social-media-policy

name	social-media-policy
description	Writes social media policies for businesses covering employee guidelines, brand voice, crisis protocols, and compliance. Use when formalizing how your business and team behave on social media.
allowed-tools	Read Write Glob
metadata	{"author":"matthewhitcham","version":"1.0"}

Social Media Policy

When to Use This Skill

Use this skill when you need to:

• Write a social media policy for your business or team
• Define employee guidelines for personal and professional social media use
• Create crisis communication protocols for social channels
• Document brand voice rules and compliance requirements

DO NOT use this skill for content strategy, posting calendars, or writing social posts. This is for governance and policy documents.

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Core Principle

A SOCIAL MEDIA POLICY SHOULD PROTECT THE BUSINESS WITHOUT SILENCING THE TEAM — CLEAR GUIDELINES EMPOWER PEOPLE TO POST CONFIDENTLY.

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Phase 1: Brief

Required Inputs

Input	What to Ask	Default
Business name	"What is your business?"	No default — must be provided
Team size	"How many people represent your brand on social?"	1-5
Platforms	"Which platforms does your business use?"	All major platforms
Industry	"Any regulatory or compliance requirements?"	None
Past issues	"Have you had any social media incidents?"	None
Existing policies	"Do you have any current guidelines?"	None — starting from scratch

GATE: Confirm brief before writing the policy.

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Phase 2: Outline

1. Purpose & Scope
2. Brand Voice Guidelines
3. Employee Social Media Guidelines
4. Content Approval Process
5. Crisis Communication Protocol
6. Legal & Compliance
7. Enforcement & Consequences

GATE: Approve outline before writing.

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Phase 3: Write

1. Purpose & Scope

## Social Media Policy

**Purpose:** This policy provides guidelines for [Business Name]'s social media presence and for team members who represent or reference the company on social media.

**Scope:** This policy applies to:
- All official business social media accounts
- Team members posting on behalf of the business
- Team members referencing the business on personal accounts

**Effective date:** [Date]
**Review schedule:** Annually or after any social media incident

2. Brand Voice Guidelines

## Brand Voice on Social Media

**We are:** [3-4 adjectives — e.g., helpful, direct, confident, approachable]
**We are NOT:** [3-4 anti-adjectives — e.g., aggressive, preachy, corporate, sarcastic]

**Tone by platform:**
| Platform | Tone Adjustment |
|----------|----------------|
| LinkedIn | Professional, thought leadership |
| Instagram | Visual, casual, community-focused |
| Twitter/X | Concise, witty, conversational |

**Topics we engage with:** [List — industry news, customer wins, education]
**Topics we avoid:** [List — politics, religion, competitor attacks, internal drama]

3. Employee Guidelines

## Employee Social Media Guidelines

### Official Business Accounts
- Only authorized team members may post from business accounts
- All content follows the brand voice guidelines above
- Scheduled content must be reviewed before publishing
- Respond to comments and DMs within [X hours] during business hours

### Personal Accounts
- You are welcome to share your work and professional achievements
- When discussing [Business Name], be transparent about your role
- Do not share confidential information (financials, unreleased products, internal discussions)
- Do not engage in arguments or inflammatory debates while representing the company
- Add a disclaimer if sharing personal opinions on industry topics: "Views are my own"

4. Content Approval Process

## Approval Workflow

| Content Type | Approval Required | Approver |
|-------------|-------------------|----------|
| Routine posts (planned content) | Pre-approved in batch | [Role] |
| Community responses (comments, DMs) | No approval needed | Follow response templates |
| Announcements or launches | Approval required | [Role] |
| Crisis or sensitive topics | Approval required | [Role/Owner] |
| Paid/sponsored content | Approval + legal review | [Role] |

5. Crisis Communication Protocol

## Crisis Protocol

### What qualifies as a crisis:
- Viral negative post about the business (1,000+ engagements)
- Customer complaint gaining public traction
- Factual error in published content
- Data breach or security incident
- Employee behavior causing public backlash

### Response steps:
1. **Pause** — stop all scheduled posts immediately
2. **Assess** — identify the issue, scope, and facts (do not respond emotionally)
3. **Escalate** — notify [Owner / Crisis Lead] within 1 hour
4. **Draft response** — prepare a factual, empathetic statement
5. **Approve** — get approval from [Role] before posting
6. **Respond** — post the approved response publicly
7. **Monitor** — track the conversation for 48-72 hours
8. **Debrief** — after resolution, document what happened and update the policy

### Crisis response template:
"We're aware of [issue]. [What we know / what we're doing about it]. We take this seriously and will share updates as we have them. If you've been affected, please [specific action — DM us, email support, etc.]."

6. Legal & Compliance

## Legal Guidelines

- **Disclosures:** All sponsored content, affiliate links, and paid partnerships must be disclosed (FTC requirement)
- **Copyright:** Do not use images, music, or text without proper rights or licenses
- **Privacy:** Never share customer information without explicit consent
- **Trademarks:** Use proper trademark symbols when referencing other brands
- **Competitions:** Contest and giveaway posts must include official rules and comply with platform terms
- **Industry-specific:** [Any regulatory requirements for the industry]

7. Enforcement

## Enforcement

- First violation (minor): Conversation and coaching
- Second violation or first major violation: Written warning and temporary posting restriction
- Serious violation (confidential info leak, discriminatory content): Immediate account removal and disciplinary action

**All team members must acknowledge reading this policy by signing below.**

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Phase 4: Polish

1. Policy Checklist

## Social Media Policy Checklist

- [ ] Purpose and scope are clearly defined
- [ ] Brand voice guidelines include examples and anti-examples
- [ ] Employee guidelines cover both official and personal accounts
- [ ] Content approval workflow is documented
- [ ] Crisis communication protocol has step-by-step instructions
- [ ] Legal and compliance requirements are addressed
- [ ] Enforcement consequences are fair and graduated
- [ ] Policy is concise enough to be read in one sitting
- [ ] Annual review date is scheduled
- [ ] Team acknowledgment process is in place

2. One-Page Quick Reference

Create a one-page summary of the most important rules for daily reference.

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Example: Social Media Policy for a 5-Person Agency

Voice: Helpful expert — share insights, not lectures
Employee rule: Share your work, disclose your role, no confidential info
Approval: Routine posts pre-approved weekly. Announcements need owner sign-off.
Crisis protocol: Pause posting → assess → escalate to owner → draft approved response
Compliance: Disclose partnerships, no customer data shared, respect copyright

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Anti-Patterns

• Too restrictive — a policy that discourages all employee posting misses the opportunity for organic brand advocacy.
• Too vague — "Use good judgment" is not a guideline. Provide specific examples of acceptable and unacceptable behavior.
• No crisis plan — every business will face a social media crisis eventually. Planning after it happens is too late.
• Never updated — platforms and norms change. Review the policy at least annually.
• Not distributed — a policy nobody reads is useless. Require acknowledgment and make it easily accessible.

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Recovery

• Incident already happened: Address the immediate situation first, then write the policy to prevent recurrence.
• Team pushes back on restrictions: Focus on empowerment, not restriction. Frame guidelines as "here's how to post confidently."
• Policy is too long: Cut to the essentials. If it is over 5 pages, nobody will read it. Create a detailed version and a one-page summary.
• No legal expertise: Note that the policy is a starting point and recommend legal review for regulated industries.
• Solo business (no team): Write a personal social media code of conduct — guidelines for yourself to follow consistently.