative access.

For example, on Facebook permissions range from an “Analyst” who can only view statistics, to an “Admin” who has full access and can add other administrators, and even delete the whole page. Find out what each person needs to do their job well and fit their access accordingly. This step alone can solve a multitude of problems.

How to change the permissions settings in Facebook.

(BTW, Agorapulse allows users to get even more specific with page roles with the power to create custom roles, custom permissions and assignments for all your team members.)

How Is Social Media Training Managed?

Just as important as social media training at the beginning of your offerings, is ongoing training for your staff to keep them up to date. Make sure your training includes information about new aspects of social media itself, and that your employees understand the nuances of each individual platform (like correct use of hashtags), but also think outside the social media box. When your company does sensitivity training or sexual harassment training, ask if they have a social media component. If not, add it.

What Tools Can You Use to Improve Internal Communication?

One of the most important ways to turn social media fans into customers is to respond quickly and with the information they need. With multiple social media accounts and several people managing all the activity, too often things can get missed. An important part of any successful social media strategy should be determining the process for making sure the right person sees the right messages. This can be the difference between gaining a loyal customer and losing a sale.

Don’t leave this piece to chance. Take advantage of technology to help improve the communication inside the team. For example, Agorapulse allows you to assign any message in your account (whether that be a direct message, or simply a mention or search result) to any manager on your team. You can even include a comment, giving you the chance to pass on an idea, question, or reminder.

Who Will Track Results and Make Recommendations?

Finally, build into your social media policy a system of review and updates. You don’t want to discover that an employee fired three months ago still has rights to delete your Facebook page after the fact. The key parts of a review are:

• Tracking results from social media efforts compared to goals
• Making sure that permissions and responsibilities are up to date
• Adjustments are made to improve conversion and performance

Again, using tools will help with this considerably. A good place to start is the reports section in Agorapulse that will allow you to do a deep dive into your social media results. Make sure one person is assigned to reviewing and distributing the reports on a regular basis, along with checking users and permissions.

Tell Us About Your Social Media Policy

Does your business or agency already have a social media policy in place? Is it reviewed regularly? Have you seen any successes or failures because of your social media policy – or lack thereof?