Social Media Practices and Procedures
ºÚ°µ±¬ÁÏÍø engages in social media for a variety of reasons: to engage, inform and promote the institution to a variety of audiences. The University does this through five primary accounts:
These accounts are maintained by ºÚ°µ±¬ÁÏÍø’s Division of Marketing and Communications. ºÚ°µ±¬ÁÏÍø also has additional accounts that are operated by individual units.
The use of social media is a critical component of any university’s strategy for marketing and engagement with internal and external communities, and as such should be treated with care and professionalism.
The social media best practices and procedures detailed on this page complement the University Brand Policy and NEIU’s general identity guidelines. These guidelines are the primary point of reference for ºÚ°µ±¬ÁÏÍø’s Division of Marketing and Communications, and are designed to help ºÚ°µ±¬ÁÏÍø employees, student organizations, volunteers, affiliates and consultants (e.g., creative agencies) make appropriate decisions when managing and/or developing new social media channels on behalf of the University.
These guidelines lay out the guiding principles for the Division of Marketing and Communications and establish the expectations and resources for other members of the University community who operate social media accounts on behalf of ºÚ°µ±¬ÁÏÍø offices and departments. These guidelines are designed to map out general considerations, but do not provide specific guidance on planning, content, measurement or other topics related to the successful execution of a long-term social media strategy.
Goals of Social Media
The most successful social media channels have a clear and concise messaging strategy, update their content frequently and know their target audience very well. Here are some general tips to follow to help build a successful social media following:
- Build a community: Promote ºÚ°µ±¬ÁÏÍø’s reputation, increase awareness, and support the University’s mission, vision and values, and strategic initiatives. Recognize ºÚ°µ±¬ÁÏÍø’s reputation as one of the nation’s most diverse institutions of higher education. Reinforce the importance of diversity and inclusion. Support institutional and departmental objectives.
- Connect with your target audience: Decide which social media channels align with your goals the best, and which messages will resonate with your audience the most. Not all groups are on Facebook, or on Instagram. The Division of Marketing and Communications can assist with this consideration.
- Create conversation: Be approachable, yet professional. Build community among NEIU students, faculty, staff, alumni and official partner organizations
- Reinforce important messages: University accounts should support enrollment, retention, recruitment and/or alumni relations in deliberate collaboration with the units that oversee these initiatives. They should share content from, and link to, other official NEIU social media accounts. If you have content that you believe others should share, post to the or email public-relations@neiu.edu.
Creating a Social Media Account
Are you interested in creating a social media account for your unit? Sometimes it’s a good idea; sometimes it is not. Remember, it is better to not have an account than to keep an account that is neglected. Nothing turns off a user faster than seeing an account that hasn’t posted in nine months. Here are three questions you should consider before establishing an account:
- Time and content: Successful social media accounts are active and engaging with their audiences. Does your area have the bandwidth to maintain this level of interaction? If not, consider instead working with higher-level accounts to engage. For example, an academic department may not have the time or amount of content to engage an audience, but can work with the college’s account to make posts.
- Target audience: Do you have a unique audience that will engage over the long run? If not, consider working with a higher-level account.
- Support: Unit heads (chairs or directors) should identify at least two full-time employees to serve as administrators of any individual account. The unit head may designate himself or herself as one of the two account administrators. This ensures continuity when individuals come and go from specific units.