This PowerPoint is about the best ways to use social media as a college student in order to brand yourself well.

1. Best Social Media Practices for
College Students
BY JOEY MCCAUSLAND

2. Create a Personalized “Voice”
 People viewing your social media practices cannot actually hear your voice unless
you post a video of yourself. This means you need to create one through your
wording and stick with it
 This keeps a clear, consistent image of you on social media without the need to
actually hear you. Make sure you cater to the audience you’re searching for (i.e.
formal for business, funny if trying to be an online personality)

3. Research Hashtags
 Hashtags are extremely valuable in social media… if you know how to use them.
Many people just throw in a hashtag that’s trending without even realizing what it
means
 This could mean impacting your personal brand in a way you did not intend, even
after working so hard on it. Thus, the simple solution would be to research a
hashtag before posting it so you know exactly what goes along with it, including
any controversy

4. Upload Videos/Pictures
 It is important to not only use text to create a brand for yourself, but to use visual
aids. It is a visual world we live in now, as is told by the success of sites such as
YouTube, and we as students should follow this norm
 Visual aids also make things pop to anyone viewing your social media, which
brings them back to your page more than just once

5. Inform Other About Yourself
 One of the most important things to brand yourself is to show actual information
about your life, including your hobbies, education, awards, interests, and more
 These allow people to see if they might click with you before they even look
further into your social media (i.e. went to the same school, both like movies, etc.)

6. Quality Over Quantity
 Many people feel that they need to consistently post at a high frequency, when in
reality, if you post every few days with a quality post, this is much better than
posting many times with minimal effort
 This also allows you to give yourself some time before posting to think about
exactly how to word it to help your brand and to avoid any controversy

7. Deal with Negativity Effectively
 Social media is filled with people who either write negative remarks because they
legitimately disagree with a post or because they just want to hate something and
love to be “keyboard warriors”
 No matter the reason behind their motives, these people will always exist and the
larger your brand, the more you will attract. Don’t give in and hate them back, but
calmly and professionally ask about their negative view toward your post. That, or
don’t say anything (respond to some though)

8. Post at Correct Times
 When creating your brand, your posts shouldn’t come sporadically whenever you
suddenly gain thought. Instead, hold onto that thought and post at times when a
site will be highly trafficked.
 This allows more people to see it instead of letting it be drowned in other posts by
people who post at the correct times. Remember: immediate attention will later
gain more traction after it gains so many likes/favorites/etc.

9. Keep Updated
 If you plan on keeping up with social media and posting frequently, you should
also feel a responsibility to remain updated on current events, trends, etc. that
might show up on social media
 If you find and post these events or trends before the rest of the world catches up,
you’ll gain even further traction because you might be the one who starts the
conversation of whatever event or trend is going on

10. Communicate with Followers
 Once you gain some traction toward your brand, don’t ever forget how you got
there! Always respond to people who comment on your post, even if it’s just a few
of them on each post
 This makes you look personable and approachable so that companies, clients, etc.
will be more inclined to go to you over someone else when it comes time to talk
business

11. Set Goals
 Setting goals is arguably the most important thing you can do when it comes to
your social media and your brand. It pushes you to go further whether it be to
gain followers, likes, views, etc.
 If you set a goal now, you’re more likely to act so that you can fulfill that goal
rather than never set the goal and forget about it a week later. We need to
remember where we want to be and how we get there

12. Citations
Bergstrom, B. (2018, June 21). 50 Social Media Best Practices Every Business Should
Follow. Retrieved October 6, 2018, from https://coschedule.com/blog/social-media-best-
practices-for-business/
Hutchinson, A. (2018, January 18). 7 Effective Social Media Best Practices for 2018.
Retrieved October 6, 2018, from https://blog.socedo.com/7-effective-social-media-best-
practices-2018/
Young, H. (2017, March 16). 20 Social Media Best Practices for Businesses. Retrieved
October 7, 2018, from https://www.salesforce.com/blog/2017/03/20-social-media-best-
practices-for-businesses.html