Social media is one of the biggest digital marketing avenues for businesses across the world, not least B2B companies, where it can be both the start and end point of a sale – 75% of B2B buyers use social media to make their purchase decisions.
Despite its popularity, however, there are certain factors to consider before tackling platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, TikTok or Linkedin.
If you are running a B2B organisation, you are likely to be following regulations and agencies in order to trade and be auditable in the market. This is not going to stop when it comes to social media, which has its own set of regulations to follow.
Social Media Compliance
Social media has a number of regulations and requirements for B2B companies, including the GDPR (EU General Data Protection Regulation), FOIA (Freedom Of Information Act) and the CBPR (Global Cross-Border Privacy Rules Forum) – check out the blog section of oktopost.com to learn more.
It is essential that you abide by these regulations, not just to “follow the rules” but to protect your company from financial and legal repercussions. It’s easy for a company that is new to social media to trip up when it comes to what they are posting and how they are using certain platforms.
But if you know which regulations apply to your company, you can set plans in motion to effectively engage with the public without the concern of fines or lawsuits.
Creating A Social Media Policy
The best way to achieve this is by creating a social media policy that is bespoke to your own organisation. Look at your style, your brand, your marketing goals and the employees that you are working with; then, create a policy that suits every point.
This will need to cover the security and privacy of your accounts, the protection of your brand – what sort of content you are creating and how you are engaging with followers – as well as strict guidelines on who can post on your social media accounts and how they can comply with regulations – a step-by-step guide that must be followed.
The Answer To Social Media Compliance
As well as this, you will need to carry out frequent risk assessments, ensure you are avoiding the pitfalls of bad bookkeeping, be attentive to your partners and customers and continue to monitor and control every one of your marketing channels.
It will be challenging – as all compliance policies are – but it is worth it for a number of reasons, not just the fines that you may incur. Having a post or video taken down is something that will undoubtedly harm the reputation of your organisation. Not to mention the higher risk of hackers or fraudulent users who will take advantage of a weak policy.
Social media management platforms – like Oktopost, mentioned earlier – can help to ensure your compliance is a success, with a wealth of support and tools for engagement, analytics and governments at your disposal too. Remember, social media is an important source to tap into your journey to make your company the best it can be.
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