• Best Practices
• Branding Your Profile

These guidelines provide the best practices for Texas Tech University staff, faculty and student employees engaging in online communications through social media platforms in a professional capacity while representing Texas Tech University.

Best Practices

Decide if a Channel is Right for You

Before starting any social media account for your organization, consider the following:

• Does having a social media account align with your department or office's communications plan and goals?
• What does your audience expect of your department or office? Are they on social media?
• What resources do you have to create and maintain content for a social media channel?
• What type of content will you require to post to social media?
• What purpose will using a social media channel hold for your office or department? Is this original content with a purpose that is not already being served by another entity?

Develop a Social Media Strategy

Social media should be part of your overall communications and/or marketing strategy. However, posting should not take place without proper planning. Set goals for your account and content, create a content plan or calendar and stick to it.

Give Your Storytelling Visual Elements

The goal is to “Stop the scroll.”

The majority of your social media content should incorporate a visual element. High-quality graphics, photos or videos that catch the eye are always the best way to draw a consumer into your content.

When using links, be sure to test whether they automatically populate or if you have to add them to a caption. Pay attention to the platform, for instance, links are not clickable on Instagram posts but can be placed in a bio or an IG story.

Be Accessible

Think about those in your audience with impairments and make your content more accessible for them when you can.

Caption videos, use alt text for photos, hashtag campaigns so all related posts can be easily found, and don't overload graphics with text, because screen readers may not be able to recognize it. Don't be afraid to link externally to extra information.  

Be Transparent Where You Can

Never post confidential or proprietary information. Answer positive and negative questions in the comments, and don't hesitate to take the conversation offline, if necessary.

Be Authentic

Show parts of your department or the personality of the individuals within. Give your audience a reason to engage, and then interact with them. Use these interactions to identify what content your audience is looking for, then curate and create content for them.

Be Critical

Social media metrics are readily available and a great way to see how your posts are performing. Use context: If it's a slow time, compare your numbers to a similarly slow time. Compare against peer accounts. If there's another account at Texas Tech that is speaking to the same audience, consider shared posts, or working with that account to reach the audience.

Budget to Expand Your Reach

Paid social media is the easiest way to get eyes beyond your content's normal organic reach. Many times, similar accounts are spending money and competing for the same virtual space and audiences.

Work with Marketing & Communications when planning a paid campaign to make sure your posts won't drown out someone else's, or that yours won't be drowned out.

Respect Your Audience

Social media is two-way communication. People will share opinions you don't agree with, and they will give you negative feedback, justifiably or not. If this is something that makes you uncomfortable, or you are not confident in your team's ability to handle these types of situations professionally, then you may want to consider alternative communication tools.

Branding Your Profile

• The account name should clearly and concisely represent the academic unit or department it represents.
• The handle format for official Texas Tech University social media accounts is “TTUAccountName” – it begins with TTU followed by a shortened version of the account name.
• Social media accounts that are registered with Marketing & Communications will have the option of using the Double T as a profile icon. The account name will appear next to the icon on the social media platform and is not required in the icon. To register your unit's account, please contact Preston Jordan (preston.jordan@ttu.edu), or Michael Minshew (miminshe@ttu.edu).

• Marketing & Communications has “From Here, It's Possible” social media banner templates available for profile cover images. To download, visit our SharePoint site.

Need More Information?

If you manage a Texas Tech social media account, please join us on Teams.

Contact Allen Ramsey (allen.ramsey@ttu.edu), Preston Jordan (preston.jordan@ttu.edu), or Michael Minshew (miminshe@ttu.edu).