Social Media

As discussed in the Media Options section, it’s important to be aware of how various media options can be used to share your message with your target audience. Social media is a tool, and an important tool, but in order to be effective, it needs to be used with purpose.

Social media is also, as the name says, social. That means the best social media involves interactivity between sender and receiver. Social media is often used as a one-way megaphone instead of as a conversation. Of course, you can’t force interactivity. As social media platforms evolve, the way people use them evolves as well, and some interactions become more limited. But by paying attention to how your audience uses social media, you can more effectively connect the audience with your program.

Some tips and best practices for using social media effectively:

• Know your platform.
  • Different audiences use different social media platforms. Or different audiences use the same social media platform in different ways. For example, Facebook users tend to be slightly older than Instagram users, who are slightly older than TikTok users. Those user groups may have different interests and needs when viewing your content.
  • Different types of content work well on different platforms.
• Play around.
  • Although there are general practices you can follow, you also won’t know what works for your particular program or message until you experiment. And the nice thing about social media is that you can generally play around with your content without a lot of harm or cost. (Of course, keeping in mind that you are posting appropriate content for your program — harmless mistakes will eventually fade into the ether, but harmful mistakes can live on for a long time.)
• Post often, but not too often.
  • Social media algorithms are great mysteries that many people spend their working hours trying to crack, but one principle that seems to be consistently true is that posting regularly can help boost your posts.
  • On the other hand, posting too many times in a row, especially in the Instagram feed, may annoy the people following you. (There’s more flexibility using the stories feature.)
• Show them who you are.
  • Social media has made organizations and people feel more accessible. People love to get a reply or retweet from a celebrity or major brand. But this is true on our own scale as well. Students love to see themselves and their friends in photos. Some of our most popular posts are introductions of our staff and student leaders.
  • Your social media voice can be a little more informal than you might use in other official communication methods. Again, you’ll want to play around with what “sounds” like your program.

More from the Marketing Toolkit

What is Marketing?
The Marketing Mix
Understanding Your Audience
Media Options
Basics of Graphic Design
>Social Media