At Reach Further we’re often asked by clients for whom we’re setting up blogs what they should have as their blog policy. Where a company or organisation has a very clear handle on its image and brand and the way it wants to appear to its customers, potential customers and the world in general, then there may be a place for a full blog or social media policy that is integrated with procedures for print and other marketing.
Microsoft, have a very simple policy: “Blog smart”. Microsoft employees are encouraged to blog honestly about the company. Common sense and knowledge of the company ethos can be good enough for an intelligent blogger. For those who need a bit more guidance than “blog smart”, there are a few major principles of corporate blogging that can serve as a starting point for a blogging policy:
Five main principles:
- be honest, open and responsive,
- stay on topic,
- abide by existing rules, eg corporate branding guidelines, copyright,
- be aware of and respect the company’s confidentiality and proprietary information,
- be polite.
A full blogging policy can contain several more points, but they develop from the above principles. For example, a policy on encouraging and responding to comments develops from point 1, being responsive. These five principles are an positive start in creating a company blogging policy.
