Missouri State University staff, faculty and student employees brushed up on their social media marketing skills and learned the latest tips and trends for key platforms at Social Media Boot Camp on April 12.

The training, which was hosted by the office of Web and new media, included sections on social media best practices, Facebook, Twitter and key visual platforms.

Social media best practices

Kevin Agee presented on this topic.

Key takeaways

• Own your content and focus on telling stories that create emotional connections.
• Write like a person, not an organization. Tag other accounts to spark conversation.
• Use hashtags effectively and strategically to pull your posts into larger conversations. Official University hashtags include:
  • #GoMaroon (student engagement)
  • #BearGrads (commencement)
  • #MSUBears (athletics)
  • #CitizenBear (public affairs)
  • #BearsHomecoming (homecoming)
• Consider how images can help tell your story and boost your posts by including multimedia.
• Understand that customer service is an important part of social media. People will often turn to social media before going to a website or making a phone call, so it’s important to be there to respond to questions.

Download the presentation slides.

Facebook

Courtney Wendel-Stevenson presented on this topic.

Key takeaways

• While competition has increased over the years, Facebook is still the powerhouse platform in the social media landscape offering the largest and most diverse user base. Americans also spend more time on Facebook per day than any other platform.
• It’s important for page managers to understand the fundamentals of how Facebook’s news feed algorithm works. To play the game well you need to understand the rules. However at the end of the day, quality content reigns supreme.
• Event promotion is an area where Facebook shines. Maximize effectiveness with Facebook events by utilizing their full functionality:
  • Invite related pages to co-host events when applicable
  • Provide clear calls to action and links to more information
  • Build conversation about the event over the time by providing updates in the discussion tab

Download the presentation slides.

Twitter

Kevin Agee presented on this topic.

Key takeaways

• Tips for generating compelling content:
  • Share effective messages consistently
  • Build authority in your area of expertise
  • Partner with other profiles for sharing
  • Show your message (don’t tell your message) with images
• Focus on connecting with your audiences and telling your story rather than advertising. Have conversations with followers, but try not to be the loudest one in the room.
• Measuring success is important. Track your progress toward your goals through Twitter Analytics.
• Experiment with newer Twitter features such as the GIF button, direct video embeds and quoted tweets.

Download the presentation slides.

Visual platforms

Courtney Wendel-Stevenson presented on this topic.

Key takeaways

• Visual content comes in a variety of forms including photos, infographics, gifs, videos and more. In a world where people are constantly inundated with information, visual content is successful because it attracts users’ attention and helps them more quickly digest information.
• Instagram is a great platform for visually telling your unit’s story. New trends with Instagram include an upcoming shift to an algorithm-based feed, the debut of 60-second videos and the ability to share landscape and portrait oriented photos.
• While many platforms are increasing video functionality, YouTube remains the video leader. Videos are a powerful and engaging way to tell your unit’s story. General best practices for videos include focusing on telling a story, keeping videos short and including calls to action early.
• Social media aggregators and a great tools for highlighting user-generated content and archiving social interaction. Two of our favorites are Storify and Tagboard.

Download the presentation slides.