This is an opportunity to walk them through changes, field questions, and update the policy based on the feedback you receive — if necessary. That’s harder to achieve if HR is the only team that works on the document. Social media is an increasingly common way employees communicate and build professional networks.

Common Social Media Policy Mistakes To Avoid

Clear communication about monitoring practices fosters a culture of trust and accountability, where employees feel respected while also understanding the importance of maintaining professionalism online. An employee might use company-issued devices or internet access to browse social media during work hours. This is often a gray area for many businesses, but a solid social media policy would specify how company resources should be used. For example, if you’re discussing a product or service offered by your company, be sure to provide accurate information and avoid exaggeration. Always double-check facts before posting, and when in doubt, refer to your company’s marketing materials, press releases, or your manager for confirmation. Remember, anything you post online that could be perceived as an official company statement should be reviewed for accuracy.

Gather Input From Key Departments (marketing, Legal, And Hr)

Once you’ve written them, consider working with a designer to create a branded version, so you can include visual examples of your social media posts to engage and inspire your employees. Social media guidelines are a set of rules for governing what kind of content you publish on your brand’s social media accounts. Start by explaining why your organization needs a social media policy. This could be to avoid misinformation, protect customer data, or keep communications consistent.

The policy should include details such as the responsibilities of employees when posting on social media, the values the brand seeks to promote, and the types of conflicts that should be avoided. This clarity helps employees identify potential conflicts and navigate their social media use in a way that aligns with the company’s goals and values. Building a strong brand can take years, but it only takes a few careless social media posts to mess it up.

Remember, it takes just one tweet or post with privileged information to create irreversible damage. In the age of information, discretion is more than just a virtue—it’s a necessity. The confidentiality and privacy guidelines within a social media policy emphasize the importance of safeguarding sensitive information. Lastly, a comprehensive social media policy educates employees about common cyber threats like phishing scams, which often hide behind legitimate-looking messages or links. The social media guidelines provided here should be useful and relevant to the entire CUNY community.

For example, Cadbury ensures a consistent color palette in all their images and videos to maintain their brand image. No other chocolate brand would dare use this shade of purple because Cadbury has claimed it as its own. Determine the amount of time that your employees are allowed to include a campaign hashtag or the ideal number of hashtags that can be used with a single post. Since social media allows you to interact more personally, there are more chances that your employees will hand out more information than they should or fall prey to an internet troll.

This step is about setting up a system to keep an eye on social media activity related to your company. It’s crucial to monitor how your brand is represented and ensure everyone follows the established guidelines. Navigating social media can be tricky regarding copyright laws, but this section is here to help. You’ve got to make sure everyone’s playing by the rules—whether it’s about using images legally or making sure you’re following industry-specific regulations.

If employees talk about work stuff, they should say their views are their own, not the company’s. That means respectful communication, sharing information that’s true, and sticking to professional language on every platform. Companies in all sorts of industries are tightening up social media rules as geopolitical tensions prompt firms to urge staff to stay social media safe. Each employee then receives a notification that they have an engagement request, and they can click the link to view all requests in their personalized Gaggle.

Unfortunately, Clorox overlooked this important fact when the update was released. If you violate this policy inadvertently, you may receive a reprimand. We expect you to comply after that, or stricter disciplinary actions will apply.

While employees must obey the general code of conduct, regardless of whether or not they’re posting content on behalf of the company, adding a disclaimer can help your brand avoid controversial situations. On the other hand, if employees are not posting on behalf of the company, you may want employees to explicitly state that all opinions are their own and do not reflect the company’s official viewpoint. You can ask employees to add this disclaimer to their bio or on the specific posts they create. They also help employees feel more comfortable engaging online as social media guidelines clearly define acceptable social media behavior and state the consequences of breaking those rules.

This infographic shows exactly what I mean, breaking down how a core element like typography can be adapted across different platforms while still feeling like your brand. This dictates the feel of any text on your images or in your videos. Pick one or two core fonts—a primary one for bold headlines and a secondary one for body copy—and commit to them. Specifying the exact fonts and weights (e.g., “Helvetica Neue Bold” for titles, “Roboto Regular” for text) ensures every single graphic feels like it belongs to the same family. If you’re still on the fence, our guide on choosing colors for your brand can help you think strategically.

If people know that the employee works for your company, their actions could be a reflection of your company. Dell’s policy is designed to ensure that employees’ social media activity aligns with the company’s company values and goals. It’s not enough to have a policy—it needs to be communicated clearly and regularly to ensure everyone is on the same page. Make the social media policy easily accessible, whether through the company intranet, employee handbooks, or a shared online platform.

For example, they might need to include a disclaimer like, “Opinions are my own,” and avoid sharing sensitive company information. A good social media policy helps everyone on your team understand the rules—what’s okay to post, what’s not, and what to do if something goes wrong. In a few cases, companies might just block certain people from using the business’s social media accounts. To prevent this, outline in your social media guidelines that employees should alert a manager, a human resources staff member, and/or a member of the social media team of the instance. Social media guidelines ensure employees accurately represent the brand online to avoid negative PR, branding, and legal/financial consequences.