Social Media 101 for Affiliates
Updated November 2014
In an effort to streamline the brand of the UA Alumni Association and its affiliates, we’ve created the following social
media guidelines, requirements, and recommendations.
Facebook
Fan page:
We ask that all UAAA affiliates that have a presence on Facebook use a fan page.
Cover photo (851 px wide x 315 px tall):
Primary UAAA affiliate logo, affiliate event picture, campus/Tucson picture, or event advertisement
Note: We have photos of events, campus, and Tucson that we can provide for use as a cover photo. Request photos from
Jaynelle Ramon at jaynelle.ramon@al.arizona.edu
Profile image:
Secondary UAAA affiliate logo
Example 1: – Primary logo as cover photo with secondary logo as profile image
Example 2: – Event photo with secondary logo
Example 3: – Campus/Tucson photo with secondary logo
Required naming convention for fan page:
Chapters: i.e. MetroCats, WindyCityCats, SoCalCats, BeachCats, etc. for chapters.
Clubs: Use club’s full name i.e. Phoenix Young Alumni Club, Tucson Black Alumni Club, Tucson Hispanic Alumni Club,
Phoenix Black Alumni Club, Phoenix Hispanic Alumni Club, Tucson American Indian Club, Tucson Honors College Club,
Tucson LGBTQ Alumni Club.
About section:
Category: Companies and Organizations (first box), Community Organization (second box)
Official Page: Leave Blank
Place Sub Categories: Community Organization, College/University, Education
Username: facebook.com/affiliatenickname i.e. facebook.com/metrocats, facebook.com/coloradocats, etc. for chapters.
For clubs, facebook.com/uaaapyac, facebook.com/tbac, facebook.com/thac, facebook.com/phac, etc.
For preliminary groups, facebook.com/uacitynamealumni, for example facebook.com/ualongislandalumni OR
facebook.com/UA.LongIsland.Alumni
Address: Leave blank except for Tucson and Phoenix area affiliates who must place the address of the nearest alumni
office.
Tucson
1111 North Cherry Avenue
Phoenix
714 East Van Buren Street
City/Town: List the city/town where the affiliate resides except for Tucson and Phoenix area affiliates who must list the
city of the nearest alumni office: Tucson or Phoenix.
Postal Code: Leave blank except for Tucson and Phoenix area affiliates who much place the postal code of the nearest
alumni office: 85721 or 85006.
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Click the box next to “Show this map on the page” if you’re an affiliate in the Tucson or Phoenix area.
Short description:
You are required to state that your group is affiliated with the University of Arizona Alumni Association.
See examples below:
The official Facebook page of the University of Arizona Alumni Association New York City Chapter
The official Facebook page of the University of Arizona Alumni Association Phoenix Young Alumni Club
This is a preliminary group to gather interested members in order to form an official UA Alumni Chapter for Nassau &
Suffolk Counties OR This is a preliminary group to gather interested members in order to form an official UA Alumni
Chapter for Long Island.
Description:
Include information that is related to your affiliate’s identity and helps market your efforts.
Example: We strengthen the UA alumni connection to the Wildcat Nation and provide programs that are of interest to
alumni, such as community-service projects, career networking, and travel and social activities.
Mission:
Advancing the University of Arizona by connecting, engaging, and cultivating Wildcats for Life.
Founded:
List the year that your group was founded. If not available, leave blank.
Awards:
List group awards and leave blank if not available.
Products:
Leave blank
Parking:
Leave blank except for the Tucson or Phoenix area groups who will click the box next to “Parking Lot.”
Phone:
800-232-8278
Email:
List group’s e-mail address, such as capitolcats@al.arizona.edu or coloradocats@al.arizona.edu. If you would like to
create an email forwarding address for your group, contact your group’s consultant.
Website:
List your group’s website address.
Facebook best practices:
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Post 3+ times per week
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Drive traffic to fan page and encourage fans to take action – ask them to like the post, comment, or share
Encourage fan comments and engagement through photos, videos, and questions
If posting more than once a day, space out posts at least 2-3 hours
If possible, do not post plain-text status updates, links, or videos. Try to always post a photo and link to the story
or video. Facebook’s analytics give more weight to photos and they have a higher chance of showing up in
followers’ news feeds.
Vary the time and day of posts. Schedule posts in advance if necessary.
Always respond to questions posted on your page. “Like” comments followers leave on your page to show you
are paying attention to them.
Sharing content:
1. Shared content does not typically engage fans. Creating an original post using the content and crediting the
source is a better alternative.
2. If you do decide to share a photo because you don’t feel comfortable taking someone else’s photo and
posting it to your own page then make sure to add your own text before you share it. Make the text
different from the original post because both will show up when you share the photo.
Page updates:
Facebook pages increase awareness and engagement because pages’ status updates appear on fans’ news feeds. Aim to
update your page once a day. If not possible, then three or more times a week is enough to show you are regularly
updating your page.
Updating regularly signifies to potential new fans and loyal followers that the content being posted is fresh and relevant,
and that the page is active. In turn, fans receive meaningful content, engage, and become more loyal.
For targeting younger demographics (18 to 34), it is best to update in the late afternoon or evening. For targeting
content to groups of people ages 35 to 65, it’s best to post earlier in the day, before noon.
Posts should be kept relatively short at about two to three sentences in length.
Increase visibility:
Periodically mention other relevant pages that are aligned with UA, including the UAAA fan page. In order to do this on
Facebook, type “@” and proceed with the page name you’re mentioning and a drop-down menu will appear from which
you can choose a specific page to insert. Mentioning other pages supports organic growth because the mention will
appear on the receiver’s page.
Photos and videos:
Photo and video content account for a very large percentage of page views on Facebook. Users are more likely to
engage with multimedia content because it is entertaining. Engaging with content includes liking, commenting, sharing,
etc. Fans are attracted to albums and wall photos. This is a great way of encouraging people to visit the rest of the
page’s content, for they are already interested.
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We recommend uploading videos first to a YouTube account, or linking directly to the credited site.
Relevant video content should include a short (1 or 2 minutes) video of news, events, and daily activities.
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Cross promotion:
Make it a habit to cross-promote your Facebook page on other online properties, including your website or Twitter
account.
Content ideas:
At times when your chapter has limited information to post, use information from the following UA sites and Facebook
pages:
• UA Alumni Association Site – arizonaalumni.com, facebook.com/wildcatforlife
o Membership, Update Your Records, National UAAA Events like Tailgates/Pre-games
• UA Athletics Site – arizonawildcats.com, facebook.com/ArizonaAthletics
• UANews –uanews.org , facebook.com/uarizona
Learn more best practices at facebook.com/help/?topic=pages
Twitter
Required naming convention for Twitter page:
Chapters: i.e. MetroCats, WindyCityCats, SoCalCats, BeachCats, etc. for chapters. Make sure the nickname is all one
word.
Clubs: Use club’s full name i.e. Phoenix Young Alumni Club, Tucson Black Alumni Club, Tucson Hispanic Alumni Club,
Phoenix Black Alumni Club, Phoenix Hispanic Alumni Club, Tucson American Indian Club, Tucson Honors College Club,
Tucson LGBTQ Alumni Club, etc.
@ Twitter handle:
Chapters: Use your affiliate name for Twitter handle i.e. @MetroCats, @WindyCityCats, @SoCalCats, @BeachCats. In
cases where the Twitter handle is already used, you can include your city name in the handle.
Clubs: Club names are long. Try shortening, using initials, and including UA. Feel free to give options to UAAA to review
and provide feedback.
Profile settings:
Photo or profile image:
Use your secondary logo
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Header:
If you choose to have a header image on your page, use a photo of campus/Tucson, an event, or the city in which you’re
located.
Location:
List the city where you group is located.
Website:
List your website if you are a club or your Facebook page.
Bio:
You are required to state that your group is affiliated with the University of Arizona Alumni Association.
See examples below:
The official Twitter page of the University of Arizona Alumni Association New York City Chapter
The official Twitter page of the University of Arizona Alumni Association Phoenix Young Alumni Club
The Twitter page of the University of Arizona Alumni Association Long Island Alumni
Please also list the following text after it:
Facebook and Twitter connection:
Do not link your Facebook and Twitter pages to each other. Your Twitter account should be cross-promoted on your
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Facebook page. However, it is NOT recommended to link them. We've experienced less interaction on Facebook pages
when linked to Twitter, mainly because of the differences in communication styles.
Twitter Best Practices:
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Tweet 1-2 times per day
Encourage retweets and direct messages
Drive traffic to your website and Facebook page
Encourage followers to take an action
Twitter overview:
Twitter should be used to reach a wider audience and generate more awareness. On Twitter, people tend to follow
those that provide relevant and interesting information, while also posting frequently—at least twice per day. It’s best
to keep a numerical balance of followers to people that you follow, always ensuring that the amount of followers
outweighs the number of people being followed, as this signifies more credibility on Twitter. We recommend following
alumni, UA colleges/departments, and partners.
Twitter tips:
1. If directing a tweet @ someone and you want all followers to see it, start the tweet with a period and a
space, . @UAAlumniPres, for example. Tweets that begin with the @ symbol will only be visible to the
people who follow your account AND the person you are directing the tweet to. You need to put another
character in front of the @ to make it visible to all your followers. If you are simply responding to someone’s
inquiry and don’t need all followers to see it then starting with the @ symbol is OK.
2. Keep tweets short. Hard to do sometimes but shorter tweets make it easier for someone to retweet it and
also have a 17% higher engagement rate than longer tweets that use all available characters.
3. If you need to shorten a retweet or edit it in any way change the RT to MT for modified tweet.
4. Tweet during the day: tweets during "busy hours" (8 a.m.-7 p.m.) receive 30 percent higher engagement
than tweets posted at other times.
5. Don’t overdo the hashtags: tweets with hashtags receive two times more engagement, but those using
more than two hashtags actually have 17 percent less engagement.
6. 70/20/10 rule: 70% of tweets should be sharing content, information, tips, and answering questions. 20% of
tweets should be sharing content from others on Twitter, such as retweets. 10% of tweets should be
promotional.
Twitter click-through:
Post content that will encourage a click-through—ask questions, share links, make a statement.
Answer questions and engage followers:
It is best to pose questions to fans and followers, encouraging them to share their own stories and opinions or
contribute relevant content. Respond to fans and followers when appropriate so they will know that their comments
and thoughts are being read and appreciated. This strategy ultimately increases the amount of visible content and
promotes organic growth.
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Additionally, if followers pose questions relating to the UA or Alumni Association, it is suggested that the person is
responded to with a comment or link to more information. This puts a human side to the Twitter account and lets
followers know that they are being listened to.
Shorten URLs:
We recommend using bit.ly for shortening URLs. If you are posting a URL, make sure to always shorten it, unless it is a
short URL already and you think in its entirety it will get more clicks.
Plan ahead:
Although it’s best to tweet in real-time, planned tweets can be scheduled in advanced using HootSuite. This application
also allows you to manage both your Twitter and Facebook accounts in one central place, as well as post updates and
hear what people are saying about your brand.
Learn more at http://business.twitter.com/twitter101
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