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- Whether you've made the decision to jump in with both feet or simply put in a toe for now, you will want to consider the administrative requirements for using social media. These requirements include existing policies that your institution and/or department already has in place. Check with your marketing/public relations staff (you will have made a good contact during the "Getting Started" phase of development mentioned above) for any existing guidelines or policies (. For example: , Social Media @ Brown University includes guidelines for institutionalinstitutional use, as well as personal use guidelines and best practices for personal use and social media site managersmanagement.
- Branding: Social media is, at the heart of it, social and all about making personal connections. Keep this in mind when setting up your social media profiles. Having a friendly face in that little thumbnail -- whether belonging to the staff member who blogs, posts and/or tweets, or an artist's rendering of your mascot -- will ensure better connections. Whatever you select, it should align with your website and presents an excellent opportunity to do some branding.
- Dashboards and Automation: Keeping your messages fresh, ongoing and in sync can be daunting but luckily there are tools that can help. Dashboards such a Hootsuite allow you to manage multiple social profiles and schedule your messages. See more social media management tools below.
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