Writing a Social Media Policy: Learning from Coca Cola

By: Ayu Meganingrum – Business Group Director of Fortune PR

The Coca Cola Company have publicized their social media policy online since 2009. Now let us see what this well-known international brand wrote on their written social media policy, and from there we can learn how to write one for our company.

From Coca Cola’s social media policy guidebook, we can learn that a social media policy is divided into three parts; the introduction, company commitments, and employees online social media activities.

We are going to elaborate deeper on each category below:

1. The introduction

This section consists of the policy objectives, the company’s values which should be in-line with the objectives, and brief key points on how to use this guidance. In the beginning of the page, your company should make a very clear statement about the objectives. The online social media principles should be developed to help empower your employees to participate in the new frontier of marketing and communications, represent your company, and share the optimistic and positive spirits of your brand.

Moreover, the values written on the introduction are intended to be demonstrated in the online social media space and to guide the employee’s participation, both personally or acting on behalf of the company. This part should emphasize on advising employees to “have fun, but be smart” when using social media. This is done by using sound judgment and common sense, by following to the company’s values, and by following the Code of Business Conduct and all other applicable company policies.

2. Company commitments

This section consists of a brief statement of the company’s commitment on implementing the policy and the core values of the company in the online social media community. You should write down that your company comply with the core values of online social media community and expect the same commitment from all company representatives (this includes employees, agencies, vendors, and suppliers). You should also state that there will be disciplinary actions if a party refuses to follow the policy. Furthermore, this part should explain briefly about the core values of the company in the online social media community. It should consist of transparency, protection, respect, responsibility, and utilization.

3. Company and employees online social media activities

The last section talks about the rights of employees and agencies to use social media for business and self-expression, while also mentioning the consequences that could happen if they misuse it. You can divide this part into two points. The first is about your company’s expectation for employees’ personal behavior in social media. It is important to explain the difference between “speaking on behalf of the company” and “speaking about the company”. The first part mentions the principles where employees might personally refer to your company. The second part talks about your company’s expectations for online spokespeople. This is aimed for influencer who speaks on behalf of the company.

Through social media, employees have the ability to interact with the whole world. It is important for all corporate PR pros in charge of maintaining their company’s internal communication to provide all employees with training on how to use social media properly.
Source: http://www.viralblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/TCCC-Online-Social-Media-Principles-12-2009.pdf