SOCIAL MEDIA 101
Presented by Caro
cmetzle2@ncsu.edu Social Media Specialist NC State CALS and NC State Extension
Metzler
What we'll discuss today
How to build an effective social media strategy and voice for your unit
Social media platforms and what differentiates them
What to post and what not to post
Keys to fostering engagement
How to measure, and gain, success
Social media ad promotion
FIRST, WE MUST ASK:
Does your unit need a social media account?
Not all groups or initiatives need individual social media accounts.
Let your goals dictate whether you need certain platforms.
Questions to answer:
Would paid ads be more impactful for your goals than a social media account? (Will have a much higher success rate for individual campaigns)
Will you have enough high quality content to keep a consistent, frequent cadence (multiple times a week) on your social media platforms?
Can you work with a person that runs an existing social media account to promote your content and initiatives?
Are you prepared to represent NC State and adhere to the NC State brand, AP Style, etc.? (For Extension-related units, are you prepared to represent NC State Extension and adhere to the NC State Extension brand?)
Successful social media channels start with a solid strategy and voice.
BUILDING SOCIAL MEDIA STRATEGY
Social media strategy should be different based on each platform. When developing strategies for each channel, work through:
Goals – What would you like to achieve with this channel?
Example: promote the high quality research and thought leadership coming out of our department
Target audiences – Which audiences would you most like to reach through your marketing?
Example: alumni, faculty and staff
Success metrics – Which metrics can you use to measure success in reaching your goals? What does success look like?
Example: link clicks; 500 users/month directed to the website
Cadence and content – How often will you post? What kind of content will you post?
Example: 2-3x a week on LinkedIn; research and faculty updates
FINDING YOUR VOICE
Some questions to ask yourself to find your unit’s unique social media voice:
If your unit was a person, what would that person be like? What would they want to say?
Example: The @NCState social media manager views their brand as a “cool mom ”
Which emojis would this person use?
Examples: ����⚪������
What type of tone would this person use? Any phrases?
Examples: friendly and fun yet professional, “Think and Do”
How do you want your audience to feel when they view your content?
Example: informed, excited, spirited, proud
As NC State communicators that represent the university, we have to adhere to the NC State brand. When it doubt, refer to the brand book. **Helpful tip: all of our brand assets, colors, fonts, etc. are preloaded in the shared CALS Comm Canva account.
Following the NC State brand
go.ncsu.edu/cals-brand-book
Following the NC State Extension brand
Every NC State Extensionaffiliated social media presence represents both the university and NC State Extension as a whole. It’s important to adhere to the NC State Extension brand in all NC State Extensionrelated communications.
https://marketing.ces.ncsu.edu/brand /nc-state-extension-brand/
Each social media platform serves a different purpose, and reaches a different kind of audience.
Audience tends to be: Age 30 and up
University: Parents and alumni
Extension: Extension agents/specialists, people who benefit from Extension
Good for: Links (extremely!), photo albums, infographics and how-tos, ads
Not so good for: Time-sensitive posts (may not show up on a person’s feed for multiple days)
Recommended media:
Albums are top performers
Infographics do well
Pre-populated images on links do well
Facebook Reels are iffy
Recommended cadence: 2-4 times per week; NOT more than once a day
Approximate best time to post: Lunchtime and late evening
Audience tends to be: Age 18 to 30
University: Students and young alumni
Extension: Younger folks interested in Extension
Good for: Vertical video, iPhone photo and video, trends, aesthetically pleasing content, spirited content, live event coverage via IG Stories
Not so good for: Graphics on the feed, headshots and stock photos, driving web traffic
Recommended media:
Carousels outperform Reels, but Reels are great for reaching an audience outside of your followers
Single photo posts are downgraded by the algorithm
Graphics on the feed are HIGHLY downgraded by the algorithm
iPhone photo and video (Not headshots or professional)
Recommended cadence:
On the feed: 2-4 times per week; NOT more than once a day
On stories: Once a business day; more is great!
Approximate best time to post: Lunchtime and late evening
Audience tends to be: Age 25 to 65
University: Alumni, faculty, staff
Extension: Agents/specialists, stakeholders
Good for: Links, professional announcements, newsworthy items, research and thought leadership
Not so good for: Trends/humor, time-sensitive posts (may not show up for multiple weeks, even)
Recommended media:
Links with pre-populated photos perform well
Videos do not perform as well, typically
Graphics do not perform well, typically
Recommended cadence: 2-4 times per week; NOT more than once a day
Approximate best time to post: Early morning and lunchtime
X (FORMERLY TWITTER)
Audience tends to be: Age 25 to 55
University: Faculty, alumni, some students
Extension: Researchers, agents/specialists, stakeholders
Good for: Trends/humor, live coverage of events, easy cross-sharing of posts, research
Not so good for: Longer videos (limit of 2:20), driving web traffic
Recommended media:
Square videos take up more of the screen than the traditional horizontal
Better to upload an image rather than relying on a link’s pre-populated image
Graphics perform so-so
Recommended cadence: Once per business day, unless covering an event
Approximate best time to post: Early morning, lunchtime and after 5 p.m.
THREADS
Audience tends to be: Age 20 to 40
University: Alumni, some students
Extension: Younger folks interested in Extension
Good for: Trends/humor! Spirited content, aesthetically pleasing content, holidays
Not so good for: Driving web traffic, research, anything serious
Recommended media: Single photos, carousels of photo/video
Recommended cadence: 2-4 times per week
Approximate best time to post: Unsure quite yet!
Threads does not offer analytics, so this platform is still a bit of a mystery
YOUTUBE
Audience tends to be: All ages
University: Current and prospective students, people interested in your niche, faculty and staff
Extension: Those interested in the research/thought leadership; those who are involved with or benefit from Extension
Good for:
On Shorts: Vertical, VERY short video; brief informational video, trendy video
On traditional YouTube: longer, horizontal video that is uniquely informational
Not so good for: Driving web traffic
So... Which of these platforms do you need?
If you are trying to reach an audience that is 30+
If you are looking for web traffic
If you are trying to reach a younger audience
Only if you have a LOT of high quality
photo/video content
Units/departments/initiatives rarely need a LinkedIn account, BUT LinkedIn groups are a great way to engage a niche audience
Twitter/X
I would not recommend investing in X at this moment
Threads
Only if you already have an Instagram account with an engaged following YouTube
Units/departments/initiatives rarely need a separate YouTube account, but the CALS/Extension YouTube accounts can be utilized to promote campaigns (reach out to Jennifer Bernabi at jabernab@ncsu.edu for video project requests)
Paid ads
If you are trying to promote a specific initiative/event/piece of content to a large audience
Each post you make, and every social media interaction you have, should be intentional and reflect NC State/Extension well.
What TO post
Every post you make (even reposts and shares) should target your audience and reflect your goals.
Some posting tips:
Quality trumps quantity any day. It is so much more important to post high quality content rather than to post constantly. Your metrics will agree!
Social media is supposed to be social. Take a different strategy with your social media than you would a newsletter. Engage with your followers, be a little jokey, represent your audience.
Implement social-first content! Content should not always drive followers to a website. Social media is a storytelling platform.
Calls to action are great when needed, but don’t always use them. Your followers don’t want to be asked to do something all the time.
What NOT to post
As managers of accounts that represent NC State/Extension, it’s important to be stewards of the institutions’ images and positions.
Some things to make sure not to post about:
ANYTHING POLITICAL
Don’t post any political opinions
Don’t follow or engage with politicians
If there is a political element to content, be neutral
Anything indicating religious affiliation
Inappropriate language or images
Photo/video with minors in it whose guardians have not consented
Photo/video with people wearing shirts with inappropriate slogans
Also, be careful if posting photos of the free expression tunnel!
Take care when posting about potentially contentious issues. Think about every perspective that your audience might have before posting.
Engagement begets engagement
Engaging with other accounts in your niche, as well as with your followers, helps boost followers, likes/comments/shares and your unit’s image.
This kind of engagement looks like:
Asking your followers a question in your post
Liking/replying to comments (something simple like “Thank you! ��” is great)
Responding to messages quickly and with consideration
Engaging with similar accounts to yours (by commenting, reposting, mentioning, etc.) allows their followers to see you too Engage with/mention @NCStateCALS, @NCExtension and @NCState!
What works for others might not work for you. Trial and error is the name of the game on social media.
Success through analysis
Analyzing your metrics regularly will help you know whether what you are doing is working, and it’ll help you reach your goals.
You can use Hootsuite, Facebook Business Suite, in-platform analytics, etc. to find these numbers. Compare your numbers to last year, or last month, or even competitors, to get some added understanding.
Some important metrics to measure:
Likes/reactions
Retweets/shares
Comments
Engagement rate (my personal fave)
Increase/decrease in followers
Impressions (how many times your posts are viewed)
Best/worst performing posts (second personal fave)
Link clicks
Paid ads are a highly effective way to promote a campaign to THOUSANDS.
Utilize CALS for ad promo
We run social media ads on the CALS Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn accounts. Ads are HIGHLY effective in promoting anything from:
A campaign that needs signups
Big events
Important articles, stories, etc.
Any project or campaign that you’d like large promotion for
Cost is dependent on your goals and budget—the more you spend, the better results. I would recommend a minimum of $250, but smaller budgets will still reach folks.
If you are interested in running an ad on our accounts, please reach out to me (cmetzle2@ncsu.edu) and Jennifer Bernabi (jabernab@ncsu.edu)
FAQS:
How do you grow your following?
Comment on/engage with posts from related accounts and accounts whose audience is similar to yours
Collaborate with larger accounts/mention them (by @ing) in your posts in hopes of them reposting to their followers
Produce content that is high quality, promotes engagement and is unique to you
How about hashtags?
1-3 at most, but absolutely not necessary (for the @NCState accounts, the only hashtags typically used are ones for NC State-related campaigns, like #ThinkAndDo or #HowlBack)
How do you appeal to the algorithms?
The algorithm of each platform is different, but the goal of each one is to keep the audience on the app
Any photos/albums/carousels/videos with humans or animals in them are prioritized by pretty much every algorithm
Links get downgraded by the algorithm (but for our work, they are often necessary)
How do you respond to negative comments?
Err towards not responding and not deleting. It can do more harm than good.
Let me know if you get a bad/inappropriate comment or message. I can help you!
What’s happening with Twitter/X?
I wish I knew.
Final tip?
MAKE SURE that multiple people have access/passwords to your social media channels!
Please work with me! I would love to work together with you to promote your content on the CALS/Extension channels. You can email me at: cmetzle2@ncsu.edu