Facebook Best Practices
Facebook is a platform that lets you connect with current students, prospective students, parents, and alumni plus industry thought leaders in your expertise area.
All Editorial Style Guide rules apply when posting on Facebook. Please review UPPS 06.05.05 for all social media policies, including account access and setup.
Top 5 Best Practices
- Come up with a consistent content calendar and publishing frequency.
- Emphasize education throughout your Facebook content.
- Prioritize positive, proactive content over clickbait.
- Engage your followers without forcing them to leave Facebook.
- Regularly assess your Facebook performance via analytics.
Sprout Social has some great tips on how to use Facebook to your brand’s advantage.
Best Practices for Photos and Graphics
Images with text should use color combinations that meet color contrast requirements. Alt text should be added to images on Facebook whenever possible.
The Algorithm
There is no character limit, but you’re encouraged to keep posts short. Keep in mind that not everyone will see your posts in a timely manner due to Facebook's algorithm.
This algorithm favors:
- Images that do not contain text
- Videos with captions
- Live videos
- Sharing and tagging other pages
Features
Facebook Business Suite. We recommend setting up a Business Suite account in order to better manage safety settings and access to pages. This also allows you to view your Facebook page's analytics, which is mentioned in further detail at the bottom of the page.
Page Moderation/Profanity Filter. This helps keep spam or hate comments filtered out from appearing on posts, even if they are published. This means that people won't be able to see these comments left on the post publicly, but you will be able to see that the comment was left on the post. To ensure that these kinds of comments are filtered out, make sure the filter is set to HIGH.
Facebook Stories. Similar to Instagram Stories, these allow you to post a variety of content for a 24-hour period of time. These allow you to get access to parts of your audience that might not be reached with physical posts due to the algorithm.
Cover Images and Avatars
When creating avatars for social media, we recommend using the following guidelines and templates to help your page present a recognizable TXST identity and voice of authority.
Avatar guidelines:
- Use the avatar to clearly identify your unit as the owner of the page.
- Use expressive photos or illustrations for cover images or headers.
- Use the acronym “TXST” and the name of your unit in bold. If your unit name is too long for the avatar for legibility please use the appropriate abbreviation. (Your full name must be present in your account name or bio.)
- Maroon backgrounds are reserved for the main TXST social media channels.
- Please do not use a TXST logo or University Seal in your avatar. The TXST logo is reserved for the main TXST social media channels. The SuperCat logo is reserved for Athletics social media channels and permission to utilize that logo must be requested through Athletics.
If you have a uniquely designed logo approved by the University Marketing (ex. McCoy College of Business) you may opt out of the system avatars. For more details on institutional logos and brand assets please review our Logos and Guidelines.
Link Posts
When posting a link, delete the text of the URL from your post after the preview appears. Your link will remain in the preview but won't clutter up the text of your post. There are certain situations that cause the link preview to not populate. In this situation, we recommend leaving the link in the caption, removing the link preview section, and providing or uploading a clean image that relates to your brand and the post's content in the appropriate size. For an example of this, please look below:
You can read more about creating Facebook link previews on MeetEdgar's blog.
Analytics
Insights in Facebook Business Suite help you understand the results of your organic and paid social media efforts across Facebook and Instagram in one place. With Insights, you can see metrics, trends, and visual reports that can make it easier to understand which Facebook Page and Instagram strategies work well and where to make improvements. You can then optimize the way you spend your time and resources.