While these examples offer valuable insights into different approaches to social media style guides, it’s essential to adapt them to your brand’s specific needs and objectives. [Company name] recognizes the limits and risks of social media, and how it can affect our company’s brand, public image, and core values. Therefore, we have created this social media policy to lay out a framework of tested social media guidelines and protocols. A social media policy outlines how your business uses social media channels and what employees should and should not post. It encourages employees to share about the company with their online networks but aims to protect a company’s reputation by establishing guidelines for what’s acceptable. The policy is not only applicable to people posting on behalf of your brand.

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.

Why Every Company Needs A Social Media Policy For Its Employees

While employees should have the freedom to express themselves on personal accounts, they should also be aware that their actions online might reflect on their employer. Personal posts can become public, and once shared, they are often difficult to retract. A well-defined social media policy serves as a roadmap for employees, outlining clear expectations and consequences for online behavior.

This includes upholding the organization’s values and maintaining the appropriate tone and etiquette when communicating with clients, colleagues, or customers online. With the rise of social media, privacy has become a critical concern for both employers and employees. Companies need to ensure that they respect employees’ privacy while protecting their business interests, particularly when it comes to confidential information and workplace interactions.

Establishing Boundaries For Monitoring Employee Accounts

Again, it’s all about creating consistency and establishing your company’s personality and social media style. Whether it’s a cheeky shot at a rival brand or a response to a more serious situation, a style guide helps your team engage and respond in an on-brand way. First, hold an initial “kickoff” meeting with representatives from each department — HR, legal, PR and marketing. This isn’t just for the managers; involve team members who are on the front lines and understand the nitty-gritty of their relationship with social media. The goal is to ensure that everyone understands the purpose and significance of this endeavor, reducing resistance and getting more buy-ins.

How Restrictive Should My Company’s Social Media Policy Be?

Make sure to also include instructions for handling mistakes, such as when to delete and repost or when to issue a correction. One small mistake—like a misunderstood post or a leaked private conversation—can go viral in seconds. Having social media protocols in place helps your team avoid costly missteps by giving them a clear roadmap for posting, responding, and engaging online.

In fact, they even have a quite novel approach to explaining their guidelines – keep reading. But there are also some parts that feel like a team of lawyers had the document in their hands for too long. It’s to FedEx’s credit that they can create one document that hits all the main points without much fuss. That’s because many of its employees are journalists who are paid to report the news in sports.