Getting Started With Social Media
MARKETING & COMMUNICATIONS OFFICE

A solid plan for solid outcomes

Before jumping in to social media for your department, program or office, spend time determining what you want to accomplish. Understanding this will help you choose the appropriate tool or tools, create relevant content and understand what is the best way to reach your target audience.

First, make a list of your target audiences, then a list of goals that you wish to accomplish. Remember, you shouldn't utilize social media for the sake of being on social media--you should use social media as a method of accomplishing goals independent of the method.

1. Determine your need for social media.
   Email Social Media Coordinator, Faith Vanbrunschot to discuss your needs and ideas for your social media channel.
2. Secure the approval of your department head or manager.
   If you wish to create a social media page or profile for your department, secure the approval of your director or department chair.
3. Define your audience and goals.
4. Identify a coordinator.
   Determine who will be the primary person responsible for updating and monitoring your site. Ensure they have the time to check in on the site at least once a day. This does not need to take up a significant amount of time, but successful social media sites are updated frequently, enable easy engagement with viewers and adjust in response to timely events and problems. Assign and train a backup for this person--all official social media accounts re required to have at least two administrators. Having students involved in your social media efforts is great, but they can not be primary administrators.
5. Listen.
   All social media platforms have their own standards, styles and expectations. By becoming a consumer of social media well before you become a producer, you will learn how these communities work, what content is of most interest, what other organizations are talking about your topic, etc. Spending a good amount of time on this step will help you better plan what unique contribution your voice can have.
6. Choose your platform(s).
   After listening, you may find the short, 140-character bursts of Twitter are a good fit for your goals. Or you may have photos, videos and a well-developed community that would be best shared via a Facebook fan page. Do not try to do it all at once – choose a platform that best meets your goals and focus on building a strong presence.
7. Create a strategy.
   The more work you do on the front end, the more likely you are to create a successful social media presence. Using your previously defined audiences and goals, start creating specific tactics with each social media platform to accomplish these goals for these audiences. 
8. Name yourself.
   Create a profile name that clearly and concisely identifies your program and its FLC affiliation. Do not identify yourself simply as “Fort Lewis College,” as that implies you are speaking for the entire institution.
9. Experiment.
   Build out your blog, Twitter stream, Flickr profile, Facebook page or whatever you choose and spend time populating it for several weeks, sharing it with a small group who can provide comments. Have the site up and running well before you plan to launch it so you can become comfortable maintaining it.
10. Launch.
    You’re ready to communicate! Use traditional means, such as email lists and notices on your Website, to notify your potential audiences that you have a social media presence. Also, notify others with social media presences and similar interests that your site is live – one of the best ways to do this is by linking to these sites from yours and mentioning them in your posts. Include easy-to-find links to your social media presence on your Website.
11. Adjust.
    Once your site is up and running, you will find some content is popular, some is ignored, and some is just plain cumbersome. All social media tools come with easy-to-use tracking tools, so you can see which posts are viewed and shared most, which generate comments, etc. Be prepared to re-align your strategy in response to who is viewing your site and how they are doing so.

FLC audience and goals

Audiences

• Current Students
• Prospective Students
• Faculty 
• Alumni
• Parents of current students
• Colleagues at other colleges

Goals

• Create awareness of on-campus event
• Create pages that accurately represent the FLC brand
• Escalate the student experience by creating a place to gather all urgent information
• Answers to questions in a timely manner

Additional resources

Get more tips for social media success from FLC's Director of Marketing & Communications!

FLC's policy on social media