Below are suggested steps to help your department develop and stick with a successful social marketing strategy.

Step 1: Analyze current social media presence

• What networks are you currently using?
• Are there other networks worth considering?
• Are all accounts/groups/pages optimized with current information, imagery, etc.?
• How do accounts compare to competitors?

Step 2: Document your ideal audience

• Be as specific as possible
• Answer the following questions about your audience:
  • Age
  • Interests
  • Most used social network
  • Problems they need solved
• If there are multiple groups, try to narrow to two specific identities
  • Once you have two, focus each piece of content on one or the other. Don't split the difference with general content.

Step 3: Create a social media mission statement

• Think about what makes you unique (location, programs, degrees offered, etc.)
• Focus on what you offer to your audience, not on what they offer you.
• This should drive all future content. If it doesn't fit your mission, don't post it. People follow specialists, not generalists.

Step 4: Create a persona for your social media presence

• Think about what an expert in your field looks like
• Find a voice and stick with it. Don't be humorous in one post and deadly serious in another unless the subject matter dictates it.
• Don't force a voice that will be uncomfortable or hard to maintain.
• Be personable and helpful without forcing humor or other emotion.
• Be professional but less structured than you would be in standard marketing material.
• For most academic departments, it probably makes sense to focus on a professorial personality.

Step 5: Identify success metrics

• How will you measure your performance?
• Focus on quality, not quantity. It's more important to have fewer engaged followers than lots of followers who just ignore your content.
• Key analytics should include:
  • Relative Engagement - What percentage of your followers are engaging with posts?
  • Organic Reach - How many people say your content in their news feed, ticker, or on your page without paid promotion. This includes followers and those who don't follow you directly.
  • Mentions - Are others referring to your profiles or linking directly to your content?
• Audience growth is great but shouldn't be your main goal. If it doesn't come from genuine interest, followers may not engage with future content.

Step 6: Create and curate content

• Once you've identified goals and audience, focus all content on those.
• Don't post content if it doesn't fit your mission.
• It's important to post fairly often, but don't post content that doesn't fit your department just to meet a quota.

Step 7: Track and analyze metrics

• Pay attention to your key measurements
• Look at what types of content performs best.
  • Do posts with photos perform better?
  • What subject matter really draws in followers?
  • Does content that posts a question or asks for an opinion perform better than just presenting facts?
• Let the data lead you.
• Go back through steps 1-6 after you've had some time to collect and analyze data.
  • Does your mission need to change?
  • Is your audience whom you thought it was?