Facebook is the largest social media platform, allowing users to share essentially anything that they want with the entire world. Understanding how Facebook organizes and displays their content is paramount to success on this platform.
Facebook gives every user their own profile page. Tailoring this page to your brand is essential to driving engagement. Use a branded profile picture and corresponding banner image, as well as a concisely written bio that includes relevant information about your organization, a mission statement and any external links. You may want to include a call to action on your profile page to further drive engagement. If your profile is big enough, you might consider applying for verification.
Facebook is driven by content, whether that be pictures, text posts, polls, shared articles, or the many other ways Facebook lets us share information online. Using a content calendar to organize all of your posts and strategically release them over time is one of the most effective ways to drive engagement with your page. You should also be using language in your posts that provides a call to action for your audience.
Facebook photo tips: Your cover photo should be 851 x 315 pixels and your profile image should be 180 x 180 pixels. When you interact with other posts, your profile image will be scaled down to 32 x 32 pixels on the timeline. When you are posting an image to the timeline, it should be 1200 x 630 pixels to maximize resolution.
Instagram is a photo-editing and sharing smartphone-based app where users post captioned images to their followers. There is a strong focus on aesthetics and captioning to drive traffic on this platform.
Instagram allows users to tell a story through photos. The photos and videos that you post to Instagram should be original, coincide with the current trends in social media, and adhere to WCSU guidelines and standards.
It is important to plan your content in advance. In accordance with having a strategy, you need to make sure that your content makes sense and flows aesthetically in the feed, as well as in the grid on your personal account page.
Know your audience. It is important to get a sense of who will be viewing your posts, or who you would like to be viewing your posts. Tailoring your content to your target group is the best way to consistently reach your audience.
Instagram photo tips: Your profile photo on Instagram is 100 x 100 pixels (square, 1:1 ratio). Instagram automatically sets photos taken for posting at 1080 x 1080 pixels, but you do have the option to resize them into landscape or narrow frame. Keep in mind, though, this will place black bands on either side or above and below your photo.
Instagram stories provide an entirely different mode of interaction between you and your followers, separate from the traditional feed on the homepage. In your story, you can incorporate things such as music, video, and external links for your followers.
Begin your story with something stimulating enough to hook viewers within the first frame. In the final frame, provide a call to action for your viewers. If you have 10,000+ followers, you can utilize the "swipe-up" feature where your viewers can follow external links.
Don't overload your story with content. An ideal length for your story is between three and five frames. Encourage your audience to interact with your story by overlaying text, using polls, and complimenting your content with gifs and stickers.
LinkedIn is the largest professional networking platform in the world. It's very important for you to maintain a professional image and discourse when using LinkedIn.
LinkedIn provides each user with a personal profile page. You should be optimizing your profile by making sure every aspect of your page is complete. Don't forget to use a professional, branded profile picture and a concise biography that includes important details about you or your organization. Use keywords relevant to your organization to drive traffic to your page. It is important to understand that users are notified whenever you view their profile.
LinkedIn is centered around users building networks of professionals and organizations. Build a network by reaching out to other users that you know and that are relevant to your profile. The more connections you make, the more networks that you have access to, and so on.
LinkedIn allows users to endorse each other for certain skills in the workplace. Aim to build a network of professional connections that can endorse your skill sets. Be sure to endorse other user's skills as well. Engaging with other users is the best way to build your professional network.
You may also want to showcase some of your work on your page. This will help other LinkedIn users get a sense of your goals and skills.
LinkedIn allows users to create private groups. Groups are important because they provide you with a targeted audience ready to listen to what you have to say. Just be sure that you're keeping the dialogue professional and concise.
LinkedIn photo tips: Your profile image should be 400 x 400 pixels. Your profile cover image should be 1584 x 396 pixels. A blog post link image should be 1200 x 627 pixels and a custom image should be sized at 1200 x 627 pixels.
Twitter is unique in that it provides interaction in real-time. This platform allows the university to join conversations happening all around the world, keep up with important current events as they happen, and instantly communicate with students, staff, and other followers.
Design your profile so that it accurately represents your goals or the goals of your organization. Select a branded profile image and a banner image that coincides with what you want to portray. It is also important to have a clear and concise bio that includes any relevant links to your websites.
You can also submit a request to be verified by Twitter (the blue check mark next to your name) but this usually takes some time and requires a substantial number of followers.
Interacting with other accounts, especially ones affiliated with WCSU, is essential to maximizing exposure. Retweeting, liking, and mentioning other accounts when the content is relevant is a great way to not only promote your account, but the accounts of other WCSU organizations as well.
A tweet has an 18-minute lifespan. With such a small window of opportunity for people to see your content it is crucial that your tweet is targeted in a way that appeals to your specific audience.
Coupling your tweets with meaningful photos, videos, gifs, and links is a good way to draw attention to your content. Tagging relevant accounts, pinning important tweets, and using hashtags will help further reach your target audience.
Twitter is the fastest moving social media platform. Trends can change very quickly, so it's important that you monitor your feed reguarly to make sure your content remains up to date with current conversations.
It may also benefit you to use Twitter Analytics, which can help with identifying trends and staying ahead of the content curve. Users can view statistics on engagement rates, top-performing tweets, and keywords and hashtags.
Twitter photo tips: Your account homepage header photo should be 1500 x 500 pixels; the maximum file size is 5 megabytes (MB), and the recommended formats are JPG, GIF, and PNG. Your profile picture should be 400 x 400 pixels; the maximum file size for this photo is 2 MB and the reccomended formats are JPG, GIF, and PNG. When you share photos to the stream, they should be 506 x 253 pixels; the maximum file size for in-stream photos is 5MB and 3MB for GIFS.
Facebook
Facebook is the largest social media platform, allowing users to share essentially anything with the entire world. Understanding how Facebook organizes and displays their content is paramount to success on this platform.
Instagram
Instagram is a smartphone-based photo editing and sharing app where users post captioned images to their followers. There is a strong focus on aesthetics and captioning to drive traffic on this platform.
Twitter
Twitter lets its users send and receive messages to a network of followers instantly, creating a conversation in a real time. Twitter is the fastest-moving social media platform, so remaining proactive and up to date it key.
LinkedIn
LinkedIn is the largest professional networking platform in the world. It’s very important to maintain a professional image and discourse when using LinkedIn.