Social Media Best Practices

UIU Primary and Secondary Account Administrators

Before posting to one of UIU’s social media platforms, consider the following questions:

• Is social media the best outlet for this content?
• If so, what social media outlet is the best? One? Multiple?
• Who is your message’s intended audience?
• Would I be interested in this content?
• Have I already posted to the social media site today?
• When should I post? Day? Time?
• What is the call to action? What do I want the audience to do?
• Is the post grammatically correct?
• How can I make my post more interesting (e.g., photo, video, links)?
• Did I use the correct hashtag(s)?

General recommendations: 

• Audience: Always acknowledge your audience is. Be precise in your tone, topic and writing style. All posts should be written for them.
• Content: Post different types of content to keep the audience interested. Post questions, videos, pictures, trivia, contests and other types of content to keep the audience interested. Good content is the key to engagement. Remember, content always trumps tools.
• Embed: When possible, post photos and videos on the page so the user does not have to leave the page to view the content.
• Emergencies: If you are made aware of a safety concern to life or property through a social media account administered by you, follow UIU protocol for your location to notify the appropriate UIU people in the event of an emergency. At your very earliest avialablity, please send an email to [email protected] with a screen shot of the post so OCM is aware of the matter and can assist, as needed.
• Engage: Social media is a two-way street. For example, ask your audience what they think; some of the best ideas come from listening. When questions and comments are posted, reply within 24 hours.
• Events: Announcements of events should use #upperiowa, the official UIU hashtag.
• Fairness: Don’t favor one area/unit over another. If there are dozens of content contributors on each page, be sure to recognize everyone.
• Flexibility: Upper Iowa University accounts are constantly evolving. Be flexible. Try new things. Ask for ideas. Share successful ones with others.
• Frequency: Each primary page should post an average of 3 times a week. Secondary accounts should post at least once a week.
• Measure: On a monthly basis, review the number of followers and posts in relation to engagement levels. The goal is to see overall improvement. Set goals for what you would like to achieve.
• Share: When appropriate, tag or repost from primary and secondary pages to increase cross-promotion. That being said, if less than 50% of a page’s content is original content, OCM may ask if the page/platform is still necessary.
• Upper Iowa University: As with everything we do, remember that our goal is to share something good about Upper Iowa University. Keep the institutional position in mind and think about how you can share UIU’s best stories in a creative way.