Social Media Playbook

These are the Nissan approved guidelines for delivering a consistent strategy, visual identity, and tone of voice across your local channels, aligned with Nissan’s brand identity.  

Please note: Given the constantly changing nature of social media, some specifications listed in this document are subject to change. Where applicable, please confirm with your social media platform representative and/or legal counsel.

Visual Guidelines

To ensure a globally consistent approach to creative work, always refer to the Creative Expression Guidelines when developing content for your local Nissan social media channels.

‍Creative Expression Guidelines Overview

Tone of Voice

Our Tone of Voice Is:

• Simple
• Human
• Energizing
  

…with an added “wink.” The focus should remain on being human. The key here is to not sound like any ordinary brand. Give the audience a reason to want to engage with your posts! 

Overall Social Best Practices

Content Creation Recommendations:

• Tell a story through high quality creatives, copy, or both.
• Create specific content strategies for each platform. All content should feel native to the platform in which it is being shared and leverage the platform’s unique features.
• When repurposing content, consider unique platform learners, what each social community responds to, and cater the content to each platform’s best practices. Do not just repurpose the exact same post across all platforms for the sake of consistency.
  
• Use different formats, tools, and features on the platform i.e. videos, carousels, Stories, Live, polls, etc. to increase engagement.
  

Audience Engagement  Recommendations:

• Interact with your audience to build a strong and loyal community.
• Leverage user generated content (UGC) which you have cleared to create a more expansive library of content, showcase love for our audience/community, and drive engagement.
• Consistently investigate reporting and insights to learn from content performance and how the audience is interacting with your page and content. Social platforms are always changing so something that worked last month may not work as well this month.
  
• Consumers don’t want to see ads or feel like they are being advertised at, they want to see engaging, native content that humanizes brands (content that feels captured, not produced).
  
• Test different content to see what the community responds to.
  

User Generated Content (UGC)

User Generated Content can be gathered via tagged photos and relevant brand hashtags.

Goals of posting UGC:

• Create a community and connect with fans
• Build excitement and participation around the brand and brand loyalists
• Diversify content and highlight range of products and experiences portrayed by fans
  
• Incentivize users to promote the brand on their own channels with the hope of being reposted on @Nissan to millions of followers
  
• Help the brand feel more human and authentic
  

Key Elements:

• Varied product shots to highlight diverse offering of models and experiences (interior vs. exterior, EVs, performance vehicles, off-road adventures, etc.)
• UGC content should help to add more humanity and personality to social content. While product-centric content shows stronger performance on Nissan's global channels, platform best practices also recommend content to include a human presence where possible.
• Images will be in alignment with brand guidelines; Modern, Dynamic, Cutting Edge, Warm
  
• Images should be bold, bright, crisp and clean
  
• Bring real Nissan stories to life
  
• Encourage drivers who share content with us to include the story behind their Nissan
  

Avoid:

• Poor quality
• Highly edited photos
• Highly modified cars
  
• Posts with third party logos, artwork, murals, names sculptures, graffiti or other property that appears in the photographs; this may violate the copyright, trademark, or other third part rights.
  

Hashtag usage:

• Brand name + Model name (e.g., #NissanAriya)
• Event name + year *if you have the rights from the organizer to use such event name (e.g., #CES2021)
• Campaign name (e.g., #PowerofZ)
  
• Always use #Nissan with every post
  

UGC Legal Considerations:

• Like with other creative materials, the use of UGC is subject to applicable intellectual property laws. Most UGC will be protected by copyright law. In addition, the person or persons appearing in any UGC are protected by rights of privacy and/or publicity laws.
• You must not use any UGC without the permission of the person who created it and, if applicable, (i) the artists whose artwork/sculpture/graffiti/murals appear in the UGC; and (ii) the person or persons who appear in the UGC.
• In addition, you must also obtain permission for any other property that appears in the photograph/UGC. Otherwise, it should not be used.
  

Here is an sample document when obtaining usage consent on UGC.

‍UGC script + License (Content only available in English):

Please note: Always confirm legal requirements for UGC with your local legal team.

Platform Overview

Establishing a Social Channel

Please take into note of the following recommendations when opening a new social media account.

Considerations:

• Have you explored existing channels in your region?
  Before making the commitment of opening a new channel all efforts should be made in investigating whether existing channels have potential to serve the current need. This could be in the form of channels owned by other functions.
• Do you have suitable resources to establish a social media channel?
  A social media channels requires time, resources and dedication. You will need to plan and post content, engage with followers, report growth and analyze and act on key learnings. You will need exclusive news, pictures and videos to deliver on a regular basis.
• Will your channel match your followers needs and expectations?
  Define your objectives and target audience. Which platform will help your reach your objectives and target the right audience? Increasing likes or followers is not an objective. Make sure you have the resources to engage with your community, manage online crises and monitor online conversations.
  
• Are you ready to commit to a long-term relationship with your followers?
  A new channel means a new space to engage. Make sure that you are ready to commit to this relationship. It only takes a few minutes to create an account but building and maintaining an account takes time, dedication and resources. Can you make such a commitment?
  

Check List:

Creating A Social Media Profile:

• Any social media profile name should be cleared with legal counsel and marketing team prior to usage.
• Regional accounts must include country or location on profile name and description.
• Whenever possible verify your profile. Reach out to your social media representatives for details on verification process.
  

Following Other Accounts

• Nissan social media accounts are permitted to follow other accounts. This includes official accounts of endorsers and sponsorship partners. Always consult with your local marketing team before following other accounts.

Analytics

It is important to listen to your own channels to know what content works well and what doesn’t work well. By tracking how different content performs, you can give fans what they want and build a stronger relationship with the community.

Study Your Content and Platform Metrics

• Evaluate why a piece of content did or did not do well and optimize moving forward (e.g., human presence vs. product only, 15s Reel vs 30s Reel, square vs vertical video, audio only vs captions etc.).
• Keep tabs on your follower growth, audience demographics, audience interests, etc. - Is your content reaching any non-followers? Is your content being shared to drive follower growth?

Monitor Trends

• Discover trends over time, such as which posts did well, when they were posted, the format they were posted in, etc.
• Embrace social listening to understand what your audience/users think of the brand, what your audience/users think of competitors, and potential audience/user needs that can be addressed.
• Track your audience activity to better schedule your posting times/cadence on all social channels (which can result in higher engagement).
• Engagement rate is a key metric for understanding how engaged and active your audience is. But make sure you define your KPIs based on your unique goals for each platform.

Monitor Competitors

• It is important to also monitor competitors - What are users saying about your competitors? What kinds of content are your competitors sharing? How are users engaging with your competitors? What competitors do you share a significant audience with? What competitors exist outside of the auto industry?

Analytics tools are available natively in platforms (e.g., Facebook, X, YouTube).

Legal

Before posting content to social channels, it is prudent to check with local legal counsel to determine if there are any issues with content or media. Failing to do so could open the company to legal action. Below are some key considerations to keep in mind when posting social media content:

• Endorsements: There are guidelines and/or laws requiring social media influencers who post about an advertiser (Nissan) to clearly identify their connection to the advertiser, as this may affect the weight and credibility that consumers give to those influencer’s statements. For example, these guidelines typically require that influencers disclose if they’ve been paid by Nissan to post social copy, or have received free or loaner products or any other gifts or perks. In such cases, the influencer’s posts need to include #ad, #NissanPartner or some other designation that identifies that the influencer has a relationship with Nissan. Please check with your local legal counsel for specific endorsement rules and disclosures.
• Third Party Posts and Content: Only use images, trademarks, sounds, or music that you or Nissan have rights to and which have been cleared for use in advertising. In general, it is advisable to obtain permission before interacting with anyone on social media who is not already associated with Nissan. When in doubt, contact legal. Avoid using images, tweets, posts or other content created by or featuring celebrities without their permission. Avoid using high-profile third party marks (e.g. the names, logos and trademarks of brands such as Louis Vuitton, Coca-Cola, sports teams, entities such as the NFL, etc.) without the third party’s permission, especially in a manner which could imply an endorsement by, or affiliation with, the third party. Re-posting news articles and photographs may implicate the copyright rights of publishers and photographers and should not be re-tweeted or re-posted without permission.
• Nissan Hashtags: Keep in mind that brand-affiliated hashtags and acronyms may be subject to trademark protection. It is therefore advisable to review and clear proposed hashtags or acronyms for trademark issues before use.
• Disclaimers: Similar to content in traditional advertising like print or television, social media posts should contain disclaimers where product claims or comparisons or offers are being made. Disclaimers must always be “clear and conspicuous.” In the context of social media, this means that disclaimers should either be burned into content, prominent enough to be read, or should be included in the social media posts’ caption above the fold (i.e. above the “more” button).