August 8, 2025
Everyone is familiar with the AP Stylebook – formal writing guidelines that keep communications consistent. But social media? That’s a very different beast. Platforms move fast, formats evolve constantly and your tone needs to be on-brand – and within each platform’s character limits.
Without a social media style guide, organizations often face:
- Fragmented brand voice across platforms and authors.
- Inconsistent tone or terminology, especially in replies and captions.
- Unclear standards around visuals, hashtags, tagging and emoji use.
- Compliance risks or tone mismatches in sensitive industries.
A social media style guide can ensure your brand’s presence is cohesive, professional and audience-centered – regardless of who’s posting or responding on your brand’s behalf.
Below are our top five tips for improving your social media style guide:
1. Start with brand voice and purpose.
Define the tone, personality and values your brand brings to social conversations. Who are you speaking to – clients, prospects, partners – and what impression should each experience deliver? Specify whether your voice is authoritative and polished, warm and conversational, playful or educational.
2. Establish platform-specific guidelines.
Different channels require different approaches. In your style guide, include:
- Voice and tone benchmarks for LinkedIn vs. Instagram vs. X (and other platforms).
- Post formats, character limits and key hashtags per platform.
- Visual guidance, such as image dimensions, brand colors, logo usage, etc.
3. Set clear best practices for using emojis, hashtags and tagging.
Your social media style guide should outline the following:
- Frequency of emoji use, which ones are on-brand and where/how to use them.
- Your hashtag policy, naming conventions, capitalization, quantity per post, etc.
- Tagging etiquette and how to tag team members or clients in your posts.
4. Provide guidance on tone and etiquette for community engagement.
You want the values of your brand to be apparent in your interactions with followers on social media. Clarify how to handle:
- Replies to comments (positive and negative).
- Escalation processes for a crisis situation or sensitive issues.
- The go-to “voice” for community management: Is it brand-first or person-first (using the human voice behind it)?
5. Create processes for style guide governance and version control.
The last thing you want is two versions of your social media style guide floating around in your team’s files. For a unified, consistent approach, ensure your guide remains current and accessible by doing the following:
- Establish who owns updates, how often the guide is reviewed and how changes are approved.
- Store the guide in a shared location (cloud or internal wiki) with the date it was last updated.
- Provide onboarding training for new team members.
Ready to update your social media style guide or need help creating one from scratch? D&E can help!
If you’re ready to build a social media style guide – or want help reviewing yours – let’s connect. Our team designs custom frameworks that reflect your brand tone, ensure platform alignment, drive engagement and elevate your social voice.
