Social Media Tips

• It’s tempting but don’t just push information. One direction conversations aren’t fun right? Students feel the same way. Reply to posts and prompt more conversations. The platforms are not electronic bulletin boards.
• Get good at using hashtags. Hashtags are handy for both developing channels of information and word replacement. Do a little of both.
• Identify specific goals for your social media platforms. What does your department want to see happen in Twitter? Have a plan to get you there.
• Create your first or 200th social media campaign. Written campaigns spell out your posts and ensure that you have a plan to reach your goal. They can be event based or topical. They are not as difficult as you think. Give us a shout and we can send you some great examples.
• When in Facebook post like Facebook. When in Twitter create posts made for Twitter. No one wants to see a tweet of three words and an fb.me link. Keep in mind our students don’t really want to be sent over to Facebook any longer for information. The exception to this is Instagram which has outstanding sharing features and a convenient way to send your filtered and edited photographs over to Facebook.

Think about our social media platforms as our front desk. Ask yourself how much training, strategy and planning goes into getting our front line ready with all the answers. Your social media platforms should not be any different. Invest the time to see an amazing return in terms of student engagement.

Look for more resources and best practices in the new year.

Student Affairs Social Media Team