Creating a social media presence for your department, office, or organization is a powerful way to connect with the Worcester State community and beyond. Whether you’re looking to share important updates, highlight student success, promote events, or simply showcase the work you do—social media helps you tell your story in real time and in creative ways.
To help you get started, here are some key tips and considerations.
For additional support, please contact Mary Leufstedt, Staff Associate of Web & Digital Communications, at mleufstedt@worcester.edu.
Managing a social media channel requires time, thoughtful planning, clear goals, and ongoing effort. Maintaining an account is a continuous process that includes creating content, responding to comments and messages, and staying consistent with your posting. On average, content creation and management can take 10–15 hours or more per month. Before launching a new account, make sure your team has the capacity and resources to support it long term.
Once you’ve assessed your team’s capacity, the next step is to determine staffing. Identify who will source, create, and post content, as well as monitor your accounts. This could be a team effort or handled by a single primary administrator. While students and interns can assist, staff or faculty members must serve as the primary and backup administrators.
Content shared on university-affiliated accounts should be high-quality and align with both your goals and the broader goals of the University. While many tools and resources are available to help with content creation, producing consistent, high-quality content requires a dedicated communicator who understands their audience and platform.
Content is expected to be uploaded to social platforms regularly. Best practice suggests:
Ensure your team has the resources to produce regular content before joining a platform.
To understand what it takes to manage your social media presence long-term, try creating a content calendar and developing one month’s worth of content. Write each post, design every graphic, and capture all photos or videos you’ll need. Then, evaluate whether this workload is manageable and sustainable for you and your team.
Ready to Get Started?If your team is ready to dive into social media management, visit our Training Resources page for guidance on strategy development and content creation.
Ready to Get Started?
If your team is ready to dive into social media management, visit our Training Resources page for guidance on strategy development and content creation.
Before creating a new university-affiliated social media account, please:
Submit a New Account Request Form.
Meet with the Staff Associate of Web and Digital Communications to review guidelines and discuss how to get started effectively.
Complete the Account Registration Form, providing administrator contact information and account usernames and passwords. This ensures smooth transitions during personnel changes and enables support in emergencies.
Administrators of official university-affiliated accounts are encouraged to take advantage of periodic training provided by the Communications and Marketing Office. Keep an eye on your email for more information about these opportunities.
Once your request has been approved by the Communications and Marketing Office, you may create a university-affiliated account. When setting up an account on behalf of your department or organization, use a shared departmental @worcester.edu email address and add yourself as an administrator (if applicable). If your department does not currently have a shared email address, a request for one can be submitted through Information Technology.
Platforms which enable administrator positions:
Platforms which utilize shared logins:
All accounts should use two-factor authentication whenever available. When enabling it, choose the phone number carefully. If possible, provide a departmental phone number.
