Social media can be a powerful and effective tool to share information and interact with your audience. UA Little Rock uses social media to communicate official information about the university and to engage with key audiences – potential and current students, employees, alumni, and the community. NOTE: These guidelines are for official UA Little Rock social media accounts only and are not intended for personal or individual accounts.
Getting Started
If you’re thinking about creating a Facebook page or other social channel for your department, it’s recommended that you first meet with the Office of Communications and Marketing. Creating and managing a social media account is time intensive and requires planning and commitment. We can discuss what is involved, help you create a strategy, and provide some best practices.
When you create an official social media account for your unit, you must also give administrative access to the Office of Communications and Marketing. The office will not manage other units’ accounts, but needs access in the event of a campus crisis and/or if the account administrator leaves the university.
First Steps
Some things to consider before creating a social media presence:
- Goals and Objectives: What is your overarching goal? Have a clear plan before you start. Each account should have its own purpose and intended audience. How does the purpose of your Instagram account differ from your Facebook account?
- Audience: Who are you trying to reach? How will your content achieve that? Have you considered the content your audience is seeking, the proper tone, and the nature of the social media platform?
- Maintenance: Who will be the primary administrators to manage the account? How often do you plan to update it? Do you have the time? Social media is a 24/7 job. Account administrators need to be comfortable managing the account after hours (for example, snow days are very active times). Also, consider long-term sustainability. If an administrator leaves the university, what happens to the account? Student workers are great resources for assisting with social media, but it is best to have a full-time employee as the primary administrator.
- Quality over Quantity: Not every department, office, event, or group needs to have a social media account. Rather than creating a brand-new account and building a following from scratch, consider using an already existing account. You can work with another department who has an active account and provide it content to post. It is better to have a smaller number of strong UA Little Rock accounts, than a vast number of accounts with few followers.
Going Forward
Before creating a university-approved account, talk with the web team to discuss a social media strategy. The social media guidelines are a helpful resource as well.
Official Accounts
Find out what’s going on with all things #UALittleRock. We share upcoming events, news, student stories, alumni, staff achievements, Trojan athletics, and more.
Facebook @ualittlerock
Instagram @ualr
Youtube /ualr