Everyone appreciates the value of social media as a powerful tool to maintain relevance, spread awareness, or encourage conversation. However, social media only works as a tool in support of a larger marketing plan, and will not help achieve your goals (or may even harm your efforts) if launched and then abandoned.
Before starting social media channels ask yourself (and your team) these questions:
What are your goals and target audience?
Determine what you plan to achieve using social media. Is it to inform, share information, gain feedback, engage with your audience? Knowing your goals will help you make decisions about where to establish accounts, what information to share, and who you will reach. It is also important to determine if your audience is already participating on Facebook, Twitter, or other social media channels.
Are there already official social media channels that can share your content and help you achieve your goals?
Social media is a very public platform, and having a small target audience and niche content can work against you. Consider establishing a workflow with the person in charge of overarching and established channels for your school or department, whose audience is larger but contains your target.
Do you have the resources for creating content on a daily basis?
Maintaining relevance and impressions requires daily posting, multiple times a day, on each channel. If your posting is seasonal, partner with other established channels for collaboration and takeovers. If it’s around events, use a hashtag. Additionally, social media is a platform for sharing content – time and resources must be dedicated to creating photography, video, and landing pages – or sourcing those things ahead of time.
Do you know how you will measure your success?
Using analytics to track and measure content is vital for the success of your social media channels. Analytics help identify what content is working/not working and what the value of social media is for your department. To identify what and how you should measure social media review what you planned to achieve using social media in the first place. For example, if your goal is awareness, you may prioritize reach numbers over engagement.
Will you be able to adhere to Accessibility Requirements (ADA compliance)?
Will you be able to adhere to UCLA’s Brand Guidelines?
- Please contact Strategic Communications Social Media for additional support and resources.