Social media brand guidelines work when they fit on one page and answer the questions people ask while they're posting: how do we sound, what do we never say, which visuals are on-brand, and who signs off? This template has six blocks. Fill them in once, in under an hour, and pin the page wherever your team schedules posts.
TLDR: Six blocks on one page: voice in three words, say and never-say lists, visual rules, platform notes, an approval rule and a 5-point pre-post check. If it spills onto a second page, cut it.
Block 1: Voice in three words, with an example each
Pick three words, then write one real sentence for each. "Friendly" means nothing until the team sees what friendly sounds like in your captions.
| Voice word | We sound like | We never sound like |
|---|---|---|
| Plain | "Your order ships Friday." | "Your parcel has been dispatched for fulfilment." |
| Warm | "Thanks for waiting, sorry about the delay." | "We apologise for any inconvenience." |
| Direct | "Here is what changed." | "We are thrilled to announce an exciting update." |
Swap in your own. The right-hand column does more work than the left.
Block 2: Words and topics
Two short lists:
- Always say: product names spelled correctly, the tagline you use, the hashtag you own.
- Never say: competitor names, claims you can't prove, jokes about sensitive topics, words your legal team has banned.
Keep each list under ten items. Nobody reads a long one.
Block 3: Visual rules
Give rules a designer can check at a glance: where the logo goes and how much space it needs around it, the two or three brand colours with hex codes, the typeface for text on images, and which photo style is allowed. Link to the asset folder rather than pasting images in.
Block 4: Platform notes
One line for each platform you actually post on, covering tone and length.
- LinkedIn: first person from the company page, no hashtags stacked at the end.
- Instagram: two full sentences minimum, links go in the bio.
- X: short, one idea per post.
In Mydrop's data, captions under 80 characters ran 9% below the account's typical post, and from 80 characters up, length made no measurable difference. A "no one-word captions" line earns its place.
Block 5: Who approves what
Most guidelines skip this block, and it's the one that answers "how do we make sure posts follow the rules when a whole team is scheduling them?"
| Post type | Who can publish | Who must approve |
|---|---|---|
| Routine post from the content calendar | Social manager | Nobody |
| Anything mentioning prices, claims or a person | Social manager | Brand lead |
| Crisis or sensitive topic | Brand lead | Brand lead and legal |
A rule that lives only in a document gets forgotten. In Mydrop, approvals hold a post until the right person signs off, and brands and workspaces keep each brand's voice, assets and team in one place, so nobody posts to the wrong one.
Block 6: The 5-point pre-post check
Put this at the bottom, as a checklist the person posting ticks off:
- Does it sound like our three voice words?
- Is anything from the never-say list in it?
- Are the logo, colours and image style on-brand?
- Are names, links and hashtags spelled correctly?
- Does it need approval under Block 5?
Blocks 1 and 5 written out for a coffee roaster
Here's how Blocks 1 and 5 might look for a small coffee roaster (an example to learn from, not a template to copy):
- Voice: plain, warm, a little dry. "Your beans ship Friday" beats "Your order has been dispatched".
- Never say: "best coffee in the world", health claims, any competitor's name.
- Approval: the owner signs off anything about prices, discounts or health. The part-timer can publish everything else.
Notice that the lists are short and the approval rule names one person. That's what makes it usable on a busy Tuesday.
Keep it alive
Review the page every quarter. Each time a post goes wrong, such as a misspelt product name, add one line, and delete one line that nobody used. A guideline that only ever grows turns into the 40-page PDF you were trying to avoid.
If you need a longer style guide for agency clients or a rebrand, how to create a social media brand style guide goes deeper. For everyday posting, this page is enough.
Next step: copy the six headings into a doc today and fill in Blocks 1 and 5 first. Those two prevent most mistakes. To enforce Block 5 inside your scheduler, start free with Mydrop.
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