Does your business have a social media policy? You certainly don’t want to wait until you’re doing damage control because of something that was said or shared by an employee on social media. Chances are you have heard so many business owners and celebrities spouting off on social media then having to backtrack and apologize only moments later.
As a business owner, you need to craft a social media policy that everyone in your firm adheres to. You need everyone who talks about you on social media on behalf of your company to be sharing the same messaging and to remain on point with your company’s mission and vision.
Does Your Business Have A Social Media Policy?
Many entrepreneurs hire social media professionals to craft and share their social media messages. Some entreprenuers though, will entrust their business’s online reputation to an intern or to someone in the company who “has an active social presence” withou offering any training or vision or a company wide social media policy.
Don’t put yourself in the position of having to apologize for something said on social. It doesn’t matter if it was you who typed the actual words, you are the company owner and you are ultimately the person with whom the buck stops.
Here are reasons to implement a company wide social media policy:
- It helps assure your mission and vision are being correctly portrayed
- It prevents an employee or contractor from sharing a view on religion or politics that you simply don’t want your business to be involved in.
- It spells out what can, and more importantly cannot be shared on social. You don’t want someone who is doing your social media to announce a potential downsizing before you’ve announced it internally
- It helps prevent objectionable status updates
- It prevents flame wars between customers and staff
- It sets forth a way in which you communicate with customers who are leaving bad or angry comments
Put a social media policy in place and discuss it with staff and with any contractors who may be doing your social media for you. Update and review the policy regularly. Remember, no matter who says it — you’re the company owner and it will fall on your shoulders to do damage control. Isn’t it better if you don’t have to do that at all?
If you don’t have a social media policy in place, reach out to us and we can assist with that.