Social media can be an amazingly effective tool in telling your story, showcasing success, promoting events and programs, and building a community. Social media best practices continue to evolve and we invite you to seek out guidance on this page or from one the many valuable websites or YouTube videos that focus on social media practices.
Active social media is effective social media.
University Communications maintains St. Cloud State's official social media platforms and provides other units guidance on how to effectively use social media to promote their own programs, offerings, student/staff/faculty success, and more.
followers on Facebook
followers on Instagram
followers on Twitter
followers on LinkedIn
Be Consistent
Post often and do not take long breaks in between posting. Think to yourself: "What do we want a person to see when they visit our site for the first time?"
Engage in Conversations
Put the "social" in social media. Don’t overlook the importance of conversing with your audience. Engagement can happen through likes, comments and shares. Social media is a living, breathing entity.
Choose Your Platforms Wisely
More social media platforms are not always better. Select the one(s) that best fit your needs and work towards making and keeping them strong and vibrant. If your area has unused accounts that may portray your area in a negative light, it is okay to delete those accounts and put energy into ones that will thrive.
Use Analytics to Measure Success
Most social media platforms offer analytics to illustrate how posts are performing and how quickly a following is growing. Make a point to review these analytics on a regular basis and adjust your tactics accordingly.
Be Patient. Be Engaged.
Results will not happen overnight. But with patience and consistency, success can happen. Be sure to target the right audience, post intriguing content and converse with your followers on a regular basis.
1. Learn from your competitors. How do you compare? Look at their content and ask yourself:
2. Understand your target audience's social media preferences. Which platform(s) does your customer base use? Which platform supports the type of media they want to consume their information?
3. Establish and maintain your brand's voice. Maintaining a consistent voice helps your brand be recognizable among competitors. Establish a visual style and tone, use niche words related to your area, tap into hashtags to expand your reach.
4. Develop a social media calendar. Become proactive and develop a plan for what you are going to post in the coming days, weeks, and months. Put a reminder on your calendar to post at least 2-3 times per week on your platform.
5. Set goals and pursue them. Know how your social media is making an impact with measurable results. Are you gaining at least [insert your goal here] followers each year? Does a post get at least [insert your goal here] likes or comments? It is important to work towards those kind of goals to avoid a stale social media platform.
6. Be precise. Errors of fact, bad grammar and inaccurate spelling reflect poorly on the university.
7. Shorten URLs with our branded utility at scsu.mn/LinkShorten.
8. Accept appropriate criticism of university decisions, actions and policies. Deleting critical content undermines the legitimacy of a site and sabotages the sense of community that is the hallmark of social media. Personal attacks on members of the university community are not considered appropriate criticism.
9. Monitor comments. Social media managers are responsible for all postings, including those made by visitors.
The SCSU Dance Team's Instagram page is an excellent example of what a successful Instagram account looks like.
In general, the laws, ethics and behavior expectations that govern your professional life apply equally when posting content on behalf of the university. Specifically, the Employee Code of Conduct and Student Code of Community Standards are in force when social media managers publish on behalf of the university.
The university is responsible for content staff members publish on university social media. Assume all postings are in the public domain and may be re-published and discussed in all forms of media. Personal perspectives are best aired on personal social media sites.