Social Media Best Practices in Higher

Education

By Josie Ahlquistwww.josieahlquist.com

@josieahlquist

Social Media Guidance For: Universities, Colleges, Departments, Courses, Programs & Staff/Faculty Professional Usage

• Implement a Social Media Strategy

• Produce Quality & Accurate Content

• Use an Authentic & Transparent Voice

• Manage Platforms with Social Media Managers & Students

• Represent the University Brand & Campus Resources

• Collaborate & Support University Social Media Pages

• Empower Influencers and Engage Audience

• Respect Your Community

• Get Internal Buy-In

• Dive into Data

Ten #SoMe Best Practices in #HigherEd

o Keep in mind your institution, campus position & career goals.

o What practices are in place? 

o Strengths & weaknesses? 

o How does social media align with your institution mission, learning outcomes and/or strategic plan? 

o Who holds the power to implement practices? 

o How does social media relate to your position responsibilities? 

o Who else at your campus can you rally around these best practices?

As you read

Caution: Content Ahead

Due to teaching this content only through slides, visuals are more text heavy than my typical presentations.

Ready? Let’s Roll!

Implement a Social Media Strategy

Social media activity without a strategy is just busy work

#1

• What are your goals for using social media tools?

• Know your audience; who are you trying to reach?

• How much time can you commit to manage platforms?

• Can you produce quality over quantity?

• Who on your campus can you collaborate with that already has an established social media presence?

• Do we really need to be on (fill in the blank) social media platform?  

Begin by Asking:

Produce Quality & Accurate Content1. Be frequent, but not too frequent.

2. Bring value.   Ask yourself, what can  users receive from your site they can’t get anywhere else?

3. Do your research.  Be knowledgeable about what you put out.  

4. Be responsible. Have awareness of the consequences of actions online.

5. Be accurate.  Mistakes happen, so if you make an error, correct it quickly and visibly.  This will earn you respect in the online community.

6. Think twice about everything you post.  Use your colleagues, students and supervisors as your source for feedback when in question.

#Two

Whatever social media method(s) you choose, 

Do it well & do it often.

Even if this is having only ONE platform.

www.josieahlquist.com

Use an Authentic & Transparent Voice

#3

Find your voice

Consider your voice online and how it reflects your already established campus identity.  Are you clever, compassionate, inspirational, silly, straightforward? 

Engage & Interact

Engagement and interaction is more important than the number of subscribers, followers or fans.  Communication cues such as likes, comments, RT, shares and mentions are stronger than total community members.

Be REAL Social Media needs to be authentic.  Especially if your target is students, this audience can tell when posts are automated or not personal. No robots allowed.

Be clear & own your content

Don’t promote something that you personally or the university wouldn’t endorse.

Build an interactive online community

For example, Facebook pages should be kept open so dialogue with your community can be two-way.

Responding to negative comments

Having thoughtful discussions on important topics is a great to way to build your community and is a very important aspect of having a successful social media site.

Seeking Help: Social Media Control Issues

1. People will post negatively about your campus.

2. Do not delete negative comments.

3. You do not have complete control of the message/brand online.

4. Get ahead of the ‘news’ by paying attention and ‘listening’ online.

5. Be so active on social media that your community will correct negative/misinformation.

Accept the following:

Social Media Best Practices in Higher Education

Invest in & empower

social media staff, both professionals

and students.

Invest in & empower social media staff, both professionals and students.

• At minimum, assign at least one administrator who can regularly monitor postings and update content.

• Regular, consistent postings and updates, at least once a week and, depending on the platform, more frequently.

• When practical and appropriate, hire, train and supervise student leaders to co-manage social media pages. 

• Continually seek input and insight into your social media efforts, especially if current students are your target audience.

Love & Respect the Brand you are with

#5

Consistent use of logos and branding.  This includes colors, images, mascots, fronts and another other university/department graphics.

Copyright and trademark materials.  Don't steal another persons work. Always ask for permission and/or give credit.

Maintain confidentiality.  Do not post confidential information about the campus, students, alumni or fellow employees. Use ethical judgment and follow university policies and federal requirements.

Be aware of liability.  You are legally liable for what you post on your own site and on the sites of others.  Never speak negatively/poorly about your university/employer.

Respect University time and property.  University computers and your work time are to be used for University-related educational and business purposes.

Collaborate & Support University Social Media Pages

Social Media Best Practices in Higher Education

Collaboration is a priority and value of higher education, seen in countless programs, events and committees.  

Do the same online.

Follow other university related accounts

Twitter: ‘RT’ & ‘Like’

Create a Twitter list for all university accounts

Actively contribute to positive campus hashtags

Facebook: ‘Share’ ‘Like’ ‘Comment’ ‘Recommend’

Instagram: 'heart’ 'comment’ or 3rd party ‘regram’

Like and share campus YouTube Videos

Show Some Campus Social Media <3  

Empower Influencers

#7

LOOKfor your campus Influencers • Look around your campus and consider what it is known for.• What are prominent campus celebrations, traditions, events,

departments, people &/or buildings?  • Are there ‘popular’ faculty, senior leaders, administrators or

student leader positions that could be showcased? 

Empower and give action to your audience   

People trust people, not brands.

Collaborative strategies that use influencers’ user-generated content have the ability to reach further into the influencers’ community.

Respect Your Audience

Social media content lives forever…

Make it positive

#8

• Abide by an online code of ethics to guide behavior and goal setting for your entire strategy.

• Only post when you are calm & level-headed.

• Pace posts. Don’t flood followers news feeds or event invites.

• Remember: There’s no such thing as a “private” social media site.  

Anything you post lives on…somewhere.

R E S P E C T

Always BE POSITIVE on Social Media

Get Campus Buy-In

#9

Informally share videos, articles & social media research.

Buy-In throughValue Added Approach

Ask advanced social media users on your own campus to be trainers and strategy builders.

Implement professional development on & off campus: workshops, speakers, conferences and webinars. 

Meet staff where they are, from those without accounts or exploring newbies up to expert content creators.

Educate current & future social media campus influencers.  

Preach & educate “the gospel” of social media communication tools.

Even one person at a time.

Dive into Data

Higher Ed Social Media Best Practice #10

Use analytics.  There are a number of indicators available through analytics and analysis measures through social media. 

Assess your social media strategy.   Social media strategy should include setting goals and learning outcomes. Use these for data collection/analysis.

More platforms = more data = more time. The more platforms you are attempting to manage, the more work it will take to track. 

“Listen” year-round: Follow campus hashtags and digital convos to assess the pulse of campus.

Backing up campus social media efforts with measurement tools.

Will your social media strategy produce data that helps tell your story?

#casesmc#hesm#satech#SoMe#edtech

Helpful Higher Ed Hashtags

#edtechchat#digcit#heweb#hemktg#strategycar

#HigherEd #SoMeBloggersAdam GismondiCourtney O’ConnellEd CabellonEric StollerKristin AbellLaura PasquiniLiz GrossJason Meriwether

Joe SabadoMa'ayan PlautPaul BrownPaul EatonRey JuncoSheri LehmanTony DoodyTheresa Walker

The keys to success in social media are being real, being thoughtful, and respecting the purpose of each digital community.

www.josieahlquist.com

Josie Ahlquistwww.josieahlquist.com@josieahlquist

Higher Ed Doc Student | Digital Leadership Researcher & Social Media Explorer | Blogger-Speaker-Author | Proud @theEpicLloyd Wifey |Booking Contact Bass/Schuler Entertainment