How to Create a Social Media Policy

An active social media presence should not be the goal in itself, but instead integrated with your agency’s traditional marketing strategies. And if you have a social presence but no social media policy in place, you could be exposing yourself to a host of privacy, E&O and security implications.

Deploying a social media policy clearly lays out what is and isn’t permissible when employees are presenting themselves as agency representatives online—and it’s essential for any agency active on social platforms.

To begin, assemble a team to assess areas of attention and help write the policy. You can even use the time to discuss ways to better leverage your social media outreach. Consider younger employees who are social media-savvy ‘go-getters,’ as well as those in the HR, legal and security departments. It’s critical that your agency’s legal counsel is involved in the policy’s creation at its earliest stages to avoid any adverse language or situations.

Review social Web policies of organizations you respect, such as IBM, Dell and Intel, to get an idea of where to start, as well as other independent agency-specific examples available on the Agents Council for Technology website. Here are a few provisions to consider including when forming your official document:

• Company philosophy. Provide a clear definition of why your agency believes the creation of a social media policy is important and consider any restricted access. You may decide to create two separate policies—one internal and one external media document—based on your needs.
• Identification. Employees who have access should be transparent and clear about their title and role when using the agency’s social media accounts.
• Employee sites and profiles. It’s easy to connect individuals to their employers online, which means it’s essential to draw the line between personal and professional lives.
• Recommendations and referrals. State the importance of avoiding misconstruing any customers, employees or partners via endorsement and reference without consent.

Once the document is complete, decide who’s responsible for managing your agency’s social participation. The policy must be properly implemented and consistently monitored, managed and enforced for it to take full effect.

It’s also important to provide thorough employee training when it comes to the policy’s rationale and requirements. Your social media policy is likely to incorporate several agency-wide elements, including professional conduct, security, intellectual property and discrimination—making it a great opportunity to reinforce broader agency guidelines.

Ron Berg is executive director of the Agents Council for Technology.