Social Media is a powerful communication medium, and it requires strategy, an ongoing commitment of time and a steady stream of compelling content to sustain engagement with your audience. Use the guidelines here to make most effective use of social media resources.
- Use consistent departmentally appropriate profile photos, bios, logos, etc. across all pages.
- Some social media platforms do not enable editing after posting, double check for errors!
Gen Z’s favorite social platform, global internet users ages 16 to 24 prefer Instagram to all other social platforms — even ranking it above TikTok.
When to post
Typically between 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., but check your account’s analytics to see when your followers are most active. The lifespan of a post is only 24 hours. Instagram posts: Post between three and five times per week. Instagram Stories: Post two times per day.
Analytics
Business accounts have access to analytics. Via your account, you have access to analytics on content performance, profile activity and audience growth demographics.
What to post
- Quality images gain more traction- try this instead of posting a flyer to your grid. Flyers are better suited on Instagram stories.
- Use relevant hashtags- but don’t overdo it. 3-5 hashtags, less than 24 characters each.
- Links are not accessible in a post, direct followers to a link in your bio.
- Posts with text are becoming more popular on Instagram. When opting into this, always remember to keep your grid aesthetic in mind as well.
- Keep captions around 130-150 characters.
- Reels are most successful between 7-15 seconds.
- Stories can be kept on your profile in “Highlights” ensure these are organized and focus on the mission of your account.
When to post
For optimal engagement, post one to two times per day. Facebook users are most active between 1-3 p.m., Monday through Saturday.
Analytics
Review the insights tab to see what type of posts are doing well and what areas can be improved.
What to post
- Long URL’s hurt engagement, use Bitly URL Shortener for more appealing URL’s.
- Include eye catching and relevant photos along with your text.
- Posts using only 40-80 characters perform better.
- Promote upcoming events on Facebook with a clear and engaging description and cover photo.
When to post
Tweets have a lifespan of 12-15 minutes. Tweeting three to six times a day between 8:30 and 6:00 p.m. at different times each day is best.
Analytics
Twitter analytics allows access to a monthly view of performance overall and on individual posts.
What to post
- You are limited to 280 characters, but you can create a thread if needed. Try to keep information within one tweet.
- Hashtags are very important here but stick to one or two.
- Video is limited to 2:20 (two minutes, 20 seconds), but creates a lot of engagement if posted directly on Twitter (not shared from another app).
- Quality, relevant photos boost your post.
- Long URL’s hurt engagement, use Bitly URL Shortener for more appealing URL’s.