Social Media Guidelines
Social media allows us to connect with our members and the public where they are. Over 60% of the world is on at least one social media platform, making it a powerful tool for your communication and marketing needs. Below is an overview of the major social media platforms and guidelines to optimize your time and efforts.
Facebook is one of the world's most widely used social media platforms, with over 3 billion monthly users.
Audience: The platform tends to skew towards late millennials (35-44 years old), making this a great platform to capture educators and parents.
Post Types: Text, Image, Video, External Links, Events, Stories, Live Video, Fundraisers
Frequency: 2-3 times per week; this is the preferred posting frequency for this platform, as the FB algorithm tends to push pages that post too often or too rarely further down in user feeds.
Types of content: Facebook is well suited to various content. CEC shares news items, blog posts, informational graphics, videos, images, and more on this platform. The platform is good for longer-form content, allowing longer and more involved text.
X, formerly known as Twitter, has revolutionized social media interaction, bringing hashtags into the public lexicon. It’s best known for its shorter text limits and interactive features.
Audience: Most X users are between the ages of 25 and 34, making it great for early-career education professionals and young parents.
Post Types: Text, Image, Video, External Links, Live Video, Polls
Frequency: 2-3+ times per day; X is a platform where it’s nearly impossible to over-post
Types of content: X is known for its text limits, making it best suited for shorter and direct posts. Text is usually limited to 280 characters, though some accounts can write posts with up to 4,000 characters. If you have a lot to share, you can reply to your posts, making a “thread.” CEC shares events, graphics, quotes, polls, and services on this platform. The interactive nature of this platform also makes it well-suited for conversations between you and your followers.
Instagram is an image and video-focused social media platform owned by Meta, which also owns Facebook and WhatsApp.
Audience: The vast majority of Instagram users are between the ages of 18 and 34, making the platform dominated by Gen-Z and Millennials. This audience will consist of students, those entering the workforce, and young professionals.
Post Types: Images, Videos, Reels, Stories (Images, Video, GIFs, questions, polls, fundraisers, links)
Frequency: Posts + Reels – 3-5 times per week; Stories – 1-2 times per day; Instagram’s feed is non-sequential, and the algorithm dictates when and how often posts appear in a user's feed. This cadence tends to perform best in terms of reaching your audience.
Types of content: Every post must be accompanied by video or images. Links are also limited to one in the biography of your profile page, though there are tools like LinkTree and LinkInBio, which allow you to create a central place for multiple links. This platform is well suited to photos, infographics, promotional videos, and interactive content through Stories.
Threads is a social media platform that operates similarly to Twitter/X. It is owned by Meta, who also owns Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp.
Audience: Many Instagram users utilize Threads, as their accounts are linked together. The platform is still in its early stages and has not provided much in terms of demographic and audience information.
Post Types: Text, Images, Videos, GIFs, Voice Recordings, Polls
Frequency: 2-3+ times per day. Much like Twitter/X, Threads is a platform where it’s nearly impossible to over-post
Types of content: Threads are known for their text limits, making them best suited for shorter, direct posts. Text is usually limited to 500 characters. If you have a lot to share, you can reply to your posts, making a “thread.” CEC shares events, graphics, quotes, polls, and services on this platform. The interactive nature of this platform also makes it well-suited for conversations between you and your followers.
LinkedIn is a business-focused social media platform. Many use the platform to network, find employment and professional development opportunities, and share business advice.
Audience: The platform's majority of users are Millennials and Gen-X, with audiences wanting to talk about work and career development, such as those who have been in the workforce for several years, people who are looking to switch jobs or career paths, and management.
Post Types: Text, Images, Video, External Links, Events, Polls, Job Postings, Polls, Articles
Frequency: 1 time per day during weekdays; pots perform best during the week, and one time per day is the best frequency to optimize engagement
Types of content: LinkedIn is a business-focused platform, making it well-suited for industry news, career and professional development, job postings, and thought leadership content.
Best Practices
- Social media is supposed to be fun, so have fun! Use emojis, be funny, make jokes. As long as you convey your message, being creative and having fun is okay. Please note that emojis are not always compatible with accessibility tools. When using emojis, utilize them sparingly.
- Be cautious of using hashtags. While they are great for helping others find content and enforce our brand, ensure you know what the hashtag you are using means. If you are unsure, it is best to avoid using it.
- Don’t overextend yourself. If you find that managing too many social media networks is stressful and does not produce results, figure out where your core audience is and reduce your social media presence to the selected platform(s). A stronger and limited social media presence is better than a larger and weaker presence.
- Plan ahead. Social media campaigns take some planning and preparation. If you want to highlight members, promote an event, or celebrate a holiday, start planning your content and strategy beforehand. You can use planning tools like Sprout Social and Hootsuite or a Google Sheets/Excel template like this.