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Social Media Tips and Tutorials

Best practices: Graphics for promoting events on social

Let’s talk about the best ways to do event promotion on social media. Yes, this means how to create eye-catchy graphics. As we dive deeper into this topic, I’ll break down ideas by each platform.

Facebook

Here are image specs that you need to keep in mind when promoting your event on Facebook.

  • Facebook Event image specs: 1200 x 628
  • Native feed image specs: 1080 x 1080 (1:1 ratio)

Facebook Events:

Let’s start with creating a Facebook Event. When designing a graphic to be used in the event, you should keep in mind that you don’t have much space to cram every detail into the graphic. The event page itself can do that for you.

The best graphic you create is an eye-catchy image. Try a headshot of your speaker, a research photo, or a campus beauty picture. Add the title of the lecture or event to the graphic and that’s it. Images that are flooded with info and text will not help draw attention to the event.

Now when you go through the rest of the Facebook event setup, you can add more details including date, time, description of the event and how to register (if needed).

For example, this Facebook event cover isn’t too text-heavy but still has the title of the event.

Facebook timeline:

Just like Facebook Events, the best way to grab the attention of your audience is with a simple graphic. You can use the same image as you did in your event graphic. In this case, it is okay to add the date and time for your event. This graphic can also be used again if you wish to promote it on Twitter.

This example below is of how you can change up your Facebook event cover to be catered towards Facebook or Twitter.

Twitter

Twitter is just like Facebook. You shouldn’t overpower your image with text. You have 280 characters that can help.

Here are image specs that you need to keep in mind.

  • Native feed image specs: 16×9 or 1080 x 1080 (1:1 ratio)

Instagram

Event promotion on Instagram is good for engaging students. It’s better to use Instagram Stories rather than your native feed because Instagram is a photo and video sharing platform. People will not engage with text-heavy posts.

Here are image specs for Instagram:

  • Instagram Stories: 9×16
  • Native Feed: 4×5 (preferred since it takes up more of the screen) or 1080x 1080

Instagram Stories:

Using Instagram Stories to do event promotion is great. You are able to tweak your graphics to be the right specs and either use the “swipe up” feature if you have that or “Link in Bio” for any registration or more info you wish to provide.

Another way to use Instagram Stories is to have multiple cards/slides to deliver information about the event. Have a slide with the title and date and then another with time and location. This helps get all the info across without overcrowding one simple slide.

In the example below, the original image was tweaked to fit IG Stories and still has the most important info.

Instagram Feed:

The feed is not best for text graphics because Instagram is a photo and video sharing platform. People are less likely to engage with something too text-heavy. Try using Instagram Stories instead to help reach your audience. If you do want to post to your feed we suggest using a really high-quality photo– a headshot or campus beauty. In the copy, you can add all the details to the event and you can send people to “Link in Bio” if you need more space. If you have a link in your bio make sure it stays up for the duration of your event promotion.

Categories
Social Media Tips and Tutorials

Social Media Video Specs

A helpful guide of video specs for each social media platform to help everyone create great content.

Facebook

Twitter

Instagram

TikTok

YouTube

  • Aspect ratio: 16:9 
  • File size: 128GB or 12 hours (whichever is less)
  • Length: 
    • Technical: 12 hours
    • Preferred: 1-10 min
  • Captions: CC on all videos unless they are integrated into the video already
  • Example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iky7Rq8DJ0c
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Social Media Tips and Tutorials

Holidays we cover

There are many opportunities to celebrate holidays. We have broken it down to the ones we will cover on the institutional Twitter and Facebook accounts.

Awareness and Appreciation Months

This list incorporates existing traditions and activities that are hosted by other units and programs.

  • Black History Month
  • Women’s History Month
  • Asian Pacific American Heritage Month
  • Mental Health Awareness Month
  • Pride Month
  • LatinX Heritage Month
  • Native American cultural event
  • ECC Festival

Non Denominational U.S. Holidays

There are a small number of national holidays that we participate in. Our activity will be driven by the quality of content that is developed. These are subject to change.

  • Veterans Day
  • Memorial Day
  • MLK Day
  • Halloween

Categories
Social Media Tips and Tutorials

Diving into Instagram Stories and Going Live

Let’s talk Instagram Stories:

When Instagram rolled out this feature, no one really knew how to use it. But they are getting popular with lots of fun features. They’re a great way boost your Instagram game. We’ve been using it more frequently and have seen great progress.

Stories are a great way to grab followers’ attention for a short period of time. Want to get more likes on one of your posts? Want to share a post you like? Post quick updates? Share a cool video? This is where you can do that.

Highlights are a great opportunity to archive your stories. When we post to our Story, we think about which highlight bucket the content will ultimately be saved under. That way we aren’t just posting a story that doesn’t connect with our followers. At the institutional level, our goal is to showcase the Oregon State experience, and Stories do that.

We have found success in using Stories for event or gameday coverage. These truly capture what it’s like to be part of #BeaverNation. We have also seen people engage with our fall, winter and spring highlights. By simply grabbing boomerangs, photos and videos you can produce a great Story.

Additionally, the perfect length is about 4-8 slides because people will just skip past you if the story is too long. You want to make sure to have a good hook at the beginning and your followers will love it! Check out Sprout Social’s Instagram Best Practices if you still want to learn more.

Next up, going Live:

The key is to have a goal in mind. Are you going to answer follower questions? Or are you going to showcase an event or are you going to go live with someone? Once you have that figured out, you can execute a plan of how your live will go.

The feature is pretty easy to use and here are some tips we’ve learned:

  • Post an Instagram story a couple days and hours before you go live —this way your followers know it’s happening.
  • Save your live after it’s done. It will stay on your profile for 24 hours and people can revisit it.
  • Instagram live will cut you off after one hour. So make sure you keep track of the time.
  • Make sure you have a tripod or a secure place to put your phone when you go live. You don’t want to move your phone too much or it doesn’t make for a fun live.
  • Better lighting always helps.
  • Make sure the phone is charged.
  • If you want to do a Q&A, check out these helpful tips. This feature is engaging and allows you to connect with your audience. You’re able to pick questions you want to answer and won’t have to read the comments as they roll in.
  • Check out how to go live with another Instagram user here. If you have a student or researcher, this might be a fun way to interact.

Both these Instagram features are a great way to connect with your followers. These are becoming more popular among brands and helps up your Instagram game. Go have some fun!

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Social Media Tips and Tutorials

Tips for a great Instagram

Instagram is the most popular with students and prospective students. This is where Oregon State can share campus beauty/ life photos and videos.

The first thing to think of is a goal. Ours was more followers and engagement, so this is how we started to up our game in the Instagram world.

We learned that you need to be consistent in posting. Basically, look at your metrics to see when followers are online and post then. Make sure you have diversity in your posts (this doesn’t just go for people). Don’t just post buildings or event info. Show your students or professors in their environment or go to an event and share photos from it. Put yourself in the shoes of your followers to know what they want to see.

Break up your feeds! Pictures are great, but Instagram is also a video sharing platform. Post videos spotlighting professors, students and your department or a fun lighthearted video (time-lapse of campus). This helps your feed look more pleasing. It’s important to make sure videos are formatted correctly and don’t cut anything off — that leads to less engagement.

https://www.instagram.com/p/B8SLJY1DDXH/

IGTV is becoming more popular to use within the Instagram app. It’s a great place to post videos longer than 1:00, and you can share those as posts as well to boost viewership and reach. This is something the institutional account has started to do with event coverage.

Be active. Don’t just leave a post after it’s been posted. Look at comments, give them a like or answer any questions. Look at your feed and engage with other posts from accounts you follow. Also keep up with those DMs. All these are ways for followers to form a connection your account.

Since adapting to these best practices, Oregon State’s account hit 50K in December 2019 and continues to grow. It’s important to be able to adapt to the changes Instagram makes as you continue to grow your own accounts. The only way is up!

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Social Media Tips and Tutorials

We joined TikTok. Here’s what we’ve learned

TikTok is becoming more popular among 16-24 year olds. During fall term 2019, Oregon State launched its TikTok account with the goal to connect with prospective and current students by producing timely, authentic and relevant content that showcases the university and its community.

The most important part of this social media platform is to stay on top of trends (including music) and hashtags by spending time on the app. We have found it helpful to follow other university accounts and see what they are doing.

These are the topics or trends the OSU account will create videos from:

  • College related trends
  • Trendy hashtags/music
  • Dance and Cheer team
  • Student clubs

We’ve had success on TikTok so far with collaborating with departments, clubs and student organizations across campus. We were lucky to create a video with the OSU Dance and Cheer Team, and it’s one of our best videos since launching the account. Success will come when you collaborate creatively. We’ve also seen success when sharing our exported TikToks on Instagram Stories. This connects your followers with another channel and can help with growth. A little call to action never hurts.

While we are still learning this new platform, we need to remember that the audience we are trying to reach is not only current students but prospective students. We need to create videos that showcase campus in a positive way but also builds on nationwide trends. Sure, there’ll be some things that you cannot do because they aren’t university appropriate, but there’s always a trend/style/music track to explore. You need to put your creative hat on and be willing to put yourself in the shoes of Generation Z knowing no idea is a bad one. Go out there and get your TikToks started!