Should you use social media?
The growth of social media over the last few years has created many new and powerful opportunities for universities to communicate with their audiences, and for their audiences to communicate more easily with each other.
But before you decide whether to set up a presence on social media, or if you have recently established your social media presence, you need to carefully consider your purpose and resource, and develop an appropriate strategy to match your goals. The following covers the key points you should consider.
Know social media
First, get to know how social media works, and works well. Familiarise yourself with, for example, how Twitter works and how organisations promote themselves on Facebook, before considering how and why you should start using it. Other universities are a great source of inspiration, but looking at commercial organisations is also valuable.
Administration
Who will manage your presence, and how much time can they devote to it? Will your team have time to respond to queries, and who will take responsibility in case of administrator absences? Administrators should also be enthusiastic about social media and have a broad understanding of how it functions and what it offers (or be keen to learn), and be able to respond to queries within a reasonable timeframe (approx 24 hours).
Your goals
Do you want to improve internal communications, promote your area, or increase attendance at your events? Define what your main goal(s) are and how social media will help you achieve this (as part of your wider communications plan).
Your audience
Spending time thinking about your primary audiences will help you choose the right social media channel(s) for your goals and maximise your success.
Which channels?
Consider carefully which channels will be most effective for you – not all channels work for all purposes. Bear in mind your audience demographic and how your content will suit each channel’s medium.
What is success?
Define how you will measure the success of your channel(s) – better communication? Increased web traffic? Increased event attendance? Decide how and when to evaluate your activity to ensure that your time is being spent effectively.
Content
Identify the type and frequency of content you want to post and consider whether there will be enough content to maintain a healthy level of activity on your site. Also consider what your audience is likely to want to hear from you and how you can meet this demand.
Your peers
Do any other universities or organisations have a similar social media presence to the one you are planning? Monitor and evaluate what they do and how they function effectively.
Name and design
Spend time thinking about an appropriate name for your presence that is simple, clear, and reflects what you do and your connection to Brunel University. The name should also have longevity – altering your name in the future can cause confusion and, in some cases, may not even be possible.
Evaluation
As well as setting aside time for full evaluation of your site/group, on-going evaluation should be part of your daily social media activity. Consider what content is most valuable to your audience and what garners the biggest response and adjust your approach accordingly.
