Social media allows you to reinforce your mission, vision and values, and connect with your audience on issues that matter to them as well.

In the Instagram post below, UCLA is showing their support for Juneteenth, reinforcing their commitment to combating racism.

Tips:

• Schedule your post to echo a current event, e.g. Juneteenth
• Using a popular hashtag (#Juneteenth) to increase the reach of your post

Social Media also allows you to connect with others that share similar vision and values, expanding your network and helping to connect members of your network to your partners.

Note how STEMS^2 is mentioning @808TFellows and @HIDOE808 in the post below.

Tips:

• Using mentions (e.g., @HIDOE808) can lead to added exposure for your post and build up a relationship with @HIDOE808

By the way….

What is a social media MENTION?

It’s essentially a “name-drop” on social media, usually marked by an @ symbol. For example, a  community partner can mention the COE on social media. “Mahalo to @uhmanoacoe for partnering with us!”

What is a HASHTAG?

It’s a term marked with a # that connects or groups social media activity together. For example, CRDG created #crdgsummerprograms, and added this hashtag to their summer programs posts! If someone clicks on this hashtag in Twitter, they will be able to find a list of twitter posts with this hashtag.

A great way to boost your profile and help gain support is to share wins and successes!

In the Facebook post below, CRDG is sharing great news of a new grant and pride in their faculty!

Tips:

• Mentioning your staff and faculty in the post after receiving the permission will increase the post reach
• Hashtags add value by being helpful to users who are searching for information about a particular topic or group

Twitter example:

• Using mentions (@) to increase the post reach
• Inserting a link to direct followers to your designated website

Instagram example:

• This example shows that you can use visual elements to communicate information or ideas
• Notice the illustration follows the branding color scheme

Social media is a great way to connect with alumni and continue maintaining that relationship. Alumni are often willing to stay engaged with your program, such as sharing word-of-mouth updates or volunteering at events, so keep connecting with them and letting them know how valued they are!

Facebook example:

Sharing good news about alumni is a great way to show pride in our alumni!

• Facebook is a top channel to reach alumni and donors
• Cross-promoting COE’s news article by inserting a link

Twitter example:

• A fun idea: creating a recurring feature using a hashtag (#FeatureFriday) to regularly highlight alumni
• Using pictures instead of long descriptions to tell the story

Instagram example:

• This example encourages alumni engagement!
• Create a theme and allow your alumni to showcase their creativity
• Adding relevant hashtags to improve the visibility and increase reach and engagement

UGC can be any of the following:

• Social media content
• Reviews and testimonials
• Blog posts
• Video content (including live streaming and AR lenses/filters)
• Q&A Forums (including comments)
• Case studies

Facebook example:

EDEA highlights a student’s profile to create a post.

• Featuring a student’s story will help grows the followers and take authenticity to the next level

Twitter example:

This Twitter post uses a student’s instragram post!

• Using multiple student-generated content sources (from Instagram or Youtube) to change up the feed
• Creating a hashtag (#BlueHenPride) to encourage students to share the content they created

Instagram example:

This photo was taken and posted by someone on Instagram who tagged their photo with a UC Berkeley-created hashtag, BerkeleyPOV. UC Berkeley was able to use this content to create a post, of course mentioning the photographer!

• Creating a hashtag like #BerkeleyPOV for students to share photos. Repost the best ones (crediting the authors) on your official channels.

Social media is a great way to keep your audience in the loop about your latest happenings. It’s much faster and easier to post to social media, so your audience can learn the news quickly!

Facebook example:

• Good to know: video content generally has a higher engagement rate on social media and grabs your followers’ attention

Twitter example:

• In Twitter, you can easily “retweet” or repost a tweet on your page. Retweets from another page generally can see greater impression rates than an original post, and the page that you retweet often repays by following your page back. This is great because you now have more people following your page!

Instagram example:

• Cross-promote other programs or organizations within the university system by mentioning. In the example above, CRDG mentioned @uhesports
• Adding the trending hashtags(#esports) to increase your post’s visibility, such as #esports

Social media is a great way to build community. Think of sharing valuable information, connecting people, listening/responding to what your audience shares, and showing support for your stakeholders.

Facebook example:

• This post contains an animated GIF. Animated GIF is a great way to grab attention on any social media platform!

Twitter example:

• Giving credits to picture owner(s) in your tweet can build up the relationship
• Posting event pictures taken by participants is a great way to promote the event

Instagram example:

• Use a nice quality picture
• Short text with a good amount of emojis
• Add hashtags in the comments to increase the engagement rate of the post

Resources:

Social Media in Higher Education: 14 Essential Tips