3 minute read
How to Use Social Media
6.0 SOCIAL MEDIA
How to Use Social Media
Publish content that is entertaining, shareable and targeted towards our two primary audiences – current students and alumni. Topics should focus on answering the following questions: - What should students be aware of? - How can we engage alumni? How can we get alumni more involved?
Make sure to follow and monitor content from all UCI sources and Merage School affiliates on a daily basis. Repurpose content from LinkedIn, Instagram, the Merage School Newsroom and other authority business news sites. Avoid any political or religious posts. Here are some helpful tips:
• Frequency of posts varies by season. During peak quarter seasons, 2-3 posts a day are sufficient.
During the off season (i.e. winter break, spring break and summer), average 1 post a day. Posting on the weekend is acceptable and recommended.
• Timing of posts should revolve around student class schedule (7:45 a.m., 9:00 a.m., 11:30 a.m. and 5 p.m.). Late evening posts (6 - 10 p.m.) work well during the quarter as this is the time when students are most available to browse the internet.
• Update the Cover Photo at least every two months.
Leverage this prime real estate to promote upcoming school events, seasons or a particular marketing campaign such as Graduation is Not Goodbye,
Student Success or a Career Center event.
• Promote or “boost” important school content as it meets primary marketing objectives such as ranking announcements, student stories, alumni events, high profile speakers and school events.
• 80% of Facebook posts should contain links to our website. Shorten link URL’s with bit.ly to track click-through rates. The Merage School has a bit.ly account where all links are tracked. Contact Xanat
Hernandez for a unique bit.ly link.
• Increase engagement and impressions by uploading a high-resolution image with each post instead of the automatically generated link preview. Change files from .jpg to .png to improve quality especially for profile pictures and cover photos.
• Include hashtags when appropriate (see approved hashtags on p. 28).
• Tag affiliate Facebook pages when appropriate – student organizations, Centers of Excellence, UCI, etc.
6.0 SOCIAL MEDIA
How to Use Social Media
• Posting should occur 3-5 times a day. Buffer allows you to spread out your tweets throughout high opportunity peak times throughout the day. This allows your message to be seen by many multiple times a day. Hootsuite also allows you to autoschedule content.
• Hootsuite is a great social media listening tool. Monitor relevant keywords on a daily basis and keep the conversations going. Search streams have been saved to monitor keywords and conversations related to the school and university. Find opportunities to respond to students or ignite conversations.
• Optimize your tweets with a link and hashtags. geolocation hashtags are extremely effective (i.e.
Irvine, Orange County, Merage School, UCI, Hotel
Irvine, etc.).
This social platform reflects the Merage School’s culture, student life experiences, behind-the-scenes and school happenings. High quality visuals garner the most engagement.
• Posting frequency during the quarter should be 3-4 times a week (15-18 average/month). Posting can be reduced during the summer and recess periods to 1-2 times per week.
• Hashtags are very important! Include those listed on p. 28 (when appropriate) as well as other generic and geolocated hashtags to increase visibility and followers.
• Search relevant hashtags and like other people’s photos to build relationship and awareness.
Comment on their photos and thank them for using our hashtags and sharing their photos. Common search terms: #UCIMerage #Merage #MerageLife
• Repost your favorite Instagram photos on Facebook and Twitter and credit the original poster.
• Cross promote social media channels when possible and highlight the value of joining each social community.
• Instagram search and analytics tool: Iconosquare
6.0 SOCIAL MEDIA
How to Use Social Media
The Merage School’s LinkedIn page acts as a news source for our alumni and prospective students present on the LinkedIn network.
• Content should be business related and professional. Topics such as career development, leadership, faculty research and thought leadership should be included.
• Content should also showcase our students, faculty and alumni achievements. • Frequency depends upon the availability of quality material. Generally, 1-2 times per week is sufficient.
Engagement should be monitored to determine if frequency can be increased.
• Do not use more than three hashtags for each post.
Be selective.
If you have any questions, contact Xanat Hernandez at xanath@uci.edu.
