Social Media
We are #VirginiaTech social media. 🦃
We recognize the value of social media as an influential two-way communication tool, and we are committed to sharing quality content and providing best-in-class social media customer service. We encourage meaningful and personalized interactions, welcome community feedback, and strive to be transparent and proactive in our digital communications. In this social space, we support our Hokies and our brand.
Social media accounts support a range of goals at the university and must preserve and uphold Virginia Tech’s brand identity, integrity, and reputation. The university authorizes the creation and use of university social media accounts, provided their use is professional, protects the reputation and brand of the university, aligns with university priorities, and complies with other Virginia Tech policies and applicable state and federal laws and regulations, and is guided by the Virginia Tech Principles of Community.
BRANDING & STYLE REQUIREMENTS
University Policy No. 7215 requires that digital content be accessible to people with disabilities. Please review both the accessibility checklist and the training "Social Media Best Practices: Accessibility" under the Best Practices section of this page.
Official Virginia Tech-affiliated social media accounts must adhere to the Virginia Tech Brand Guide to ensure consistency across platforms. Resources are available for Virginia Tech employees and students in the Brand Center.
Logos
Official Virginia Tech logos are available to download to help you create profile photos and cover photos as the platform allows. Official university primary and secondary colors are available in the Brand Guide for reference when creating page identity images. Please note: You may not alter the logo in any way when creating a profile picture.
Virginia Tech-affiliated accounts are encouraged to use the official Virginia Tech logo, following the logo guidelines. There are four versions available for download, and they have been adjusted to fit various profile picture displays, including the circle crop.
NOTE: If your social media account's name does not begin with “Virginia Tech,” you will need to use the profile picture that places the words “Virginia Tech” below the “VT.” If your account's name does start with “Virginia Tech,” you may use either version.
For accounts that start with 'Virginia Tech'
Right-click on the image to download
For all Virginia Tech-affiliated accounts
Right-click on the image to download
1. Page/usernames
- Full, official name of your unit.
- Typically begins with “Virginia Tech” (i.e. Virginia Tech College of Agriculture and Life Sciences); but may not contain “Virginia Tech” if it holds a donor’s name — in that case, ensure Virginia Tech is in the about information, as described below.
- If space is limited in the platform, “VT” is an acceptable alternative to “Virginia Tech” (i.e. @VT_Football)
2. Contact information
- Official website link.
- As space allows, include other contact information such as:
- Address
- Telephone number(s)
- Email address(es)
- Other websites
3. “About” information
- As space allows, fill out as completely as possible the about section of your profile.
- This includes mission, descriptions, founding information, etc.
- Include “Virginia Tech” here if your unit’s official name does not contain it (i.e. the name comes from a donor).
4. Profile picture
- Must represent your unit in a clear manner.
- Must be readable at small, thumbnail size and be high enough resolution for larger expanded sizes.
- If unsure about appropriateness, contact socialmedia-g@vt.edu for help.
5. Other photos/cover photo
- If available, choose a photo that works well in the horizontal area at the top of many social media platform pages.
- It should represent your unit and/or directly complement your profile picture.
- Swap this photo regularly to refresh the look of your page.
By having a social media account that indicates you work at or attend Virginia Tech, or if you run an account for your unit, you may be perceived as being a spokesperson for Virginia Tech. It is essential that you do not speak for Virginia Tech, the institution, but that you represent your unit. In that role, you should consider yourself a spokesperson. To mitigate any potential issues, be mindful of the following:
- Stick to your area of professional expertise.
- Confirm information before posting/sharing to ensure it is correct. When in doubt, don’t post.
- Use good judgment when responding to comments. Review the decision tree at the end of this document for reference.
- Questions/comments that are related to a news story or press release should be referred to @vtnews on X and/or the Media Relations Director of Communications and Marketing.
- Keep personal accounts separate from your role at Virginia Tech when possible. If there is overlap, ensure your personal views are not viewed as official Commonwealth of Virginia communications.
- You may include a disclaimer in your About section (from Policy: 1.75 – Use of Electronic Communications And Social Media), such as:
- “The views expressed on this (website, blog, social media site) are my own and do not reflect the views of my employer or of the Commonwealth of Virginia.”
New Virginia Tech-affiliated social media accounts must be registered here and adhere to requirements for new accounts as noted within the form, including reviewing the social media policy, strategy, and best practices trainings.
Before starting a new social media account, you should be able to answer the following questions:
- Who is the audience?
- Why are you starting this account?
- Do you have the resources to maintain this account?
- What makes your account unique?
- How can account administrators be contacted?
- What are your peer institutions doing on social media?
These questions and the answers you give should help you determine whether to create a new account or use an existing account that has established followers.
Note: If you wish to do this for a time-bound event (like a conference), you should utilize tools like an event-specific hashtag and a Facebook event, rather than starting a new account.
When using or creating other hashtags, do your research before you post. This includes going to X and Instagram and performing a search for the intended hashtag. Take note of the posts associated with the hashtag and use your best judgment about using that hashtag with your own promotions.
Virginia Tech uses certain hashtags for social media posts. They are:
BEST PRACTICES
Last updated: March 2024
Last updated: March 2024
University Policy No. 7215 requires that digital content be accessible to people with disabilities. Please review the training above and resources below to ensure your social media content is compliant.
When creating graphics for Virginia Tech-affiliated social media accounts, ensure you are staying brand compliant. Use the following brand elements as necessary, and always follow the conditions for their use:
Resources:
It is important to be able to set goals and measure success against those goals for social media to inform strategy.
Definitions
- Engagement: A metric used to describe the amount of interaction — likes, shares, comments — a piece of content receives.
- Engagement Rate: A metric used to describe the amount of interaction — likes, shares, comments — a piece of content receives.
- Impressions: A metric used to show the number of times content associated with your page is displayed.
- Reach: A metric used to show the number of people who saw your content. Includes people who have chosen to follow your account and those who have not.
Engagement Benchmarks
.51% |
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X |
.10%
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.85%
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5.14%
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Source: socialstatus.io
Measurement Steps
Baseline data for existing accounts
If you are setting up a measurement plan for the first time, or if you have inherited an existing social media account, you should determine a baseline for your account(s) to have a basis for measurement.
- Collect data as far back as possible, but a minimum of a year is ideal
- Add the data to a dashboard for easy analysis (Excel is one example of a place to collect data)
- Make note of Follower growth rate and average Reach/Impressions and Engagement Rate
Set goals
Determine what your goals are for the next year, quarter, etc. Do you want to:
- Increase the number of followers by a certain percentage?
- Drive more traffic to your website using social media?
- Increase donations to your program or unit?
- Have conversations with your followers?
To best accomplish these and other goals, create calls-to-action. For example:
- Increase followers = “Share with your friends” or “Like and follow”
- Drive more traffic = “Click here” with web URL
- Increase donations = “Donate now” button or web URL link with appeal
- Have conversations = ask questions and respond to answers
Create and execute a plan
Plan out the promotions you want to do around specific events and throughout the year. Be sure to include the calls-to-action you’ve determined and craft messaging to reflect those actions. Paying for promoted posts may help with your reach if you don’t have a great number of followers.
Measure effectiveness
After the promotions run, collect the statistics and add them to your dashboard. Determine whether you met or exceeded your determined goal. If you did not do either, adjust your goals, expectations, or messaging for the next promotion.
Where to find your data
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X |
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Threads |
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Learning tools
Many social media companies have blogs with how-tos. To educate yourself on how and what to measure, look to the experts.
Community Commenting Guidelines
Virginia Tech welcomes comments on our social media posts and encourages interaction among Hokies around the world. Users are expected to follow the Virginia Tech Principles of Community as guidance for posts to remain true to the spirit of Ut Prosim (That I May Serve). The university encourages respectful dialogue while supporting speech protected by the First Amendment. Additionally, all content and posts are bound by the Terms and Community Guidelines for that service. Further information can be found here.
Virginia Tech reserves the right, but is not obligated, to remove comments that:
- are off-topic;
- are profane, violent, or obscene;
- are an unauthorized commercial solicitation;
- encourage or support discrimination against protected classes;
- are duplicate or spam;
- advocate illegal activity;
- are misleading or contain falsehoods and/or inaccurate information; or
- libel, incite, threaten, or make ad hominem attacks on Virginia Tech students, employees, guests, or other individuals.
Concerns related to Virginia Tech’s social media content can be emailed to socialmedia-g@vt.edu. Comments made by outside users are the opinions of the authors, not of the university.
Last updated: March 2024
Last updated: March 2024
RESOURCES
In an emergency or another incident, university-affiliated accounts should not post information that has not been approved for dissemination from approved sources or spokespeople. If you wish to disseminate the information, you should share posts from the official channels listed below.
Contact the social media team at socialmedia-g@vt.edu for more information
The University Status website contains information on operating statuses at Virginia Tech campuses. Please refer to this page for general and contact information: vt.edu/status
Official messages during emergencies and other incidents will come from the following social media accounts:
- Virginia Tech
- X: twitter.com/virginia_tech
- Facebook: facebook.com/virginiatech
- Instagram: instagram.com/virginia.tech
- VT Alerts
- Virginia Tech Police
- X: twitter.com/vatechpolice
- Facebook: facebook.com/VirginiaTechPolice
- Virginia Tech Office of Emergency Management
- X: twitter.com/behokieready
- Facebook: facebook.com/BeHokieReady
College communicators who receive questions during emergencies or other incidents should refer them to the Vice President for Communications and Marketing, Senior Director and Executive Editor of Communications and Marketing, Director of Web Communication, Director of News and Information, Social Media Manager, and/or Media Relations Director, as appropriate.
Threats received via social media
If you become aware of a potential threat via your role as a social media administrator, report it immediately.
If the nature of the threat is an emergency, call 911. You should also refer a situation of concern to the university Threat Assessment Team at ThreatAssessment@vt.edu or to Virginia Tech Police at 540-231-6411. Additionally, include socialmedia-g@vt.edu on an email after you have notified emergency personnel.
Include as much information as possible, including the username of the individual involved, a screenshot of the message, who or what is involved, when the message was received, and other pertinent information.
A social media content calendar helps in planning and organizing posts in advance, ensuring a consistent and strategic approach to content delivery. It also saves time and reduces stress by allowing for batch content creation and scheduling, improving overall content quality and audience engagement.
1. Assemble a team
A successful team consists of members who can take ownership and responsibility for carrying out day-to-day updates in addition to long-term campaign goals.
- Do: Include anyone who could benefit from a successful campaign and those with writing and photo editing skills and business-related social media experience.
- Don’t: Try to tackle a campaign completely on your own (if you can help it).
2. Plan your campaign
Ask and answer the following questions:
- Who is your audience?
- On which social platform(s) will you be most likely to reach your audience?
- What are your short-term goals?
- What are your long-term goals?
- How do your goals align with Advancement goals?
- What are your calls-to-action? (i.e. visit a website, take a survey, etc.)
- How will you determine success?
- What activities/responsibilities are needed by team members before, during, and after the campaign?
- Do you have a budget available to aid in your campaign?
3. Choose your social platform(s)
- Determine your target audience
- Review your social media accounts’ analytics to learn follower demographics. Pay close attention to the engaged followers — they’re the ones who are more in-tune with your content and respond with action.
- Pick the best platforms to reach your target audience based on follower demographics.
4. Use an editorial calendar to plan posts
- Use a shared digital spreadsheet or calendar (i.e. Google Calendar) to layout time and order of posts in your campaign.
- Use scheduling tools like HootSuite or Buffer to accomplish this, if available.
5. Determine a tone/voice appropriate for your campaign
- Within the overall tone of your brand, adjust your campaign posts’ voice to what your audience will engage with.
- Maintain professionalism even when being informal, fun, and friendly.
- Use emojis and hashtags to add content value and to be a part of larger conversations.
Source: Social Media Examiner
It is important to be able to set goals and measure success against those goals for social media to inform strategy. See Measuring Success above for more information on how to use the template linked below in a meaningful way.