Product Overview

Summary: This Social Media Strategy Standard Operating Procedure provides a clear, repeatable framework for planning, publishing, and managing your organisation’s social media presence. It aligns content, tone, risk controls, and approvals with Australian business and WHS expectations, helping you protect your brand while driving measurable engagement and lead generation.

This Social Media Strategy Standard Operating Procedure is designed for Australian organisations that need a structured, compliant and on-brand approach to their digital presence. Rather than relying on ad‑hoc posts or individual preferences, the SOP sets out exactly how your organisation plans campaigns, develops content, obtains approvals, engages with followers, and monitors performance across platforms such as LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, X (Twitter), and emerging channels. It helps align your social media activity with overarching business objectives—whether that’s lead generation, recruitment, reputation building, community engagement, or stakeholder communication.

The procedure also addresses the unique risks and expectations of operating in an Australian regulatory and cultural environment. It guides staff on acceptable conduct, privacy and consent, managing complaints, and escalation pathways for sensitive issues, including incidents that may intersect with WHS, bullying, harassment, or reputational harm. By standardising how your team plans, posts, and responds, this SOP reduces inconsistency, protects your brand, and ensures that both internal staff and external contractors understand exactly how to represent your organisation online.

Key Benefits

• Align social media activity with clear business and communication objectives, ensuring every post has a purpose.
• Standardise workflows for content planning, approvals, publishing and reporting, reducing confusion and rework.
• Protect brand reputation by defining clear rules for tone of voice, acceptable content, and escalation of sensitive issues.
• Support compliance with Australian privacy, advertising and workplace behaviour expectations in online environments.
• Improve performance by setting measurable KPIs and a consistent approach to analytics, optimisation and continuous improvement.

Who is this for?

• Marketing Managers
• Communications Managers
• Digital Marketing Specialists
• Social Media Coordinators
• Content Managers
• Business Owners
• Brand Managers
• Corporate Affairs Managers
• HR Managers (Employer Branding)
• WHS Managers (for review of risk and conduct guidelines)

Included Sections

• 1.0 Purpose and Scope
• 2.0 Definitions and Key Platforms
• 3.0 Roles, Responsibilities and Delegations
• 4.0 Strategic Objectives and Target Audiences
• 5.0 Brand Voice, Tone and Visual Guidelines
• 6.0 Content Pillars and Messaging Framework
• 7.0 Content Planning and Editorial Calendar Process
• 8.0 Content Creation, Review and Approval Workflow
• 9.0 Publishing Procedures and Platform-Specific Requirements
• 10.0 Community Management and Engagement Rules
• 11.0 Complaints Handling, Incident Response and Escalation
• 12.0 Risk Management, Legal and Compliance Considerations
• 13.0 Use of Personal Accounts When Referring to the Organisation
• 14.0 Working With Agencies, Contractors and Influencers
• 15.0 Monitoring, Analytics, KPIs and Reporting
• 16.0 Continuous Improvement and Review of Strategy
• 17.0 Training, Induction and Access Control
• 18.0 Document Control and Revision History

Legislation & References

• Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) and the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs)
• Australian Consumer Law (Schedule 2 of the Competition and Consumer Act 2010) – misleading or deceptive conduct in advertising
• Fair Work Act 2009 – considerations for bullying, harassment and inappropriate conduct via social media
• AS ISO 19600:2015 Compliance management systems (superseded but still informative for governance frameworks)
• AS ISO 37001:2019 Anti-bribery management systems (for influencer and sponsorship transparency considerations)
• Relevant social media platform terms of use and Australian Association of National Advertisers (AANA) Codes