Brand Guide

For departments aiming to deepen their communication with current and potential students, alumni and the public at large, social media can be effective. It requires starting with a clear strategy and maintaining the channel to make it relevant.

The following questions will help you. Contact Southeastern’s social media coordinator if you require additional assistance.

View the Social Media Policy.

Do you have enough content to sustain a social media channel? Or, would it be better to collaborate on promotions with the primary Southeastern accounts?

Successful university accounts post on Facebook at least once a week, Twitter a few times each week and Instagram once a week. If you don’t think you can maintain a consistent social media presence, the social media coordinator that oversees Southeastern’s primary social media accounts will be happy to offer advice and assistance in promoting your message, event, school, etc.

What is the main goal of your page?

Are you trying to bring attention to your department, program or a service? Promote a campaign? Engage students or the Southeastern community at large?

Who is your audience?

Defining your target audience will help you strike the right tone in your posts. Concentrate your efforts on one social media channel first. Learn from experience how to engage, educate and inform on one channel. Transparency and customer service are of the utmost importance.

• Pathways are restricted for use to UMC and Admissions at this time.
• Use two font maximum per graphic. Using different weights of fonts is a good way to show diversity in a design while still limiting fonts.
• Graphics should share rough info and pull people’s attention to the caption for more in-depth explanations.
• Using photos for events and adding text and graphics is ideal and helps students feel more engaged.
• The GET THERE. logo should be placed on graphics, not typed out, and must not be altered in any way.
• Do not use Get There in any other way or weave into a sentence. (ex. getting there, got there, going there)
• Utilize carousels on Instagram to help graphics not appear crowded.
• Departmental accounts should use official University logos. No self-made logos for University entities are permitted.

• #oursoutheastern – main, always use
• #LionUp – main, always use
• #LionPride – news on students/alumni/faculty/staff
• #SouthesternBound – incoming students
• #FindYourRoar – student engagement/campus life
• #LionNation – Southeastern students, staff, faculty, alumni and the community
• #Lion4Life – alumni
• #DiscoverSoutheastern – recruitment, showcasing positive and unique attributes of campus
• #SuccessMatters – recruitment, graduation outcomes and rankings/academic excellence
• #GETTHERE – brand identity and recruitment, showcasing profiles and paths to success
• Note: The use of “selu” in hashtags is never allowed.

University Marketing and Communications is in charge of all official Southeastern social media accounts. The platforms are used as a major source of external communication for students, parents and the surrounding community.

The social media accounts are mainly used for official University updates, events, and recruiting. Depending on relativity of the content, other department posts are sometimes shared on the main pages.

If you would like to create a department specific social media platform, you must register each page with [email protected]. Share the contact information of the page manager, including: contact name, email, phone extension and page name.

Department pages are not held to as high of a visual standard as the official social media accounts to accommodate the need for event customization and organization identity. However, there are certain rules and design standards that all departments will be required to follow.

Choose your images thoughtfully

Don’t misuse any of our logos. Keep in mind how the image you select will look as a thumbnail. Refer to the University’s brand standards and/or collaborate with the social media team for help and ideas.

Include “Southeastern” in the account name

Southeastern has a strong brand that people recognize. Including the university name in your name helps prospective followers know that you are a part of the university. It gives you automatic legitimacy.

Biography and links

All social media channels have bio/about me sections. Fill. Them. Out. If your account has a blank bio, potential followers are less likely to follow you because they don’t know what you are. Also, include a link to your website or department/organization page.

Create a team for your channel(s)

It’s in your best interest to have at least two people handle your social media channels because employees take vacation time, get sick, leave the University, etc. Your team is responsible for creating and posting content, moderating comments, answering direct messages and looking at metrics. Monitoring your channels may require off-hours work.

Social Media Directory

Before you set up your social media channel(s), contact the Social Media team ([email protected]) to register it and have it listed in the University social media directory.

Be prepared to answer questions and comments

Current and prospective students often post questions on any number of University-related topics. It’s best to answer questions privately (ask them to send you a private message about their question). Avoid answering questions of a personal nature publicly, as it could violate Federal privacy laws. FERPA and HIPAA policies apply.

Be current

If your social media channel doesn’t post at least once a month, it may be removed from the social media directory.

Don’t mix the personal and the professional

Don’t engage in Southeastern-related communications on your department’s Facebook using your private persona. Similarly, don’t conduct personal affairs in any social media channel using your department’s persona.

What about my personal Facebook?

If you self-identify as a faculty or staff member of Southeastern, you render yourself subject to disciplinary action if you share private information or make derogatory or offensive comments about the University, other faculty or staff, or students.

The purpose of the Southeastern social media channels is to share news, alerts, Lion pride and more to our students, faculty, staff, alumni, parents, neighbors and the region. Visitors may share input through direct messages or comments. All viewpoints are welcome and will not be removed as long as they comply with the below policy. However, the Southeastern social media team may review and remove comments based on the following criteria.

1. Comments must be directly related to the topic of the post.

2. Comments that commit the following may be subject for removal:

   • Compromise the safety or security of Southeastern community members, the public or public entities

   • Contain obscenities

   • Contain harassing content that is severe, pervasive, and objectively offensive

   • Present a grave and imminent threat

   • Incite imminent lawless action

   • Contain true threats

   • Are fraudulent

   • Defame

   • Violate intellectual property rights

   • Promote a business or commercial transaction

   • Promote a candidate campaigning for election

3. The Southeastern social media team may remove “spam” comments generated, or that appear to have been generated, by automated software.

4. Comments are also subject to Facebook’s polices and standards, which the Southeastern social media team does not control.

Southeastern is not responsible for comments placed on its Facebook page by others. Visitors are personally responsible for their own comments, username and any information placed on this page by the visitor.

Bottom line: We ask that the Southeastern community act with the tact and open-mindedness for which it is known.

Think before you post

Unlike other social media channels, you can’t edit once you press “tweet.” It’s always a good idea to double check your tweets for spelling errors and correct links before you send it.

Who to follow and what to like

It’s highly recommended that you follow other Twitter accounts affiliated with Southeastern:

• Southeastern Social Media Directory