Even the smallest brands often have multiple people dipping into their social media accounts every day. And this can sometimes lead to differing posting styles, inconsistent publishing, or even missed comments from fans.

So, what can help? A style guide.

Implementing a social media style guide alongside your content plan can help you to maintain consistency across social platforms. Whether you're a large corporation with dozens of social media accounts or you're a single person managing a brand's social, you'll need a social media style guide to stay consistent with your audience.

We’ve created a step-by-step overview of what social media style guides require, so that you can be robust and hit the mark every time.

In this guide:

What is a social media style guide and why is it important?

Before we look at the steps you need to take when creating a social media style guide, it's important to understand what it is.

Your social media style guide is effectively a handbook that your team can use to help you maintain a consistent brand presence across platforms. It outlines rules for your content's look, feel, and tone.

Fail to adhere to these guidelines and your brand identity quickly looks unprofessional. This can lead to severe branding issues that take a lot of time and resources to correct.

Now, your social media style guide should be a shareable document that details how to present your brand style on social platforms. It covers language use, visuals, and content formatting. It might form part of your overall brand guidelines for other channels like your website, product designs, and internal communications. After all, social media is just one part of your company's wider brand image.

A well-defined brand style is crucial for maintaining a recognizable and cohesive brand presence on social media and other digital channels. Get this wrong and your audience won't recognize you or relate to you. In the world of social media, an inconsistent brand is quickly spotted.

The importance of consistency

Social media is often where audiences connect most closely with brands, which means consistency can be vital. If you're inconsistent then users tend not to gather a deep understanding of your brand, values, products, or services. In turn, they switch off and affiliate themselves with a more consistent, understandable competitor.

When your content looks and sounds the same across platforms, you:

  • Reinforce your brand identity
  • Make your content instantly recognizable
  • Stand out against your rivals
  • Build credibility with your followers
  • Avoid confusion or mixed messages

Your style guide is the playbook you need to remain consistent and save time when creating social posts. After all, your team can create content faster when they have clear guidelines – and templates – to follow.

This efficiency allows you to post more regularly and engage with your audience more effectively, which are probably two core goals in your social strategy.

Three key components of a social media style guide

The point of a style guide is to ensure consistency and optimum performance of all social media posts. So, your guide needs to cover a lot of things – but in a way that is digestible to the reader.

For example, too much detail and too many instructions means the person in charge of tweeting your content on X might spend too long trying to meet those rigorous standards. Equally, too little detail and it’s likely that you’ll become inconsistent in your approach.

A social media marketing strategy is crucial for creating this focused approach tailored specifically for social media platforms. Here are the components you definitely need to include in your social plan.

Voice and tone guidelines

Brand voice is how you speak to your audience. And it's imperative that everyone knows what yours is. Define your voice with three-to-five key traits like "friendly," "professional," or "bold."

Outline how these traits come across in your posts before you go into further detail around tone.

Tone can vary based on the platform and situation. Explain when to use a more casual tone versus a formal one. For example, you might opt for a casual tone on TikTok when you're connecting on a more relaxed platform. However, on X you opt for a professional tone because that's where you field complaints.

Visual identity and branding

Next look at your visual style and consider how it relates to your target audience. Your visual content on Instagram needs to match those on X, LinkedIn, Facebook, etc. It then needs to mirror your website, your press releases, and everything that is part of your brand’s output.

Specify your brand colors – with exact hex codes – approved fonts for graphics and captions, and copyrighted logos for social media use. Include minimum size requirements and clear space rules.

Provide guidelines for image styles. Do you prefer bright, colorful photos or a more muted aesthetic? Explain how to choose on-brand visuals and create a brand identity document that sits within your social media style guide.

Remember, consistency in visual elements like images and videos is essential to maintain brand recognition across social media channels – especially because that’s what users want. They love consistency, which is why influencers do similar TikTok video content again and again and again.

Finally, create templates for common post types so you don’t have to redesign posts every time. This cuts down on the time spent on content creation and keeps your feed cohesive.

Grammar, punctuation, and spelling rules

Lastly, be sure all your content is error-free. Clear writing rules help your team in content creation and avoid problems with spelling, punctuation, emoji use, and hashtag choices.

List common words related to your industry and how to spell them. This might sound obvious, but you’d be surprised how many people get these wrong. Include any brand-specific terms and their correct usage too.

Outline punctuation preferences. Do you use the Oxford comma? How about exclamation points? Are emojis necessary when you create posts? Will you use hyperlinks within posts? These are the sort of things you need to nail because otherwise each post will look different.

Then there’s numbers, capitalization, use of brand names and @ mentions, and how you sign off official posts. For example, if someone posts a complaint, do you address them in your response as the brand, or as an employee of the brand?

Platform-specific guidelines for social media

While your social media style guide naturally needs to focus on consistency across various platforms, there are times when you need to tweak things to fit each one. This platform specific content is crucial in any guide, so let’s take a look at what you can do.

Tailoring your content for each platform

Platforms like Facebook and Instagram automatically resize their content to publish on the other site because they’re both owned by Meta. However, generally each platform works in silo from the others, so you need to be aware of what works on some sites, and not others.

Facebook: Allows longer posts, long-form videos, and image carousels. This is great for launching an entire ad campaign in one place.

X: Free accounts get just 280 characters to play with, so you need eye-catching visuals to stand out. Get X Premium and you can write up to 25,000 characters in a post.

Instagram: High-quality photos and short videos are favored here. Use Instagram Stories and Reels for behind-the-scenes content or time-sensitive updates.

LinkedIn: The ideal platform for professional content. This is where you share industry insights, company news, and longer articles. You probably won’t repurpose your Instagram Reel for LinkedIn.

TikTok: A positive, fun platform where authentic short-form videos form the basis of your social media strategy. They need to align with trends, making it hard to plan your social media marketing content ahead of time.

Tracking social media metrics can help measure the effectiveness of your tailored content across these platforms.

Emoji and hashtag usage

How many emojis is too many? Probably three, if we’re being honest.

Emojis can be great for quick responses and cheeky posts – but go overboard and your brand soon loses credibility. It’s a good idea to stick to just two or three regularly-used emojis. Keep them neutral and positive.

If your brand identity uses color, then you could use emoji colors too.

As for hashtags, never go above five relevant hashtags per post. You can create branded hashtags for campaigns or events but just be sure not to overdo it. Encourage your audience to use them when sharing related content.

Best practices for inclusive and accessible content

Creating inclusive and accessible social media content helps reach a wider audience. However, there’s an art to engaging with audiences in this way – and it’s something everyone who has access to your social channels needs to learn. Inclusive and accessible content can significantly enhance the effectiveness of social media campaigns.

Here are some quick tips that will help you develop strong practices that you can outline in your social media strategy guide.

Using the language of inclusivity and sensitivity

Brands must ensure their social media content is inclusive if they are to avoid severe criticism from social media users. Inclusivity is the best way to attract a wider audience too.

So, be sure your social media strategy incorporates gender-neutral terms like “everyone” or “team”. It’s a small thing but it can really make a difference.

Of course, you also need to avoid stereotypes and offensive language. Be mindful of cultural differences and use person-first language for disabilities. Your brand might never need to talk about these things but it’s still important that you have such guidelines within your social media style handbook, just in case.

Be sure, too, to check your content regularly for potentially insensitive words or phrases. If you’re operating a posting schedule for a campaign launch, for example, then at least two employees should look over everything that’s about to go live.

Accessibility guidelines

Include in your guide a full overview of how you make your content fully accessible on social media platforms. After all, not everyone can see and hear what you post.

Here are a few examples of what you can do:

  • Add alt text to images describing key visual elements.
  • Use camel case for hashtags to improve readability (e.g, #SocialMediaTips).
  • Provide captions or transcripts for videos.
  • Use a readable font and high color contrast for text.
  • Avoid flashing content.
  • Limit emoji use in important text.
  • Make links descriptive (e.g., “Read our blog post” not “Click here”).

Oh, and be sure to test your content with screen readers to ensure it’s easy to understand.

Additionally, social media tools can help in making your content more accessible by providing features like automated alt text and captioning.

Content curation and UGC

A big section of your social media style guide needs to focus on how you curate content and leverage user-generated content for your own benefit. By sharing valuable posts from others and showcasing content created by your audience, you’ll build trust and engagement. A well-defined content strategy can help in curating and leveraging user-generated content.

However, content curation naturally comes with risks because you’re inviting third-parties onto your platforms. These posts might appeal to your target audience but they could also alienate users if you’re unlucky.

Here’s what you need to include in your social media style guide when it comes to sourcing and sharing content.

Curation policies

You’ve got to set clear rules for content curation. Assign specific team members to this task – those who know your brand inside out. They’ll need to have access to your social accounts and have the authority to curate and collaborate with others.

All posts that you co-publish or source must align with your content marketing strategy, brand values, and audience interests.

After all, something as minor as a retweet could lead to a public relations disaster if you get it wrong. Don’t forget your own original posts too – aim for a good balance.

Give credit to original creators. Use quotes or screenshots when sharing others’ content and add your own thoughts to curated posts to provide extra value. This is particularly good on X and LinkedIn.

Make sure you outline your policy around content rights. Check copyright before sharing and make sure you have permission to use images or videos. Avoid sharing copyrighted material without proper authorization, otherwise your brand risks legal action.

Guidelines for UGC

Create a UGC policy that outlines the types of content you’ll accept and how you’ll use it. This can be shared with your colleagues and also influencers or brands.

Be clear about ownership and rights, and ask for permission before using UGC from others.

If you launch a campaign that reshares your audience’s messages, for example, send them a direct message or comment to get approval before you spread their post. Thank creators when you share their content too.

Your social media style guide also needs to outline a process to review UGC. Check for quality and brand fit before sharing. Allocate the role of removing inappropriate or offensive content to a specific employee who is trusted to make the right calls.

Using a content calendar can help in planning and scheduling user-generated content effectively.

Social media post formatting rules

Formatting is a big issue for brands who are trying to maintain consistency in content creation. Even something as simple as using the right font on images, or the same branded hashtags in captions, needs thinking through.

Creating consistent, engaging posts is what gives you a strong social media presence. So, be sure to introduce clear guidelines to maintain your brand’s voice and style across platforms. Here are some to help you get started.

Post structure and formatting

Make sure your posts are structured and formatted the same way. This doesn’t mean every LinkedIn post has to follow an identical format, or every Facebook image needs the same border round it – but make sure the basics are similar.

We’re talking about the consistencies within posts, such as the tone, language, color pallets, and use of audio. Your X posts, for example, might follow the same basic template that ends in the same hashtag.

Or, your TikTok video content might always sign off with a branded logo that draws the user’s attention back to your company. Or you might have the same people in your posts. These sort of things really help maintain a brand’s consistent social media presence.

A content calendar can help in planning and structuring social media posts, ensuring that your brand maintains consistency across all platforms.

Frequency and consistency of posting

Another issue with consistency relates to how often you’re posting. A consistent posting schedule is a crucial part of your content strategy. Each platform needs a posting schedule that your employees can easily check when looking over your social media style guide.

For example, aim for one or two posts per day on Facebook, TikTok, and Instagram, between three and five a day on X, and just one or two per week on LinkedIn. Adjust based on your audience’s engagement.

Use a content calendar to plan posts in advance – the ones available on social media marketing platforms like Brandwatch are great. Monitor analytics via your platform and you’ll find your best posting times.

Social customer care

The bulk of your social media style guide will probably focus on what you do to create posts, deliver campaigns, and generally manage your social media accounts. However, it’s important you also have a section that focuses on customers.

Only with effective policies and guidelines can you ensure your social media team delivers optimum customer care every single time. Get this wrong and your brand will be exposed to all sorts of reputational risks. Social media management tools can help in delivering effective customer care by streamlining responses and monitoring customer interactions.

Establishing social customer care policies

Here’s how to establish a care policy so business accounts don’t fumble this crucial aspect of the social media plan.

Your first job is to map out what happens when someone complains or brings forward an issue via social media. Utilize social media monitoring tools to track and address customer concerns effectively. Create a process whereby the right people are notified when an issue comes through. Create clear response time expectations and ensure they align with the needs of your target audience.

Then train your team on brand voice and appropriate ways to handle common issues. Understanding your target audience is crucial for tailoring your communication. You might opt for a template response or allow a customer care operator or address each complaint individually.

Use social listening tools like Brandwatch to catch and address customer concerns proactively. You can then keep sensitive information private by moving conversations to direct messages when needed.

Track key metrics like response times and customer satisfaction scores, and see how they match up with your social media style guide. Are you hitting the targets you set? If not, review what’s going wrong in the customer care process and make changes.

Establishing approval workflows

Finally, it’s time to look at the necessary approval workflows that will define how well your social media style guide is executed. Establishing a content approval process is crucial for maintaining consistency.

Brands often struggle to maintain consistency because their workflows are muddled, which stems from a lack of social media management. So, you have to be proactive here and spell out who does what, when they do it, and whether there are social media targets attached to these actions.

Efficient workflows ensure timely publishing while allowing for necessary reviews and optimizations.

Building an approval process for social media content

Your social media style guide should have a dedicated section purely to focus on the content approval process. After all, the person who sources material, creates content, optimizes it, edits it, and publishes it might not be the same person at all.

Marketing material often goes through multiple pairs of hands before it goes live on a social media platform. You therefore need a proper approval process.

Now, the process scale will be relative to the size of your team. If you own your brand and employ a single social media marketing employee, then it might simply be a case of you approving whatever they source and create.

If you’re part of a wider team that has different people working on different platforms, then your social media guide needs to outline the process for each one.

Start by defining these clear roles and responsibilities within your team and assign specific people to create, review, and approve content. Use a project management tool such as Brandwatch to track content through each stage.

Set up a calendar with content deadlines and publishing dates, and make sure everyone can access your social media style guide whenever they need it.

Your approval workflow is the template that you can then use to sign everything off. Whether it’s marketing material, user generated content, rewriting community guidelines, or adjusting your brand’s voice – it should all be outlined in your social media style guide and have a simple, clearly-defined approval process.

Frequently asked questions

A social media style guide helps brands maintain consistency and professionalism across platforms. It’s integral to any social media marketing campaign because it acts as the handbook you and others can refer to, meaning you don’t waste time correcting errors and checking in on each other. A well-defined content strategy can also aid in creating and using a social media style guide.

Let’s now explore some key questions about creating and using these essential documents.

What elements should be included in a comprehensive social media style guide?

A good social media style guide features a lot of details, which can be boiled down to:

  • Brand voice
  • Imagery and video guidelines
  • Posting practices
  • Specifics for each social media platform
  • Details on how to handle complaints
  • Formatting rules
  • Establishing approval workflows

Additionally, using a content calendar can help in planning and organizing social media content effectively.

How can a brand ensure consistency in their social media messaging?

The best way to ensure consistency is to set clear guidelines and share them with your team in your social media style guide.

Use templates for common post types and have a review process for content before publishing. Use scheduling tools to plan posts in advance and regularly audit your social accounts to check for consistency. Implementing a content approval process can also help in ensuring consistency in social media messaging.

What are some best practices for creating effective social media brand guidelines?

A social media style guide is ineffective unless you include brand guidelines. Keep them concise and easy to reference, and explain the similarities and differences required across each platform.

Make it accessible to everyone in your social team and ask them for their feedback. Be ready to rewrite and update your social media style guide regularly.

A well-defined content strategy can help in creating and maintaining effective brand guidelines.

How should a social media style guide be updated over time?

A social media style guide needs to be reviewed, and potentially updated, every quarter. That's because every social channel you operate must be aligned with each platform's latest algorithm. Fail to do this and your content won't reach as many people.

Track social media trends and platform changes, and get feedback from your team on what's working.

Analyze your social media metrics to inform updates. Be ready to add new sections as needed, like guidelines for emerging platforms like Bluesky.

Can you provide examples of how to format different types of social media posts?

Effective content creation involves formatting posts according to platform-specific guidelines.

For X (formerly Twitter), use short sentences, stay within the character limit, and only include relevant hashtags. On Instagram, focus on high-quality images with concise captions that keep users engaged.

For LinkedIn, share industry insights with professional language and be willing to long form content. On Facebook, mix text, images, and video for engagement.

For TikTok, ensure you post consistent, engaging content that appeals to your audience time and time again.