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Planable is the best client-facing social media tool we’ve ever used and we’ve used a lot.
Picture this, you schedule Facebook posts ahead of time, and suddenly, you've got all the extra time on your hands! Sounds great, isn't it? Assuming you have a business page on Facebook, there are a two different ways to schedule your posts: Natively - using the Meta...
In today’s world, social media guidelines are a must. Why? Because all companies are on social media now. And the bigger the company, the higher the chances of someone saying something that they shouldn’t have said on Twitter.
In the following article, we will go through the what, why, and how of social media brand guidelines. Finally, this article is going to cover how Planable can help you maintain your social media guidelines.
A social media guideline is a document that lays down some general rules of conduct on social media. The purpose of social media guidelines is to teach your team how to use social platforms responsibly. Guidelines will turn your team into natural champions of your brand. It prevents that forced feeling many social posts give off.
Social media content guidelines shouldn’t be used to police people. Think of it as a general guideline that everybody can use as a quick reference tool.
For example, franchises could use these social media guidelines in their multi-location marketing strategy to ensure consistent branding and messaging across all their branches or outlets.
How can Planable help you adhere to social media guidelines?
Planable sports a sleek, intuitive workspace where teams can easily manage multiple social media accounts and pages. The clean, straight-to-the-point design means that you’ll never confuse your company’s branded account with your personal Twitter account.
The difference between social media guidelines and social media style guides is that guidelines are general rules and best practices, while a style guide is a concrete set of instructions for visuals and style.
Social media guidelines and social media style guides are often used interchangeably. But they couldn’t be more different.
Social media guidelines are more instructive in nature. They lay down best practices and outline how teams should behave on social media in a healthy way for the company — things like how to reply to angry customers or handle trolls (but more on that later).
A style guide for social media includes guidelines related to how the company presents itself on social media. So, less “what to say to the guy that spams slurs in DMs” and more “are we totally down for Oxford commas or not?” A social media brand style guide also includes recommendations on brand voice, visual style, creating social media mockups, branded hashtags, headline copywriting styles, emoji policy (yes, that’s a thing).
Planable’s collaboration features can help you maintain a consistent voice on social media. Wondering if your copy is on brand? You can upload your post in Planable and invite team members to share their thoughts on the post right next to it in the comments.
Wait, what about social media protocols? Are they any different from social media guidelines?
Social media protocols are the opposite of social media guidelines.
While social media guidelines advise how to behave on social media, social media protocols outline how much time employees can spend on social platforms on company time.
You’ll often see these two terms used interchangeably, so it’s important to make this distinction right from the get-go.
Social media policies are a whole other beast.
It’s a document meant to protect the company/brand from legal repercussions arising out of problematic social media usage.
While social media guidelines act as a reference point, social media policies contain rules for posting on social media, the conduct, as well as the consequences for breaking them.
We’re not going to get into any legalese, that’s a subject for another article. So think about it this way — social media guidelines are instructive, while social media policies are mandatory. One suggests, while the other enforces.
Now that we’ve established the “what”, it’s time to address the “how”. As in how social media guidelines can help your company develop a healthy social media presence.
Remember what I said earlier that your team is your best brand emissary on social media?
What’s stopping many individuals from blossoming into their company’s biggest promoters on social media is, quite frankly, the fear of saying the wrong thing and throwing their employer’s reputation into the gutter.
This document, when done right, can provide everybody with social media guidance, as well as the tools necessary to engage positively on social media.
A social media guideline also helps with a few other things, namely:
By using Planable and its collaboration, planning, and scheduling functionalities, you will be able to maintain a consistent presence on social media and spread the word about your brand. Because, as we all know, the key to succeeding on social media is consistency.
Wait, we’re not done yet. There are a few more things to address when it comes to social media guidelines:
When writing your company’s social media guidelines, you should use two guiding principles: conciseness and providing information.
What do I mean by that? That your guidelines for social media posting should cover these two broad departments:
Nope. That’s a style guide. Pay attention, will you?
The “do’s and don’ts” format is perfect for listing out things super clearly, so start your social media guideline with that. Here’s a good starting point:
Imagine accidentally sharing half-completed assets. Or documents relating to a still-in-the-works-and-totally-secret social media campaign. Or worse, your feelings. Soooo… it’s getting pretty clear what’s coming next, right? Planable’s comprehensive, multi-level approval process ensures that nothing, whether a .psd file, a typo-laden piece of copy, or an entire campaign will go live without the review and approval from the right people. There are 4 security levels, so Planable offers lots of flexibility.
A social media guideline should include links to all the company-branded social media accounts and encourage your team to follow them. This section of the guideline is also a great opportunity to offer a brief rundown of the company’s social media strategy (you can check out a social media agency in London for that), what the purpose of each social media account is, and so on and so forth. For example: this Twitter account is only for responding to customers; this Instagram account is for promoting company culture; Facebook is only for official announcements.
Many social media teams experience efficiency problems due to a lack of proper access to information and resources. Clarity in access and information is the cornerstone of social media collaboration, and it should be the same for your brand social media guidelines.
Therefore, make sure to include links to useful resources, both internal (ex: your company code of conduct, company documents) and external (legal resources, for instance). If your company uses social media tools, include them, too, together with links to tutorials.
Every employer, brand, and company should promote inclusivity, both internally and externally, on social media — that’s a given, and companies that don’t do this have no excuse.
Still, unintentional screw-ups can happen. To prevent this from ever happening, companies should include inclusivity guidelines:
As a general rule, your social media guidelines should encourage your team to practice kindness and positivity online. On the other hand, it should also emphasize that the business does not tolerate any form of online harassment, whether from or against employees.
This section should include guidelines and resources that educate on how to deal with trolls or bullies. Aspects such as who to report it to, how to react, how to identify trolls and bullies (sometimes they’re just angry customers who are being jerks), when to ban, when to block, and so on and so forth.
Team members directly responsible for your social accounts should have a separate set of guidelines covering these issues. The reason is simple — how they handle those sensitive situations could or could not reflect badly on your company. Nobody wants to go through a PR crisis because someone retorted with a “no u” to a troll.
The more technology advances and people educate themselves about cybersecurity, the craftier hackers become (that also sounds like a good marketing line for a movie; my DMs are open, Hollywood).
Anyway, as companies are moving away from paper and more towards digital, incorporating white box pentests or black box pentests into their cybersecurity strategy can help to reduce sensitive data to leak. I’m not going to give you a comprehensive cybersecurity checklist; what I will do is suggest a few tips you should include in your guidelines:
Planable is designed from the ground up with collaboration and safety in mind. Planable is a social media collaboration platform that helps marketing teams and agencies, both big and small, create, collaborate on, and publish content seamlessly and swiftly. All that without dealing with those blasted logistical issues most social media teams usually endure.
But how does this relate to the subject of this article? Well, see, Planable has a few nifty features that will not only help you maintain your social media guidelines but also, like, not need them. Just throw those bad boys in the trash can and use Planable.
Anyway, here’s a brief but sweet list of features that will ensure will help you maintain your social media guidelines:
Social media collaboration at its best
Planable is a tool made by marketers for marketers. One of the biggest conundrums marketers face is related to the logistics of just getting content out there. Is this visual on brand? Does the copy accurately convey our message and mission statement? Is the text inclusive? Will I unintentionally piss someone off if I post this? Does this opossum GIF complement the post, or does it detract from its meaning?
Those are all legit questions that any social media marketer worth their salt should ask.
Planable’s collaboration-centric design is the right fit for teams that want to streamline communication and collaboration. Sign up to Planable, connect your social page, create your posts, and invite your team to leave feedback. How does that work? Everybody can leave their thoughts in the comments right next to the post. That’s where Janice can suggest a few tweaks to the visuals, Mark can fiddle with the copy, and Jennifer suggests a different genus, preferably more memorable, for the GIF. It’s that simple.
Once everybody gives their two cents about a piece of content, it’s time to hit publish.
Planable offers a multi-layered approval system that prevents any post that shouldn’t be published, well, getting published. By using it, teams ensure that the right people (whether clients or managers) have the chance to take a peek at the post and screen it for any brand/inclusivity inconsistencies.
Think of Planable’s approval system as the guard dog of your social media guidelines. The dog being Planable, and the social media guidelines being, well, the social media guidelines. Anyway, here’s how the approval workflow works:
Oh, and while we’re at it – Planable has integrations with Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, LinkedIn, Google My Business, Twitter, TikTok and.Pinterest Check it out for yourself — it’s free.
Why yes, I do!
Intel is a great example of social media guidelines done right. It’s a short, 2-page document that goes straight to the point. It emphasizes transparency, authenticity in language and conduct, and, most importantly, it stresses that Intel employees are responsible for protecting the brand.
Ford’s social media guidelines (or “digital participation guidelines”, as they call them, which sounds like the name of an electro-indie band) is a concise, one-page document that does an excellent job of conveying just how public social media is nowadays. Many people still fail to comprehend the public nature of social media, that anything you post, at any time, could be potentially seen by millions of people if the algorithm gods choose to do so.
Adidas is notorious for its strong mission statement and inspirational marketing campaigns, and its social media guidelines reflect that. It reminds employees that they are responsible for the content they post on social media and goes out of its way to even provide examples. Another great thing about their guidelines is that it assumes right from the get-go that employees are always online, so Adidas encourages them to talk about their work.
It wouldn’t have been weird if the marketing and cultural juggernaut we know as Coca-Cola didn’t provide a strong set of social media guidelines, and they deliver. Similar to Adidas, Coca-Cola embraces the fact that their employees are constantly online and encourages them to be brand ambassadors on social media. It also provides clear guidelines as to how to deal with criticism, trolls, and bad actors. Their guidelines are simple — unless you are a spokesperson, don’t say anything.
Social media guidelines should be the cornerstone of your online presence. In a world where every tweet can become viral and having your reputation ruined can be caused by the right person sharing a bad take, social media guidelines are essential. And to protect your reputation and maintain those guidelines, well, there’s always Planable. Check it out — it’s free.
Content marketer and aspiring YouTuber, in no particular order. Expertise in content writing, social media copywriting, and neo-noir graphic novels. Used to run a music webzine in the 2 seconds in the early 2010s when blogs were hot. I tweet very badly on Twitter.
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