Social Media Best Practices

Getting Started

• Be sure to work with the primary marketing/communications contact in your unit for:
  • approval in creating an account
  • ensuring that your content is delivered through appropriate channels

Being Strategic

• What does your department or unit hope to accomplish through social media?
  • Outline goals to track ROI.
  • Think strategically about creating new accounts. Don’t jump in without a plan.
• Who is your target audience? What channels are they using?
  • Depending on your audience and goals, not all channels may be necessary.
  • Concentrate your efforts on building your audience before starting a new channel.
• Do you have the resources available to regularly update and maintain this social media channel?
  • Running an account goes beyond posting.
  • Do you have the time to engage and inform your audience? If not, consider a collaborative promotion with established accounts.
  • Some channels require more frequent updates.

Posting Content

• Engage with your audience by posting content regularly.
  • Some channels, like Twitter, require more frequent updates than others.
  • If you are unable to post regularly, reevaluate the use of a particular social media channel.
• A few general things to consider:
  • Keep posts short, relevant, and engaging.
  • Focus on audience when posting. Will they find this content interesting?
  • When is your audience likely to be online?
• Regularly monitor posts for opportunities for engagement and questions from followers.
  • Use available insights and analytics tools.
  • Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram offer free options for measuring post success.
• Establish a regular time, preferably weekly, to evaluate overall post performance and adapt posting schedule accordingly.

Keep in Mind

• Posting on behalf of LSU...
  • Any post from an LSU username is a direct reflection on the university.
  • Posts from these accounts should not be treated as personal accounts.
  • Content should not reflect personal views.
• Events, fundraisers, giveaways, etc. not related to an LSU college, department, or auxiliary should not be featured on affiliated LSU social media.

Social Media in a Crisis Situation

To ensure correct and unified messaging, we encourage social media managers to share official, unaltered LSU Emergency Operations Center (EOC) messages with the exception of closures or specific department information. In the event of internet connectivity issues, contact the EOC at 578-3231 for assistance in updating social media.

Accessibility

• Cover your bases on accessibility in social media, too.
• Check out these social media accessibility guidelines.

LSU Policies

• As a communicator for LSU, you must be familiar with all applicable policies to the job.
• As it relates to social media, please review in particular LSU policies on Social Media and Online Communication.