Social Media

Your audience is the foundation of your social media strategy. You must ask yourself who are you trying to reach and why. Once you know your audience then you can choose the appropriate platform to reach them.

• Parents- Facebook
• Undergrads – Instagram
• Prospects – Instagram, Tik Tok
• Alums – Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn
• Community – Facebook
• International – WeChat, Youtube
• Non-Trad – Facebook, Instagram

This isn't a comprehensive list but does give you an idea of where your audience might be. For further recommendations, please contact our department.

It can be tempting to use social media as a megaphone but this doesn't typically earn followers that hear your message. We want our followers to converse with us and with one another on our accounts. This builds community and earns accounts higher placement in algorithms which leads to more reach and followers. How can you increase engagement on your accounts?

• Post content that is relevant to the platform and relevant to your followers.
• Instead of blasting out content with no purpose, give your followers a reason to engage. You could pose a question or take a stroll down memory lane. Find a reason to connect your content with your audience.
• Be responsive to your audience. This includes engaging in comments and responding to direct messages.
• Be timely. Social media requires someone to be present and manage comments and messages, often in real-time.

The idea is to be as conversational as possible while continuing to maintain the required level of professionalism.

We hope to get positive engagement on our accounts but that isn’t always going to be the case. If someone comments or messages with a complaint, consider whether this is something that can or should be responded to in a public forum and then respectfully respond or ask the person if they can directly message the account for further investigation into the complaint. If the person is hateful or trolling it isn’t necessary to respond. If someone comments with something that goes against the social media platform’s terms please report them directly to that platform. Deleting a comment should be reserved for very few situations. Southern Illinois University is a state institution and must abide by laws in place, including the right to free speech. Any comment that is deleted must fall into a category listed in the university’s social media policy. Deleting comments because you or someone in your department may not like them can lead to legal action against the university.

Understanding the difference between your desired audience and the audience you currently have – is good for strategic plans that will encourage new followers from your desired audiences while still appealing to your current audiences.

By Social Media Platform:

• Instagram: 60%+ of users are between 18-34 & 73% of teens say Instagram is the best way to reach them. 68% of 18-29 year olds use Instagram*
• Facebook: Largest demographic between 25 and 35 (30%)*
• Youtube: 95% of 18-29 use YouTube and 81% of the US adult population*
• X (formerly Twitter): 39% of users are 25-34 with 63% identifying as male*
• LinkedIn: 60% of users are between 25-34 and 50% of internet users with a college degree use LinkedIn *
• TikTok: 36.2% of users are 18-24, 62% of 18 to 29-year-olds say they use TikTok New research from Pew shows that two out of every three US teens use TikTok daily, with 16% saying they use it almost constantly. *
• Snapchat: 65% of US 18-29 population say they use Snapchat*
• Twitch: 75% of viewers are below the age of 35 and 65% of users are male *
• Reddit: the largest US demographic to use Reddit is between 25-29, followed closely by 18-24 *

*2023 data

At the very least you should be regularly looking at reach, impressions, engagement, and engagement rate. This should give you a basis for critically looking at content selection. Set goals and test your content to see what type of content performs best for you. Keep un-measurable metrics, such as awareness and reputation, in mind. Don't become a slave to analytics but use them to your advantage.

Posts and Stories

• Mix up artwork so it isn't the same on every channel
• Use a minimal amount of text on graphics. Use the photo/graphic for attention and then add the details in the post.
• Use brand colors and art to ensure people know shared posts are coming from SIU
• Create content specifically for social rather than forcing a printed flyer to work on a social post.
• Choose fonts that are easily read at a glance on a phone
• Size pictures and graphics appropriately to avoid grainy and cut-off posts

Visual content should be short and concise. A "story" video post should stick to under 15 seconds to keep from losing the messaging when it is shared.

Before you start a new account, you will need to contact University Communications & Marketing. We will ask that you meet with a team member so we can go over your goals and what you want to accomplish. To prep for that initial meeting, please consider the following.

• What channel(s) are you wanting to use?
• Why do you want to create a new social media account?
  • This should be a thoughtful response and not simply because I was told to do it.
• Who are you trying to reach? Are there multiple audiences?
  • Most of the time we aren’t trying to reach “everyone” so give this some thought and think about whom you are really trying to reach and engage with.
• Who will be responsible for the ongoing maintenance of this account?
  • The university’s official social media policy requires no less than two full-time employees to have access to each account.
  • While students can assist in maintaining accounts, they cannot be the responsible party.
• Can you provide a six-month content calendar that roughly outlines the types of content you will post on each channel?

It is easy to simply start a new account without thinking of how the account will be sustained through staffing changes, students with various skill sets, and organizational changes. Social media is an important part of communicating with our various audiences. We want to help you reach your goals and get more engagement.

To be verified by the university and appear in the social media directory, you must do the following:

• Fill out the memo of understanding
• Add the official university social media “bug” to your accounts

Verified accounts will be audited regularly to ensure the content is current and best practices are followed.

Make your content accessible for all, and create inclusive content.

• #CamelCase your hashtags so that assistive technology can interpret each word – when using acronyms (such as SIU) capitalize each letter.
• Always add alternative (alt) text and captions, and never rely on the auto-generated options. THEY ALWAYS NEED EDITS!
  • All primary social platforms except for Instagram Stories allow for alt text.
  • All primary social platforms except for Instagram Stories allow for alt text.
  • If adding or editing alt text is impossible, include descriptive words in the post copy.
  • If the image has text that is central to its meaning, include it in the alt text description.
• Shorten URLs and remove “www.,” “https://,” etc.
• Consider how assistive technology interprets emojis – avoid overuse and don’t replace words with emojis.
• When designing social graphics, check color contrast and combinations, keep text minimal, and consider typeface legibility and readability – left-aligned is best.

The university encourages fans to leave comments, photos, videos, and links here. However, we will review all comments and will remove any that are inappropriate or offensive. We will leave what you share that relates to the subjects covered on this page. Please understand that comments posted to this page do not represent the opinions of Southern Illinois University Carbondale.

Terms of Use: This SIU Facebook page is intended to provide a place for those with an affinity for SIU to discuss the university. All comments, visuals, videos, and other types of material posted by fans on this site ("User Content") do not necessarily reflect the opinions or ideals of SIU, its employees, or affiliates. SIU (a) does not represent or warrant the accuracy of any statement made here, (b) is not responsible for any User Content on this site, and (c) does not endorse any opinions expressed on this fan page.

SIU abides by Facebook’s Statement of Rights and Responsibilities and asks its Facebook fans to do the same. In particular, please do not "post unauthorized commercial solicitations (such as spam)"; "bully, intimidate, or harass any user"; "post content that is hateful, threatening, pornographic, or that contains nudity or graphic or gratuitous violence"; or "do anything unlawful, misleading, malicious, or discriminatory" on SIU’s Facebook Page.

SIU reserves the right, but is not obligated, to remove comments that contain commercial solicitations; are factually erroneous/libelous; are wildly off-topic; that cannot be translated into English by Google Translate or other free online translation software; or that otherwise violate Facebook’s Statement of Rights and Responsibilities. Facebook encourages all users to utilize the "Report" links when they find abusive content.

Southern Illinois University Carbondale thanks you in advance for your contributions to the university’s Facebook Page, and for your help in creating a safe and vibrant online community.