How to write a social media policy for your business. 8 tips to write your own policy on social media for business.
Today, businesses rely heavily on social media to talk with customers and promote their products. Employees are also increasingly using social networking sites, so developing social media guidelines or a social media policy to govern the use of social media in the workplace is a legal and workplace culture necessity.
The following eight tips will help you craft a robust social media policy for your business.
Tip 1: Start a list
Write down all the social media sites your business is listed on. For some, this might be a short list. Once you have your list, it’s time to evaluate your company’s information on these sites.
Tip 2: Why are you there?
Under your social media sites, jot down some reasons why you are there. Are your customers there? Your coffee shop probably doesn’t need its Pintrest account but your Foursquare account brings in new customers consistently. Don’t be afraid to edit, or delete your accounts. The aim is to simplify!
Tip 3: Do a SWOT analysis
By analysing your company’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats, you will be able to pinpoint where you perform the best and use some of that knowledge to improve your weaknesses. For example, you might be really good at driving business to your restaurant on a weeknight with clever Facebook updates but lack the knowledge on how to convert new customers to repeat diners. Your SWOT will be a roadmap to show you where to focus your social media efforts.
Tip 4: Unify your brand
If your twitter account says you’re a two man team with personalised service and your LinkedIn company profile says you are large outfit with more projects than you can handle, then it’s time to think about how you want to position yourself and unify your brand. Once you have a value proposition, edit your social media profiles so your message is consistent. Don’t forget to unify fonts, logos and general stationery too!
Tip 5: Check out the competition
Everybody does it, and for good reason! Google your competition, visit their website, take note of any social media platforms they are on and look to see what they are doing to engage with their customers. Note things you will do different/better too. The following sites will help you determine:
Tip 6: Look at other social media policy guidelines
Before writing your draft policy, it’s a great idea to look at how other companies have put theirs together. A great starting place is social media governance which will probably be at the top of a Google search if you type in social media policy examples/templates.
Tip 7: Get writing
Once you have a clear understanding of what’s involved, it’s time to put your policy together. The size and structure of your business will determine the details of your policy. If you’re a smaller business with fewer than 10 staff, your social media policy will not be as detailed as a business with 500 employees across the country.
The following are likely included in a basic social media policy:
Again, this is a very broad example of what could be included in your social media policy. After researching your competition and comparing other policies, you will be in a great position to tailor your policy to your business’s needs.
Tip 8: Spread the word
Your social media policy will do absolutely nothing if you don’t publicise its existence. It’s tempting to send an email and attach it for your employees, but from a communication perspective, this is absolutely the wrong way to go about introducing any new policy.
By nature, any new company policy is likely to bring about a few eye rolls from your staff which is why it is important to:
If you have any questions about your social media policy or need help drafting yours, please don’t hesitate to contact us.
What is an un conference – a simple guide to participating in an un conference
What is an un conference – a simple guide to participating in an un conference
From a public relations perspective, attending an un conference is unlike attending or organising a traditional conference. I recently had the pleasure of participating in my first un conference at the Mashable Social Media Day, Melbourne 2012. If you are wondering what is an un conference is or are thinking of attending or organising one for the first time – let me enlighten you….
Setting the scene
Take a room full of people who are open, relaxed and ready for anything. Place one enormous whiteboard in a central location and have your whiteboard markers at the ready.
Similar to a traditional conference, the space needed for an un conference will also have designated areas or zones where discussions will take place.
Once guests arrive, you are encouraged to write a question or topic on the whiteboard. As the un conference I attended was social media related, we had questions and topics such as “Creating value through social media” and “Using social media for brand reputation”. Once guests are ready and the first discussion times have topics, an introduction from the host takes place. It’s this introduction that lets everyone know the “house rules” and for newbies like myself, what to expect.
DO-IT-YOURSELF SEO. 5 simple tips to make your website better for search engines
DO-IT-YOURSELF SEO. 5 simple tips to make your website better for search engines.
We’ve been researching Australian websites lately and looking at who is using search engine optimised (SEO) words and tricks to rank their site higher in Google and other popular web search engines. What we’ve noticed is that it’s the smaller businesses struggling with SEO content possibly due to a lack of knowledge and limited resources. On the other hand, the bigger companies are thriving with SEO content, probably because they know how to use social media. With small businesses providing the lion’s share of employment opportunities in Australia, they could certainly use the benefits and recognition better search engine results bring.
While hiring a content writer might not be in your budget, we think the benefits far out way the cost and believe your marketing budget should definitely allow for an online strategy.
In previous posts, we’ve covered a range of website related topics about the importance of great homepage content, how to create amazing web content, how to grow your online readership and asked, what is content strategy? To make your website better for search engines, we’ve come up with 5 ways which will help you ‘do-it-yourself’.