Social Media Goals and Objectives
Social media is a powerful and robust marketing tool that can be used to accomplish
many marketing goals, including but not limited to:
- Recruitment and retention
- Customer service, answering users鈥 questions directly
- Highlighting student, faculty and staff accomplishments
- Hosting engaging multimedia, including photos, video and live streams
- Providing resources for current and prospective students
- Providing a forum for feedback from the community
Getting Started
UCM鈥檚 Office of Integrated Marketing and Communications (IMC) highly recommends completing
the following steps before establishing any presence on social media:
- Define your goals - Determine the audience you want to reach and the information/messaging
you intend to share. Consider what social media platform(s) will most effectively
reach and engage your audience. If your goals overlap with a previously established
UCM social media profile, consider collaborating with the existing profile to share
messaging rather than creating another profile.
- Identify content opportunities - Before creating any social media profile or publishing
content, it is critical to develop a strategy that ensures your content is sustainable
and engaging. Profiles that are neglected or completely abandoned can be detrimental
to your online presence.
- Develop a social media calendar - A social media calendar will help ensure that posts/messaging
are published in a timely manner, designate the frequency of posts on the platform,
integrate the roles of multiple page administrators and confirm that your content
is helping meet your communication goals.
- Identify your social media administrators - IMC recommends designating multiple admins
with access to your social media profiles. This can help ensure your profile is not
neglected due to staff turnover or problems logging into the profile. Administrators
should all have access to your social media calendar and coordinate publishing roles
in order to avoid duplicate posts.
- Secure your login credentials - Record all social media profile URLs, usernames and
passwords in a centralized, secure document that is accessible by social media admins
and multiple staff members. Forgetting or losing login credentials can result in completely
losing access to your social media account, resulting in an abandoned social media
presence and requiring your profiles to be completely rebuilt. IMC highly recommends
updating login credentials on a regular basis, as well as when social media administrators
are removed from the page or no longer serve as administrators for the profile(s).
- Gather multimedia assets and publishing tools - Aggregating photos, videos, logos,
digital fliers, alumni contact information, etc. will help streamline content production
upon launching your social media presence. Identify any post-scheduling and/or multimedia
editing tools that you intend to use and ensure all social media administrators have
access.
- Contact IMC - IMC maintains an internal list of UCM-affiliated social media profiles
and their administrators. Notifying IMC of your new social media presence can lead
to opportunities to collaborate and share content between your profiles and UCM鈥檚
official social media presence. Although IMC does not produce content specifically
for UCM-affiliated social media profiles, the office can provide assistance with social
media.
Social Media Administrators
The roles of social media administrators for your page(s) should be clearly defined.
Top-level administration should be reserved for official UCM staff rather than students,
student workers or volunteers.
Login credentials for the pages should be documented, stored securely, and available
to at least two administrators who are currently employed and in good standing at
the university. We recommend keeping the number of administrators as low as possible
while still being able to achieve your marketing goals. This prevents confusion when
it comes to posting schedules and allows for a streamlined workflow.
If designated administrators are unable to log in to your account affiliated with
UCM, please contact IMC immediately.
Avoiding Objectionable Content
Social media content affiliated with UCM should be family-friendly and non-denominational
in all aspects of its production. Content should avoid the following:
- Drugs and alcohol
- Bars/alcohol vendors and signs
- Nudity
- Profanity
- Unverified facts or posts
- Offensive/political clothing, signage or rhetoric
- Protests or demonstrations
- Controversial topics
- Prominent use of other colleges鈥 gear/logo/spirit items
This is not a complete list of content to avoid. If there is any question in your
mind about whether to post something, you shouldn鈥檛 post it. Once a post is out there,
it can live forever, even if you鈥檝e deleted it. Objectionable social media content
posted on profiles associated with UCM will be reported and terminated by the Office
of Integrated Marketing and Communications (IMC).
Content Opportunities
Producing social media content on a consistent basis is a critical component in engaging
your audience. Content opportunities that can increase engagement and supplement content
specific to your area of campus include but are not limited to:
- Awards and recognitions among students, faculty and staff
- Program recognitions and rankings
- Student, faculty and staff profiles and interviews
- Alumni success stories and achievements
- Hands-on learning opportunities, experiences beyond the classroom
- Scholarship opportunities
- Internship/employment opportunities
- Campus events
- Academic deadline reminders
- User generated content: polls, surveys, requests for photos, etc.
- Historic posts: 鈥淭hrowback鈥 photos, 鈥淭his Day in UCM History,鈥 etc.
- Shared posts from other UCM-affiliated profiles
Official Logos and Images
Integrated Marketing and Communications encourages administrators to use official
logos, graphics and imagery created/provided by the IMC design staff in accordance
with UCM鈥檚 brand guidelines. However, use of UCM official logos is prohibited without
prior authorization from the Office of Integrated Marketing and Communications. Official
UCM Logos can be requested from the IMC for use on social media. Please adhere to
the style and usage guidelines provided by the IMC staff.
Crisis Communication
Social media can play a critical role in sharing information during a crisis or emergency.
Official emergency communication is coordinated by Public Safety, IMC and UCM鈥檚 Crisis
Management Team. In the event of an emergency, please defer to the official UCM social
media accounts and share posts coming from the official UCM social media profiles.
Do NOT post information that has not been provided by Public Safety, IMC and/or UCM鈥檚
Crisis Management Team.
If you have information regarding a crisis in progress, call 911 or contact Public
Safety at 660-543-4123.
UCM Hashtags
- #ChooseUCM
- #myUCM - Student testimonials and user-generated content
- #MuleNation - Alumni
- #MOInnovation - MIC
- #MuleGear - UCM Branded Apparel and Items
- #MulesAbroad - Study Abroad
- #teamUCM - Athletics
- #SnoutsOut - Athletics/Pride
- #RollStable - Athletics/Baseball
Social Media Best Practices
- Employees are not authorized to publish personal comments and or opinions on university accounts as that would be interpreted as representing the University, University programs,
departments, student organizations, subsidiaries of UCM or other campus sites/entities.
- Follow University and local, state and federal laws including copyright, intellectual
property, FERPA, HIPPA, etc.
- Do NOT delete negative or critical comments. Encourage negative users to send you
a direct message with more information, which will move the conversation from a public
to a private space. If you receive a significant spike in negative engagement on your
platforms, contact IMC immediately for assistance.
- Respond and engage with direct messages and positive comments in a timely manner.
- If you receive requests for information outside of your designated role at UCM, direct
the user to the appropriate office/organization for more information, rather than
finding and providing the information yourself. This ensures that users receive the
most accurate information from the appropriate source.
- Stay focused on the mission and purpose of UCM. How does this support the university?
- Posting should encourage conversation, engagement and feedback. Consider questions
to ask rather than just statements to make.
- Social media is about socializing, not selling. It's a unique opportunity to talk
to customers, hear feedback and build the brand. Keep selling subtle.
- Have multiple administrators review and proofread posts whenever possible.
- Consider how trending news, hashtags and internet culture relates to your brand. Stay
aware of how current events affect the context of your social media content, as well
as the content opportunities these trends present. For example, news coverage regarding
discoveries or advancements in your academic field may be shared to create engaging
content.
- Timing matters: study your metrics and deliver when it works best for your audience.
- Platform-specific best practices such as optimized image dimensions, post publishing
frequency, and app functions change frequently. Stay informed of updates to social
media platforms and their functionality.
- Remember to schedule content over spring, winter and summer breaks.
- Remember that not all channels are the same. What is a great post on Facebook, might
not be as effective on Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn or Pinterest.