Getting the Message Out: Getting the Message Out – Social Media for Student Organizations LEAD Development Workshop Heidi Trotta and Mary Zedeck Wednesday, October 17, 2012 5:30 pm Using Social Media – Part 3

Customize the look and feel of your social media pages however be consistent so people can link them all together visually.

Follow good design … keep it simple … This is an example of a custom twitter background … notice that any information that you want to always be displayed on the background needs to be placed to the far left. Look at your social media sites on a few different computers.

Customizations don’t have to be complicated … this is a white background.

What to do when someone is inappropriate through one of your social media avenues? How will you respond to negative attention to minimize the damage?

For More on Responding to Negative Feedback Here’s one example but there are many different ways to address negative feedback. This blog post has a list of ways different organizations are handling this. The most important message here is that it is a good idea to come up with policies on ways that you are going to respond as an organization to social media, even if the policy is NOT to respond. For More on Responding to Negative Feedback

Have something valuable to say! Provide interesting posts with information that your readers will care about. Avoid the gossip … keep private information, PRIVATE. This is not the place to talk about the wild party your organization just had or someone’s date! Instead …. Consider … Reporting news as it breaks. Even if you don’t have the complete story you can quickly alert readers to urgent news as it unfolds. Ex. Tornado warning--tornado activity near College Station moving toward campus. Seek shelter immediately. Cover a live event. Post scores and other developments in your organization. Ex. Doug Shumway connects with Dominique Johnson on a 25-yard TD pass to put the Mustangs up 35-20. Promote an organizational event … Let your readers know what’s going on as it happens. Ex. Temporary tattoos, laser tag, fortune tellers, caricature portraits...it's all going on right now at matador nights! Recruit or advertise … Ex. Breeze open house tonight at 7 p.m. Come learn more info and get involved! Interesting facts Hold a contest Proofread your posts. Misspellings and grammatical errors look bad on your organization.

Create a conversation: Don’t just push out links to your content; ask readers what they think about the new football coach or the controversial cartoon in the school paper this week. Ask Opinions, ask for feedback (i.e. ideas for a tee-shirt for a special event or a raffle gift) Reply to your followers … let your readers know your organization is listening to them If you readers mention your organization in their social media places, make sure someone responds. Be gracious and thank them! Mention - Forward interesting comments or news alerts from other news organizations that would interest your readers

Mary Zedeck mary.zedeck@shu.edu Heidi Trotta heidi.trotta@shu.edu Mary Zedeck mary.zedeck@shu.edu Need help? Resources can be found at SwitedhOnSHU blog ….blogs.shu.edu/switchedon or contact us. ~ Become Switched On through Technology Follow Us on Twitter @SwitchedOnSHU http://tltc.shu.edu/switchedon