Engaging with your audience on social media can do wonders for your brand’s reputation and market reach.

Inevitably though, you will encounter problems with some users intent on causing trouble.

How best to deal with this?

Why you need a social media policy

Having a published social media policy or list of “house rules” makes sound commercial sense in this social media age.

A well-constructed social media policy sets the boundaries for acceptable conduct by users engaging with your brand and other users, and also articulates the consequences of not playing by the rules.

The clear overarching benefit is that everyone is on the same page and knows what’s expected of them.

It also makes it easier to deal with users who cross the line, because you can point to your policy and say “I warned you”.

What should a social media policy include?

At the minimum, your social media policy should cover:

·       General rules of engagement – how users must conduct themselves when liaising both with your brand and other fans/followers. This will cover what they must do and importantly what they must NOT do (such as post offensive content or spam, or abuse others).

·       How you will deal with posts that breach the rules and repeat offenders.

·       Exclusion of liability regarding the conduct of those who break the rules.

·       How other users can report behaviour that breaches the policy.

There are other points which should be covered such as privacy, content re-use, and how and when you will moderate your page.

Social media policies don’t have to be dry and boring. I recommend using light, playful language as it’s more likely to get your audience to actually read it.

And what about rules for employees on social media? We’ll cover that next time.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
David Kelly is the founder of KHQ Approved, a fixed fee commercial contract review service. Peace of mind from an experienced team for a reasonable price.