Social Media Guidelines

Creating a Social Media Presence at UWGB

Social media accounts associated with the University of Wisconsin – Green Bay must adhere to brand standards and visual identity guidelines. The purpose of this is to guide and educate those in a new role or looking to build a new social presence on how to best represent the brand on social media.

Choosing a Platform(s): 

Social Media Platform Breakdown

• Instagram is great for exploring interests and looking for inspiration. Use Instagram to inspire and increase brand awareness among the target where they're spending the most time, especially on Stories and Reels.
• Facebook is best for sharing life updates, fun day-to-day moments and showing affinity. Use Facebook to share university stories and news where alums and students of non-traditional age are spending time.
• TikTok users come here seeking entertainment. Use TikTok to entertain and educate alongside the target as they have fun creating content.
• Twitter/X: people come here for news. Use Twitter/X to share newsworthy stories and university updates.
• Threads is used similarly to Twitter/X and is great for sharing university updates and exciting campus stories.
• LinkedIn is best for networking and showcasing expertise. Use LinkedIn to update alums and community members about UWGB.
• YouTube is great for long form video and useful when you have a story that requires more time and detail to tell. Use YouTube Shorts for more bite-sized video content.

When creating a social media presence for your organization, department, academic program or office, consider:

• Does an account already exist?
• Who is your audience and are they using the platform?
• Are you familiar with or willing to learn about the platform?
• Do you have frequent enough content, including photos and videos, or would you be better sharing your content to be posted to an existing social media presence?
• Do you have the resources (mainly time) to maintain consistent and responsive communication via your social media presence?
• How will social media users find your social media presence?
• Are you willing to deactivate the account if you are no longer able to maintain it? Accounts should have at minimum a weekly post, including over semester breaks.
• Do you have a back-up contact or alternate content/page manager? If your page represents a department, program or organization, account administration/log-in information should be shared by more than one employee, as to prevent loss of access in turnover.

By creating a social media presence that uses the UWGB brand, you must be prepared to maintain it and keep it updated as well as respond regularly to comments, questions and other notifications. A social media site that is inactive, or doesn't respond to users, leaves a poor impression. If you are creating a new University social media presence, please contact Jena Richter Landers, Digital Communication Specialist (richterj@uwgb.edu).

Build & Enhance Your Social Presence

• Use a professional photo. Profiles with photos receive a significantly higher response rate.
• Write a descriptive headline. After the photo, the headline is the first thing people look at in a profile. Mention UW-Green Bay.
• Include a summary and experience. Tell your story with the target audience in mind.
• Ensure access. Make sure multiple full time employees have administrative access and/or passwords for accounts.
• Usernames and profile names usually cannot accommodate "University of Wisconsin-Green Bay" spelled out in full, especially when also listing campus locations. Use "UW-Green Bay" when you can't spell out the full University name, with "UWGB" as a final option. Please ensure that somewhere on the social media profile (about section or bio) the full University name is listed.

Engage Your Audience

Respond to (Nearly) Everything

From a simple like to a gif to a thoughtful reply, have fun with your followers and community.

Cultivate Conversations

Look for opportunities to follow up with a follower:

• Polls
• Questions

Monitor Your Presence

Monitor your presence for abuse by visitors, and defuse/take negative conversations offline. You may use the Social Media Policy as a guide and Jena Richter Landers as a resource.

Visual Identity & Brand Guidelines

• Follow the UW-Green Bay Employee Social Media Participation Guidelines.
• Follow brand and visual identity; reference Style Guide.
• Feel free to use photos on Photoshelter. All employees have access via single-sign on.
• Use standardized social media icons for profile images to ensure brand compliance and follow best practice. Consistent branding such as templated profile images is most important for departmental presences.
  
  Note: All University entities are welcome to request a customized social media icon for profile use. Contact Jena Richter Landers, Digital Communication Specialist, at richterj@uwgb.edu to request an icon. Cover images on applicable social media presences should be relevant images, crisp and properly sized.
  
  
• Keep confidential matters private. Be aware that all University and legal guidelines, such as FERPA, are also applicable in the social media space.

Photo Storytelling

• People are 65% more likely to remember information if it includes an image
• Have a clear subject. It’s usually best to have a single focal point in your image
• Use natural light. If your image is too dark, it’s harder to see. But don’t overexpose your images, either
• Use the right aspect ratio for the platform. Don’t stretch an image
• Don’t overedit. Subtlety is a good policy when it comes to filters and features. Increase saturation with caution

Video Storytelling

• Video dominates online activity and social networks like Facebook and Instagram prioritize video
• Hook 'em at the start with the key message
• Keep it short (generally less than 30 seconds)
  Text should enhance the storytelling, but generally keep it short
• Format for the platform: vertically (9:16 aspect ratio) for Stories, Reels and TikTok. Keep in mind that Instagram uses all videos posted in the feed on Reels
  
• Consider sound:
  • Music and sound can convey emotion and is essential on TikTok and Reels
  • Include subtitles for those watching with sound off

People consume vertical videos at a faster rate than other forms of content. Capture your audience's attention with the first slide, then follow a concise narrative to keep their attention

Content Ideas

Faculty & Staff

• 5 Fundamentals for New Student Success
• 5 Things You Didn't Know About [subject]
• When I'm not at work...
• Student successes (example: all students passed; I was inspired by this)
• Fun facts/quirks about the professor
• Telling their own challenges as a student
• Q&A
• 5 Ways a Movie/Book/Person Got It Wrong

Departments

• Faculty spotlights
• Student Q&As
• Student successes
• Group TikTok trends with faculty
• Pop culture comparisons (ex: which professor is which Harry Potter professor)
• Intra-department contests (ex: potluck – who's the best chef)
• Spotlights on exciting/topical work
• Faculty two truths, one lie

Student Groups

• Member spotlights
• 5 Ways The Group Makes Me a Better Student
• Group TikTok trends
• Before/After Joining the Group
• Highlighting activities outside of meetings (ex: studying together)
• Spotlight the ways the group impacts members and UW-Green Bay
• Q&A
• Recruitment/new membership

Accessibility

Creating Inclusive Content

Remove barriers:

• Consider how assistive technology interprets hashtags and emojis.
• Consider adding alt text to your captions and proofread auto-generated closed captions (or directly to image)
• Be aware of contrast and color combinations in social graphics
• Shorten URLs when possible and remove https:// and “www.”

The Power of Advocacy

Tapping into the power of engaged faculty, staff and organization leaders who are eager to spread the word about UW-Green Bay helps strengthen brand awareness and expands the university’s story. If 20 Phoenix community members share with their 300 colleagues and friends, that reaches thousands of people very quickly.

Interested in taking your presence to the next level? Email Jena Richter Landers (richterj@uwgb.edu) to get on the list for future trainings.