Best Practices for Using Social Media

Getting Started

Form a strategy. Identify your audience, the types of content, the primary goals, and the ideal social media platform for those goals. Start with simple goals and develop your presence on one platform.
Set your goals. What are you hoping to accomplish through social media? Your goals should be SMART: Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, Timely. Common social media goals include increased web traffic, brand awareness, search engine rankings, and thought leadership.
Make the time. Don’t start a social media effort unless you have the dedicated time and resources to maintain new content on a regular basis.
Conduct research. Before starting a social media campaign, research similar organizations on social media networks for ideas on what works and what doesn’t.

Don’t be passive. Be an active user. Listen to conversations, like comments, answer questions, and keep your account fresh with regular posts based on what is current.
Post new content frequently. New content is critical to thrive in social media communities. Regular, consistent posting is key to success. A dull, inactive social media presence is worse than having none at all. Make a posting schedule and stick with it.
Measure success. Determine a measure of success (followers, likes, awareness, etc.) Many social media channels have analytics measuring tools, and there are also third-party tools such as Sprout Social or Hootsuite.
Think before you respond. Positive and negative interactions are inevitable online. Be smart about which comments you choose to respond to and how you do so. Any comments viewed as profane, offensive or disrespectful should be deleted. If there are any concerns over how to handle a situation, contact the Truman Social Media Team at socialmedia@truman.edu