Creating a social media strategy and policy

Creating a social media strategy will help you and your organisation think about why you are using social media, what social media platforms you want to focus on, who you want to reach, what you want to achieve and how you are going to measure your success.

Your organisations social media strategy needs to be clear and achievable - if done right, it will help you and your fellow volunteers be focussed with the limited time you have to spend on social media and feel a sense of achievement when you reach your goals.

It is also advisable to have a social media policy in place that can provide your staff and / or volunteers with a reference point for what is and isn’t OK when it comes to using social media for and on behalf of your group or project.

This doesn’t mean drawing up a big list of rules or a lengthy document full of digital jargon, but creating something short, simple and usable that gives your staff and / or volunteers confidence when it comes to using social media for your group or project.

A social media policy might include: an outline of your organisation’s values and the way you want to present yourself on social media; practical information on who is responsible for what; your approach to posting content; and details on how to deal with negative comments, copyright and password protection.

Ultimately, a good social media policy can help save staff and volunteer time, improve the effectiveness of your efforts, and limit the risk of potential problems before they arise.

Further reading:

‘Ready, set, go! Social media fundamentals’ produced by Third Sector Labs in partnership with OSCR - the Scottish Charity Regulator, takes you through the basics of creating a social media strategy and policy, and includes useful links to further information and example social media policies to help you along the way.

'The Charity Social Media Toolkit' Chapter 2', developed by Skills Platform provides some useful advice on how to manage and plan your social media . This includes top tips on how to create engaging content and measure your success.

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