Overview
Facebook is the world’s largest social network, with over 1.49 billion active monthly users (nearly 1 billion daily users). It provides a place for connection via sharing photos, videos, and text updates. Users create personal profiles and establish relationships with other people and companies on profiles or Pages. Pages allow businesses to develop a presence on Facebook so that you can connect with your audience.
Many major brands use Facebook to start conversations, share deals, and seek feedback from consumers and fans. You, too, can showcase custom content, including contests, fan-exclusive content, videos, fan stories, thank-you campaigns, and more.
Facebook Groups are not recommended for department/unit use because the entity itself has no official voice in the group.
Getting Started
Selecting Facebook
Because of its wide adoption, Facebook may be a natural choice to get the word out. While students typically follow departments on Facebook, their engagement with the content is behind that of alumni.
If your department or unit desires to create a Facebook page, please consult with LSAsocial to discuss your goals and plans first.
Creation of new social media channels must be in compliance with the University of Michigan Social Media Implementation Standard.
Naming Guidelines
Use the following name guidelines to create your handle and Facebook URL. You should use the same handle for Facebook as you use for Twitter, so consider keeping your handle as brief as possible, so as to reduce the number of characters it will take up in links and tweets.
Use the abbreviation “umich” followed by the name (if short), abbreviation, or acronym for your department. Some examples:
http://www.facebook.com/umichECON
http://www.facebook.com/umichCHEM
http://www.facebook.com/umichDAAS
For your longer page name, we also encourage units to use the naming system adopted by the College of LSA social media accounts: University of Michigan + Department/Unit name. Some examples:
University of Michigan Economics
University of Michigan Chemistry
University of Michigan Afroamerican and African Studies
Completing Your Page’s Profile
Your “About” description should also include a link to your department website. The “About” section of your page should also reference the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts.
We encourage units to use the social media profile picture (a square version) provided in your branding kit by LSA Marketing. If you cannot locate the social media profile pic for your department, contact lsa-marketing@umich.edu.
Departments are responsible for finding their own cover photos for Facebook. We recommend an engaging photo that includes people and action, and which strongly references U-M. Images should meet the current standard for Facebook pages.
Contact LSA CMS Web Service at lsa.web.support@umich.edu if you are interested in placing social media account icons on your department’s website.
Publishing On Facebook
Facebook is a living organism and is constantly evolving in order to meet the needs of businesses and users. Currently, U-M’s partnership with Lynda.com allows us to learn the basics and stay on top of the latest developments.
Facebook for Business on Lynda.com
Logging into Lynda.com with your UMich ID
Engagement Tips
Every post on your page is an opportunity to inform and engage with your audience.
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Be consistent.
The voice and tone of your page should align with your strategies and objectives, once established.
Be brief.
Although Facebook recently increased the character limit for a post to 5,000, your posts always should be much, much shorter. Most posts should be less than 200 characters.
Speak as a team.
Whether you manage your account alone (not recommended) or as part of a team, your account represents your entire area, so be sure to say “we” rather than “I” or “me.”
Know your subject matter.
Some topics to consider for your Facebook posts include:
- Stories about your department posted on your website
- Stories about your department that appear elsewhere in the media, including University news sources, such as the Record or LSA Today
- Stories from your departmental newsletter
- Faculty news/research developments/awards
- Photos of department events
- Videos promoting your department
- Notable guest speakers or lectures
- Important dates/deadlines within your department
- Breaking news, timely events, and holidays
Understand your post options.
You can post a simple text post, embed a link with a preview image, post a photo or video, or create an event or milestone.
Photo posts can have an extensive reach with Facebook users, so create your post as a photo, whenever possible. Use the photo description as a place for relevant information. Keep text accompanying photos as brief as possible. Include a link to more information, if applicable, and use a link shortener (bit.ly) to keep long links from overpowering the rest of your post.
Avoid creating a Facebook event for every event in your department. Reserve Facebook events and event invites for only the most important occasions, as a regular onslaught of event invitations can be off-putting to fans.
When including a link in your post, pay attention to how Facebook pulls a stock image and text from the corresponding web page. Take advantage of the opportunity to manually edit headlines and introduction text. If you are unsatisfied with the image pulled by Facebook, you can upload your own image, or leave your post without an image.
Maintain a consistent schedule.
Getting into a rhythm of posting proactively will help guide you in the process of growing the reach of your account. Begin by trying to post to Facebook once a day, including weekends. This way you’ll still remain involved in the Facebook conversation without becoming too saturated. As your community grows, you’ll have the option to experiment with increasing your frequency.
Consider creating an editorial calendar that is shared among your page managers (a Google calendar is an easy way to facilitate this) to help you plan what to post and when. This may help you plan ahead for strategic posts about important events and news planned by your department. Leave room for timely posts about holidays and local Ann Arbor and Michigan events, but also remember to take advantage of news or other late-breaking information. Remember that you can also schedule posts ahead of time in accordance with your editorial calendar using the clock icon in the status update box.
Managing Community On Facebook.
“Like” other Facebook pages as your page.
You can proactively generate “likes” for your page. You can find the option to “like as your page” by clicking the dropdown menu near the like button on that page. Consider “liking”
- Facebook pages from other U-M entities
- Pages with similar interests at other colleges/universities
- Experts, companies, or organizations related to your page
- Competitor organizations, who can be used to stay on top of industry happenings
Tag other Facebook accounts.
When you mention another account with an @reply, Facebook allows you to “tag” other fan pages. This brings their attention to the post so that they can interact with it. Feel free to tag @UmichLSA on those posts to which you’d like us to give a little more attention.
Respond consistently.
It is important to be responsive, engaging, and helpful when responding to posts. Answer questions that are asked of you, and if you find yourself answering the same question over and over, add a proactive post on the subject to your editorial calendar so fans can be aware and you can cover your bases. “Like” comments that are particularly engaging, or respond with thanks.
Politely correct posts that include misinformation.
Block or delete only when necessary.
Remember that social media is a place for opinions and healthy conversation, and your Facebook page is an example of this.
Unless the post violates the College or University community guidelines it is important to take careful consideration before removing a post. If you determine that a post is bothersome and should be removed, you have the ability to block and report the user to Facebook. Click the “X” in the right-hand corner of a post to see your options for removing, blocking, and reporting.
Contact LSA Social if you have questions about how to respond to a post or need support.