Getting Started with Social Media
Do you believe that your school, major, office or department at Adelphi University should have an official Adelphi social media account?
Before You Start an Account
Creating and running a successful Adelphi University social media account takes careful planning, content and strategy. First, check to see if your group already has a social media presence and if you can work with the administrators of these accounts to share your content.
Consider the following questions to see if creating a new social media account suits your needs.
Knowing your audience is a fundamental first step in creating a social media strategy. Some common Adelphi audiences are: current students, incoming students, parents of incoming or current students, alumni, faculty, staff and administrators or community partners. Determine if this audience is using social media to connect and if so, which platforms.
The ultimate question: Why are you creating this account? Your goals should drive the content you choose to add to social media. Common goals can be driving attendance to an event or raising awareness about a specific program. Goals can shift as needed to be specific, timely and measurable.
The content that you create should reflect what your defined audience wants to see and support your goals. Where those two intersect will tell you the best material to post. It is important to make sure that you have enough content to post consistently to support your channel before you get started. For this reason, we ask that you create two months of content before getting started.
Managing social media takes time out of your day. Social media is social, it requires time to respond to questions/comments or monitor what your community is saying. We ask that two Adelphi employees are registered to be account administrators.
When considering starting a social media account, you need to have a timeline and start date in mind. To determine a start date, keep in mind the campaigns, events and programs you plan to promote. From there, you can create a content calendar to support your goals.
In order to have a successful social media account, you need to reach your goals. Using an analytics system will help you measure your account’s performance, thus your success. Deciding on what your success metric is (ie. increase engagement, more link clicks) will guide you on choosing the right analytics tools.
If you answer yes to the above questions, you’re in a good place to start considering social media for your area! Please fill out the account creation form to submit your intent to create an official Adelphi social media account. Allow for 1-2 weeks for review.
Consider Alternative Options for Sharing Content
If you answered “No” to any of the previous questions, making a new account might not be the right move.
Don’t worry, you still have the option to share your content with Adelphi’s main accounts for them to post. You can regularly submit your content to be reviewed and posted on Adelphi’s main social media accounts. For more discussion, arrange a meeting with our Social Media Team at social@adelphi.edu.
Making A New Account
If you answer “Yes” to the above questions, you’re in a good place to start considering social media for your area!
Please fill out the account creation form to submit your intent to create an official Adelphi social media account. Allow for 1-2 weeks for review.
All Adelphi University social media accounts must be registered with the Office of University Communications and Marketing (UCOMM) to be considered official Adelphi accounts. Registering with UCOMM not only gives you added exposure, but also offers membership with the Social Media Users Group (SMUG) at Adelphi, ongoing updates, support and training opportunities.
Once your account has been considered and accepted, the flagship Adelphi University accounts can share your content. Once your account has been considered and accepted, the flagship Adelphi University accounts can share your content. After 30 days of activity, your account will be added to our list of official accounts.
You are also welcome to reach out to social@adelphi.edu to discuss your strategy before submitting your application to create a new account. After submitting your application, please allow for up to two weeks for review, after which, UCOMM will reach out to you to set up a meeting to discuss your strategy and content before an account can be created.
Registering An Existing Account
If you have already created an account and wish to register it, please review the above as well as the following criteria:
- Your account has not been inactive for over 30 days at a time
- Your account follows the practices and guidelines seen in the Design and Editorial guides
- Your account includes the name “Adelphi University” or “AdelphiU” in your user or biography—rather than “AU” which is very broad
Official Adelphi University social media accounts represent Adelphi and as such, are expected to meet those standards. UCOMM monitors these accounts to ensure that they follow our Social Media Guidelines and Social Media Policy. Accounts that have been inactive for more than 60 days will be removed from the list.
