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Before You Start
What are your goals?
Have a clear plan and purpose for an account before you start.
Could you benefit from a partnership or collaboration with other on-campus account(s)?
There are dozens of social media accounts listed on our social media directory.
Do you have the resources to manage your account(s)?
Running a social media account requires time and dedication. Be sure that your account administrators are comfortable managing the account after hours.
What will you post and how often?
In order for your account to be successful you will need to post regularly, year-round.
How will you evaluate success?
How will you track the number of engaged users? What constitutes success according to your department’s goals?
Setup Requirements
Register your account
Please do not create a new account until you've registered with the Division of Marketing and Communications and been approved.
Administrators
At least one social media account administrator must be a full-time employee. A minimum of two faculty or staff members must have access to the accounts.
Use shared @txstate.edu email accounts
The account's email address must remain tied to a limited-access, shared @txstate.edu email address (i.e. a shared mailbox or a distribution list).
Personal email accounts or individual work email accounts must not be used.
Mark accounts as official
Accounts must be marked as “official” where the channel allows (e.g., in a Twitter bio or in Facebook's “About” section).
Accounts must also provide contact information or links to a relevant txst.edu page.
Follow Social and Brand Guidelines
Accounts should follow the university's brand and visual guidelines.
Find out more about Texas State social media best practices and policies.
Account Security
Note: TXST Marketing and Communications (MarComm) is not able to recover or reinstate social media accounts that are lost, hacked, or hijacked, as we do not have administrative access to those platforms.
To help safeguard your accounts, we strongly urge all users to enable two-factor authentication (2FA) and ensure account credentials are managed securely. To maintain the highest level of security for your new account, we have some recommendations from the IT Assistance Center.
Storing and sharing passwords
- The account’s credentials must remain stored in LastPass Enterprise.
- LastPass password sharing features may be used to share credentials to authorized TXST personnel as required. As with other scenarios, the use of multiple LastPass Enterprise Shared Folders is highly recommended in cases where varying levels of access to credentials are required amongst members of a department.
- Every semester, accounts, password shares, and permissions must be internally reviewed to check for excessive permissions and inappropriate access.
- Upon a user’s loss of a need to access a given account, their access to the account and associated credentials must be promptly revoked and the credentials changed.
- In-account permissions and access to credentials via LastPass must be provided in a fashion that fits the model of least privilege.
Remember: Account credentials must not be provided directly to Meltwater, Hootsuite, or other third-party platforms aside from the TXST instance of LastPass Enterprise; in-application permissions and authorization tools must be used to grant access to authorized third parties.
Creating passwords
Password for social accounts must be:
- Unique (i.e., not users’ NetID passwords or derivative of other passwords)
- Randomly generated via LastPass Enterprise
- Composed of as many character types as the service supports (i.e. upper-case letters, lower-case letters, numbers, and symbols)
- Set to at least 15 characters in length
- Changed annually or when a user with access to the password loses their need to access the account, whichever comes first
Turn on multi-factor authentication
Multi-factor authentication adds an essential layer of protection by requiring a secondary verification step beyond just a password, significantly reducing the risk of unauthorized access. Where it’s available, multi-factor authentication (such as two-step authentication) should be implemented on official accounts and any accounts linked to official accounts. For more information on multi-factor authentication, see the links below:
Create an Account: Instructions by Platform
Note: The email address used to register for social media accounts must be a shared txstate.edu email address.
Branding Your Channel
Social media is a vital part of Texas State's communications. In order to create visual consistency and credibility and strengthen Texas State's brand, we ask you to follow the branding guidelines below.
Facebook Page Names
Use the full name of your college, department, group or program for Facebook page names. If possible, include the words "Texas State University" or "Texas State."
EXAMPLE:
TEXAS STATE UNIVERSITY POLICE DEPARTMENT
X, Instagram, And Other Account Handles
Handles are more limited by character count and naming will have some flexibility. If possible, usernames should include the abbreviation “TXST." This brings recognizable affiliation with Texas State to your accounts.
Note: Using TXST is strongly encouraged but if it isn't available for your program, an alternative option is "TXSTATE" or "TxState," similar to @TxStateAlumni
EXAMPLES:
TEXAS STATE UNIVERSITY INGRAM SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING
You can register your new account with University Marketing. If you're creating an entirely new account, follow our step-by-step instructions.
Avatars: How to Identify Your Relationship to TXST
To create a consistent look and feel across Texas State's social media accounts, avatars should be based on the social media avatars we've provided. Use the same avatar on all your accounts.
Departments and programs should avoid using the following logos as avatars unless directly given permission: SuperCat, University Seal, or TXST logo
Cover Photos
Choose or capture an image that best represents your unit. Make sure it’s in a landscape format and is cropped to the correct dimensions. Sprout Social has an ever-evolving guideline for social media photo sizes.
If you need a little help finding the perfect photo, we have plenty of high-quality images covering everything from student life and athletics to our beautiful campuses and the San Marcos River available for you to use. We also have pre-made cover photos available for download.
Hashtags
Approved Hashtags
Please use approved hashtags. Using the correct hashtags will maximize the reach and effectiveness of your tweet.
| Hashtag | Purpose |
|---|---|
| #TXST | For general posts regarding Texas State University |
| #TXST25, #TXST26, etc. | For posts intended to engage students of a particular graduating class |
| #EatEmUpCats | For posts regarding athletics or student, faculty, or staff achievements |
Note: Always use all-caps #TXST at the beginning of a sentence or before a proper noun.
Event Hashtags
When creating a hashtag for an event, be sure that it contains a connection to the university that can be used more than once!
| Use | Don't Use |
|---|---|
| #TXSTgrad | #Graduation |
| #TXSThomecoming | #Homecoming |
| #TXSTmovein | #MoveInDay |
| #BobcatSoccer | #Soccer |
| #TXSTBobcats | #Bobcats |
Writing and Style Guide
Review our Writing guidelines for tips about staying true to Texas State’s voice, and check out the Editorial Style Guide when you have specific questions about punctuation, spelling, and other elements of style.
Meta Business Manager
Meta Business Manager and Business Suite are essential tools for managing and growing your presence on Meta platforms. These command centers hold your social media and ad accounts, content, and provide audience insight.
Business Manager (also known as Business Portfolio) is the backend system that allows you to:
- Grant and control permissions to team members
- Securely manage your assets and separates your personal profile to business accounts
- Control payment methods
- Manage multiple Facebook Pages, Instagram accounts, and ad accounts
Meta Business Suite is a user-friendly interface and allows you to handle daily tasks, including:
- Create and schedule content
- Track ad spending and campaign performance across platform
- Manage engagement and messages from Facebook, Instagram, and Messenger
- Access detailed analytics/insights
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Who Can Use Business Manager and Business Suite?
Whoever is the lead personnel would create a Business Manager profile from where they can control permissions, assign others to utilize Business Suite, add pages/ad accounts, and control payment methods.
Meta Business Suite is a free tool designed to support anyone on your team who may be managing a TXST-affiliated Facebook or Instagram profile.
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How to Get Started
To get started, your department/office needs to have a Business Manager account set up. You can then add your Facebook Page or Instagram to this portfolio and manage activity through Meta Business Suite.
When you add a Page to your business portfolio, it means your department/office owns that Page.
Before you begin:
- You need to have full control/access of the Page
- You must be an Admin on Business Manager to add new assets
To Connect a Facebook Page
- Open Meta Business Suite and go to Settings
- Click on Business Assets in the left sidebar
- Select Pages
- Click the +Add Assets button and choose Facebook Page from the dropdown menu
- Select Add an existing Facebook Page
- Enter the Facebook Page’s name or URL and click Claim Page
- Review the request and terms, check the box to agree, and then click Claim Page to complete the process
To Connect an Instagram Account
- From the Business Assets section, click Instagram accounts
- Click +Add Assets and then select the Instagram account from the menu
- Select Add an existing Instagram account
Enter your username and password to log in and then connect to Meta Business Suite
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Ads and Ads Manager
Ads can be created on Meta to reach your target audience. An ad campaign is a collection of these ads, organized to achieve a specific marketing goal.
Ads Manager is the Meta tool used to create, manage, and view analytics of your ads and campaigns. The Ads Manager tool is a full-featured platform, where you can:
- Set targeting parameters
- A/B test different ad creatives
- Adjust bids and placements
- Access tools to build custom audiences
- See detailed metrics and pull reporting
- Manage multiple ad accounts and campaigns
Please be aware that Meta Business Suite also has an “Ads” section that offers a simpler version of Ads Manager. While it can be easier to navigate for daily tasks, it does NOT offer the same level of detail as Ads Manager.
To Connect an Ad Account
- Go to Settings and click on Ad Accounts in the sidebar
- Click the +Add Assets dropdown menu and choose Add an existing ad account
- Enter ad account ID, agree to the terms, and click Claim ad account
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Benefits of Connecting Accounts to Creator Suite
When you connect your accounts with Business Manager and Business Suite, you can:
- Cross-post and schedule content seamlessly
- Access a unified inbox
- View detailed analytics of your audience across platforms
- Schedule your posts, Reels, or Stories
- Message and comment on either app
- Target audiences with your ad campaigns across Facebook and Instagram simultaneously
- Save time and reduce errors by managing everything in one place
- Strengthen your brand by creating consistent messaging across platforms
- Better protect accounts through centralized permission controls