Strategic Marketing and Communications
Social Media Best Practices
Creating and Posting Content
Always review content carefully before you post. Only post content that is related to official college business and is consistent with
the college’s mission, values, and guiding principles. Remember: Posted content could
be redistributed or shared online through other media and social media channels. If
deleted or modified, older versions could, and quite possibly do, exist online.
Be respectful of others. Whether you are an administrator or a fan/follower, always treat others fairly and respectfully. Be sensitive to different perspectives and viewpoints and do not react in a defensive or hostile manner.
Be accurate, honest, and transparent. Make sure you are providing accurate information. Take the time to verify information before it’s posted. If you make an error or need to post a correction or retraction, do so publicly so that others are aware of it. Do not post anything that is dishonest, untrue, or misleading.
Be professional. As an employee, remember that you represent SVC. You are the public face of the college and should always consider the intended audience when posting or commenting. When posting on official SVC social accounts, the audience does not often distinguish between an individual employee and the college. Proofread your content prior to posting and avoid spelling and grammatical errors.
Use of college marks, such as logos and graphics, must comply with the college’s branding guidelines. Questions regarding the use of college logos should be directed to the Marketing and Communications team at pio@skagit.edu.
Responding to Negative Comments: Negative comments can be challenging. If you are unsure about how to respond, please contact Marketing and Communications at pio@skagit.edu. In some cases, you can resolve a problem with a careful response. There may be times when no response may be the most appropriate action. Often, friends or fans will counterbalance the negative feedback with their responses.
Creating and Managing a Social Media Account on Behalf of the College
If you’d like to create a department or program social media account, you must submit a service request. The Marketing and Communications team will meet with you to discuss your goals and outcomes for the social media pages, best practices and tips, and provide steps on how to connect your social media account into our archival software platform.
Monitoring and Maintenance
If a college department, organization, other entity, or activity creates or maintains a social media account, the responsible administrator of the account must make sure the social media account is monitored and updated on a consistent basis by the departments or programs that authorized the accounts. This allows for rapid response to any problems that may arise and ensures an engaging, interesting environment for visitors.
Use of the College Name or Information on Personal Social Media Accounts
When participating in social media in a private capacity through personal accounts (not as a contributor to official college accounts), employees are strongly cautioned against identifying oneself as an SVC employee or referring to college employment matters and business. We advise employees to consider the impact that posts, words, and engagement have on an employee’s professional credibility and the college through affiliation. However, when an employee is identified as an SVC employee or reference is made to a college employment matter, the employee should clarify that their post or statement is of a personal nature and does not necessarily represent the views of the college. If employees are connected to one another on private social media accounts, it should be mutually understood that this agreement is outside of college business. However, it should be noted that in certain cases, this relationship may still require mandatory reporting for state ethical violations such as harm to self or others, or illegal activity.
Resources
Marketing and Communications Toolkit and Branding Guidelines
Do you need help with social media, graphic design, updating the college website, interacting with the media, or other marketing activities? Do you want to stay up-to-date on college communications? Then the Marketing and Communications Toolkit and SVC Branding Guidelines are your go-to resources for the most up-to-date SVC logos, fonts, colors, and more. Take a look at skagit.edu/marketing.
Submit a request for services
Need our help? Submit a service request online. This will help us better understand your request and get your project into our queue. Once you fill out the form, we’ll contact you to set up a meeting to go over your project request.
Got Questions?
We’re here to help. Reach out for help with setting up accounts, responding to questions or complaints, advice on how to handle a difficult situation, and more. Contact the Marketing and Communications team at pio@skagit.edu.