Best Practices

Main Content

Ask questions – Remember this is social media. People want to have opportunities to interact not just hear about what you are doing.

Immediate – Try to get back to people as soon as you can. If someone has contacted you via social, chances are they are expecting to hear back very quickly.

Useful content – Make sure the content you are using is applicable to those who are using your site.

Choose carefully – People do not like to be spammed and many will choose to ‘hide’ you or ‘unlike’ you if you do this.  Additionally, many social platforms will decrease your reach if you are being overly pushy or spammy.

Analytics – This will help you to make sure you are reaching your target audience.  What does it really mean to gain a like/follower/share/re-pin? What is your return on engagement?

Experiment – Don’t be afraid to experiment with new ideas or concepts.  There are many different ways to get results and many resources to choose from.  Don’t be afraid to step out of the box.

Advertise – You need to make sure you are getting the word out about your social media sites.  There are many means to do this, but in order to be successful, you need to find a way to get it done.

Consider blogging – A study at the University of Illinois showed more students read the admissions counselor blogs than student blogs.  Does that mean student blogs are a bad idea? No! Today’s student wants to stay informed. Help them do so by giving them easy access to information.

Dashboard – Consider using a dashboard to host your social media sites.  There are many choices in dashboards, but sites such as HootSuite allow you to see all your social media sites in one application.

Monitor – It is important to monitor what is going on your page.  The more ‘likes’ you have, the greater the opportunity for spammers and trolls.

Be careful – Your fans need to know you are listening to them.  Instead of deleting every negative comment, you should look for opportunities to boost your customer service and create a better overall experience for your community.  There are always the individuals who are over the edge but these are very few.

Search – See what people are saying about you.  Are there blogs with positive or negative reviews out there?  Are people asking questions on Twitter and someone else is telling your story?

Tag – Be sure to use tags in your comments.  This can help network with other departments within campus as well as other groups.