Ready to Start a Channel?

"ASUCD Ready to Start a Channel?" in bold black text. Background includes abstract colorful geometric shapes in the corners.

Ready to Start a Channel?

If you are an ASUCD unit, commission, or committee and would like to create a social media account, please consider the following:

  1. What are your goals and what do you plan to achieve using this social media channel?
    1. To inform, share information, gain feedback, engage with your audience, etc.?
  2. Who is the target audience and how do you plan on reaching and informing them?
  3. Do you have the resources to create content on a weekly basis?
    1. Maintaining relevance and impressions requires posting consistently on each channel. 
    2. ASUCD social media accounts are expected to post a minimum of once per week. We recommend posting 1-3 times a week to maintain a consistent and active online presence.
    3. If your posting is seasonal, partner with other established channels for collaboration and takeovers. 
    4. Time and resources must be dedicated to creating quality photography, video, and landing pages (or sourcing those things ahead of time).
    5. What are your plans for posting during holiday and summer breaks?
  4. Can you maintain a channel following of 1,000 or more followers?
    1. Growing your social media following is vital for reaching the students in need of your resources or support.
    2. If you do not have the market to reach 1,000 followers, sharing an account with another ASUCD unit/commission/committee is a great way to reach more students.
    3. If you cannot maintain 1,000 or more followers, ASUCD will help you find a shared social media account to join.
      1. Remember: Our goal is to support as many students as possible. Most students are not willing to follow 40+ small ASUCD social media accounts. It is often in the students’ best interest for us to consolidate content to a shared account.
  5. Will you use social media analytics to measure your success?
    1. Analytics help identify what specific content is engaging or not working and the value of social media for your organization. 
    2. Review the goals you set for your channel in the first place and see if it constitutes utilizing analytics. 
      1. For example, if your goal is awareness, you may prioritize reach numbers over engagement. 
  6. We require all ASUCD Instagram accounts to be business accounts.
    1. Why?
      1. Analytics
        1. Instagram business accounts give you the ability to track how many impressions, reach, profile views, and website clicks your account has received over the past week.
        2. You can also see who is viewing your posts and how many followers you have lost or gained in the past week. 
        3. This will help you understand which posts are doing well, which posts are doing badly, and this will help you alter your social media strategy to better connect with your followers.
      2. Call-to-action Buttons
        1. These are the “Email” and “Call” buttons that you see at the top of business profiles. They give account viewers direct access to an email or phone number that you provide from the Instagram app.
        2. If you want to lead your followers to a specific place where they can find more information, this would be how to do it!
        3. You can choose not to utilize these if you don’t want to.
    2. How do I convert my profile into a business profile?
      1. Go to your profile and tap the settings icon. Make sure your profile is set to Public. 
      2. Tap Account > Switch to Business Account.
      3. Choose a category. (Ex: @asucdofficial has College & University)
      4. Include an email that anyone viewing your page could access to contact you. (Ex: [email protected])
      5. Select the Facebook Page you’d like to associate with your Business Profile on Instagram with. This should be your unit’s official Facebook page created for your organization.
  7. Ask Creative Media to make your account using a UC Davis approved email!
    1. Campus policy requires that all social media accounts associated with ASUCD be created using a specific UC Davis email. Creative Media can create your social media account using an approved email address. 
    2. Students are not allowed to create social media accounts on behalf of ASUCD. Official ASUCD accounts can ONLY be created by Creative Media under the direction of career staff.