Before You Get Started: Do You Really Need a Social Media Account?

Before starting your own account, contact the existing social media account for your department ( e.g.  Peabody College, Alumni Communications,  VanderbiltU ), and try a brief trial run with them. After all, they are already established and have a large following. Put together a post or two for them to share on their channels that focus on your department, then see how successful the engagement is with that post.

Does your group/department have a communications strategy? Does your larger umbrella organization? There should be a well-thought-out over-arching communication plan in place first; social media should be just one tool used to implement that plan.  

If  you want to promote an event or share news about your department,  first consider if  submitting content for consideration on an already existing channel – email, the University Calendar, existing social media presences, news releases – might be a better choice for you. Social media  platforms  such as Facebook and Twitter require daily maintenance ,  a commitment to consistency, and  a desire to engage with others. Sometimes, good old - fashioned email is the best way to reach your constituency: You’re reaching people in their inbox, rather than hoping they find you on social media.

 Figuring out the type of people you want to  reach  will help determine which platforms  or existing channels  may be  best for you.

Managing social media well takes time; it’s more than just “post ing  something”  to fill your channels  – give your followers a reason to follow you. In the case of Instagram, do you have a supply of eye-catching images and graphics to share?

Managing social media for a department is not a full-time job; but you do need to set aside time for planning, writing, listening, responding and measuring. Setting up an account, writing a few posts, and then leaving it unattended for long periods of time is harmful to your brand and the university’s.

If you don’t have goals, how will you know when you’ve achieved them? Whatever your goals are – information sharing, event publicity, human i zing your department, etc. – write them out. Ideally, you want to have SMART goals – Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, Time Bound.

This is a trick question. Social media is all about connecting, not pushing a message. To be a good participant, you must first be a good listener. Your online community will tell you what they want to hear from you.

To  be successful  on  social media takes not only time and strategy, but it often takes an outgoing personality, an enjoyment in providing helpful information,  the  knowledge to make connections, and a thick skin. You’ll also need to have some personal or professional  experience with social media and professional communications before hosting an account on behalf of Vanderbilt University.

Any activity in social media on behalf of Vanderbilt should directly and measurably align with VU’s strategic mission and priorities.

Before opening an account on a social media platform, test it out behind - the - scenes first. Come up with a content calendar, a plan for how often you will post, and create six  weeks' worth  of content - write up every post, create every graphic, shoot or track down every photo and video.  This will help give you a good sense of what it takes to manage your platform in the  long term .