One of the standout findings from Optix Solutions’ recently published Social Media Survey was that almost three quarters of respondents using Social Media had no policy guidelines in place to ensure people across their organisation engaged with it effectively and appropriately.

Social Media – Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube etc… – has exploded on business in the past couple of years, and because of its meteoric rise and its quick and spontaneous nature, many organisations have struggled to master how to ensure staff use it in a structured and joined up way.

Always keen to help businesses and organisations get to grips with this now integral communication and marketing tool, we have produced a free-to-use Social Media Policy Generator, which allows businesses to create basic Social Media usage guidelines for staff that reflect the specific characteristics of  their organisations.

Social Media is fast becoming part and parcel of everyday business life, from its potential as an online marketing tool to internal communications and customer services. How you use Social Media across your organisation increasingly says a lot about you.

At Optix we advise many of our clients on how to use Social Media to best effect. One of our standard starting points is to help draw up a policy that gives clear guidance as to how to use Social Media as a representative of that business or organisation. These policies are then often included in contracts of employment.

The Policy Generator tool asks three simple questions: whether you have an existing Social Media strategy, the number of staff employed and which Social Media platforms you use or intend to use.

On the basis of this we send you a draft policy, including general guidance and advice tailored to your organisation’s profile, which can then be adjusted and added to as required.

The Policy Generator has proved more popular than we could have imagined, with the size and range of subscribers going to prove just how relevant Social Media has become in all walks of business life.

Subscribers so far have included an internationally renowned North American 0pera company, a leading UK IT group, Charities, Travel Companies, Architects, Solicitors and even a University!

The beauty of it is that it provides the basis of a robust Social Media policy for any organisation using these social tools. If you then want to build the policy into a more far reaching Social Media strategy, Optix Solutions consultants will be able to help you with that too.

Why not give it a try? It’s free! http://www.optixsolutions.co.uk/free-social-media-policy-generator/