This playbook is supporting documentation behind Concordia University Irvine's Social Media Policy. For questions on use or permissions please contact Veronica Steele.

1. The Office of Marketing and Communications
Social Media Playbook

2. Overview
Before jumping into any initiative it’s wise to understand the ideas, concepts and
best practices behind it. Social Media is no different. With over 2 billion people
using the Internet and more than 1 billion users on Facebook, business are in a
new era of relating and communicating to customers. This playbook will provide
you with Concordia University Irvine’s social media guidelines as they pertain to
official CUI social media sites. It is designed to review social media etiquette,
promote social media engagement and assist with social media best practices.
Procedure
Ready to begin a social media initiative for your department? Here are the key
steps of how to get started.
1. Email the Social Media Manager at socialmedia@cui.edu and include the
department or entity you wish to represent on a social networking site.
2. Review and fill out the Social Media Assessment Worksheet in preparation for
training.
3. Along with the Social Media Manager create a strategy.
4. Follow the Social Media Best Practices and get started!
Strategy
Creating a strategy for social media efforts is another key element to having a
successful social media presence. Your strategy should include realistic goals
and objectives that take into account the resources you have on hand. Some
questions to consider are:
1. What is the social media landscape at present? Are you creating a new
account or rebranding an account?
2. Who will manage (monitor, listen, post, report) the account?
3. What are your top purposes of having the account? (Goals)
4. How will you measure success/failure?
Questions? Contact Veronica Steele (socialmedia@cui.edu)
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3. Frequently Asked Questions
General
1. What is social media?
Answer: Social media is user-generated web content that is highly available and
collaborative. Social media allows conversations in a world-sized room. Anyone can
join. Everyone can join.
Social media is distinct from industry media because it is user-generated. Therefore the
public tends to trust and value social media differently than industry media.
2. What is the difference between the Social Media Employee Policy and the
Social Media Policy for CUI accounts?
Answer: The Social Media Employee Policy addresses your conduct on your
private and personal social media sites such as your personal LinkedIn, Facebook or
Twitter accounts. The Social Media Employee Policy was created and is managed by
HR along with other executives.
CUI’s Social Media Policy, implemented by the Marketing and Communications
department, is designed to promote and protect CUI’s brand on social media sites
representing facets of the University.
1. W hat is CUI’s Social Media Policy and why does it exist?
Answer: The Marketing and Communications department has created a Social
Media Policy to better promote and protect CUI’s brand externally. To do this, it is vital
that we are all on the same page as to what we are sharing about CUI’s brand as well as
listening to what others have to say about CUI’s brand. The policy is designed to
protect CUI from uninformed misuse of social media to the detriment of the University.
It is to be used as a risk management tool and to educate CUI employees on best
practices to social media.
An important note about CUI’s Social Media Policy is what to do in an event of a
campus or PR crisis. No CUI social networking account is authorized to post or engage
in conversation regarding the event other than redirecting people and conversations to
CUI’s main Facebook (www.facebook.com/concordiairvine) and/or Twitter
(www.twitter.com/concordiairvine) accounts.
Questions? Contact Veronica Steele (socialmedia@cui.edu)
3

4. CUI’s Social Media Policy can be found at: http://www.cui.edu/aboutcui/socialmedia/policy
3. How do I begin a social media presence for my department?
Answer: Before jumping onto a social networking site, Marketing and
Communications asks that you first contact the Social Media Manager at
socialmedia@cui.edu. For more information about beginning a social media, please
read the “Procedure” section further on in this document.
Social Media Use as Part of Your Job Responsibilities
4. What is a Social Media Community Manager (SMCM)?
Answer: At CUI we practice the hub and spoke model for social media. This
model allows for a centralized position (Social Media Manager) to be cross-functional
using Social Media Community Managers to promote CUI’s brand. Social Media
Community Managers are staff or faculty members across campus that represents a CUI
community using social media. It is their responsibility to manage, engage, promote
and advocate their expertise on social media site(s) specifically designed for their
department.
You can read more about CUI’s Social Media Community Managers at:
http://www.cui.edu/aboutcui/social-media/what-is-social-media
5. Is it okay to use my own personal social media login to post to CUI accounts
or create CUI accounts?
Answer: No. Do not use your personal social networking login to manage/create
CUI accounts or create CUI social media accounts using your @cui.edu email. When
you would like to have an account created please email the Social Media Manager at
socialmedia@cui.edu. CUI social media accounts are created using a shared inbox
email address to prevent locked accounts due to employee status changes.
Questions? Contact Veronica Steele (socialmedia@cui.edu)
4

5. 6. How do I make time for social media?
Answer: Managing your department’s social media account(s) doesn’t need to be
a time sucking event. With the proper planning, scheduling and tools you should be
able to manager your social media account(s) with little stress added to your workday.
Here are some tips to help you manage your social media time:
• Keep it simple: there is no need to join every social media-networking site. Less
is more and when you target your audience to the site(s) they are on you will be
more effective.
• Set a schedule: Set a block of time from 10-30 minutes a day to check your
social media account(s) activity, respond to questions or comments, and look for
content to post.
• Work smarter: There are free tools available such as Hootsuite, Tweetdeck and
Facebook Scheduler that allow you to schedule posts at a specific time and date
to multiple social networking sites. It is recommended to schedule a larger
block of time (60-90 min) one day a month to set up your schedule of posts for
the next month. Read the section below on Content for more insight.
7. What social media site(s) should my department be on?
Answer: Choosing the best social networking site requires you to consider
important criteria such as, who is your audience, what is their demographic
(age/gender/occupation), and what engagement are you looking to attract?
Example: Goal is to engage with Art students currently enrolled at CUI to showcase
their work. Instagram or Vine are visual social networking sites and would allow you to
see and promote student artwork.
The Social Media Manager is equipped with the latest research and practices in
choosing the right social media-networking site to meet your goals.
8. Can I run contests on social media?
Answer: Yes! We highly encourage running engaging contests and games on
social channels. Please be aware that every social channel has their own set of rules of
how contests can be run along with prizes that can be offered so it is best to work with
the Social Media Manager when developing a contest. For each contest a Contest Form
must be filled out and submitted to socialmedia@cui.edu. The form creates the legal
contest qualifications and will be posted on www.cui.edu/socialmedia during the
contest run time.
Questions? Contact Veronica Steele (socialmedia@cui.edu)
5

6. Responding to Comments on Social Networking Sites
9. What are some best practices when responding to comments?
Answer: First off, social media should be social! With this belief, CUI encourages
thoughtful discussion, debate, and interaction among social media users. User
comments are not screened prior to being published within the public forum. When
responding to comments keep these tips in mind:
• Be authentic
• Be accurate
• Be respectful
• Be positive
• Encourage open conversation
As part of CUI’s Social Media Policy, Comments Guidelines have been created to
promote engaging conversation and avoid harmful or hate speech. Please review these
guidelines at: http://www.cui.edu/aboutcui/social-media/comments-guidelines
10. How do I respond to negative comments?
Answer: Not everything everyone has to say is pleasant. Something negative said
online is often amplified due to the public nature of social media. This is why it is
important to evaluate the comment objectively. Please refer to the Social Media
Response Assessment further down as a guide on how to respond appropriately.
Always contact the Social Media Manager at socialmedia@cui.edu with any concerns.
11. What do I do when I see online abuse or harassment?
Answer: As stated in CUI’s Comments Guidelines, harassing, abusive and hateful
comments and posts are not tolerated. As an admin to CUI social networking sites you
have the right to remove and report abuse happening on your social media channels. It
is always best to take screen shots or document the abuse before deleting and
reporting the user. If any questions or concerns about abusive behavior arise please
contact the Social Media Manager at socialmedia@cui.edu. To learn more about how
to report online abuse, harassment or bullying visit:
http://www.cui.edu/AboutCUI/Social-Media/Reporting-Abuse-or-Harassment
Questions? Contact Veronica Steele (socialmedia@cui.edu)
6

7. Proprietary and Confidential Information
12. How do I determine what information is proprietary and confidential and if it
should be posted?
Answer: Security policies and practices on social networking sites vary so it is safe
to always assume that the information you post may be compromised and used
against you or the University. As a higher educational institution we are bound to
follow the Federal Law of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), which
protects the privacy of a student’s educational records. Any information regarding a
students’ record should NEVER be shared publicly.
Announcements of new programs, new hires, or institutional news should be consulted
on with the governing parties before any posts or comments are made. When in doubt,
contact the Social Media Manager at socialmedia@cui.edu or Human Resources.
13. Can I give my student employee access/admin rights to my CUI account?
Answer: No. Student employees may not have direct access to CUI social media
accounts as admins or be given login credentials to social media accounts. Students
may help you aggregate content, create posts (in Word or Excel) for you to approve
and post yourself. Students may also use their own personal social media accounts to
promote CUI activities and pages. Please know that you will be held responsible for all
CUI social media site misuse.
When anyone other than yourself needs access to social media sites for which you are
responsible, please contact the Social Media Manager at socialmedia@cui.edu.
14. How should I store my password?
Answer: With the recent hacks of major corporate business’ social media sites, it is
more important then ever to protect the passwords you use. Best practices are to avid
writing down passwords on post-its or other places that may have public access. A tool
to consider is a password management system like LastPass.
Questions? Contact Veronica Steele (socialmedia@cui.edu)
7

8. Trademarks, Copyrights, Logos and Photos
15. Am I allowed to use CUI’s logo? What should I be aware of when using and
posting CUI’s logos?
Answer: Yes. When a social media account is crated the Social Media Manager will
provide graphics to be used for a profile picture, background and/or cover photo.
Every employee is responsible for protecting the integrity of use of CUI’s logo. Any
requests for the use of CUI’s logo should be directed to Ann.Ashmon@cui.edu.
16. How do I report a site that is using CUI’s logo without permission?
Answer: All online logo misuses should be reported to the Marketing and
Communications Department by emailing socialmedia@cui.edu. Including a link to the
site is helpful.
17. What are the copyright guidelines for posting content that doesn’t belong to
me?
Answer: The Copyright law protects almost all forms of content (digital and hard
copy). You are held legally and financially responsible should Copyright be violated.
To avoid content misuse it is best practice to cite sources in a clear and prominent
place. When given permission to use content, photo, videos, e-books, etc. it is best to
add a line noting the permission given and from whom.
18. Do I need to have individual’s consent before posting their pictures?
Answer: A best practice to follow when taking pictures of people for social media
use is to ask the individuals for permission or tell them what the picture will be used for.
Pictures of individuals to be used for print/promotional use must have a written consent
form signed. At no time should photos be tagged by
When You Engage
Engagement on social media is one of the key factors to having a successful and
meaningful online presence. Promoting conversations, ideas, photos and
answering questions or responding to complaints is what social media is all
about. When participating in engagement keep these tips in mind.
Questions? Contact Veronica Steele (socialmedia@cui.edu)
8

9. Rules of Engagement
•
•
•
Stick to what you know. You are an expert in your field and that should be
apparent in everything being posted.
Think twice, post once. Consider what you are posting and how it reflects on
you as an employee of CUI, the department you are representing and the
overall University and brand.
Be respectful of content that is not yours and the safety and security of personal
information.
Content
A common misuse of social media for businesses is using it as a one-way
broadcasting system. Social media sites should never be used to only promote
your organization’s agenda. It should be used to engage your audience in
conversations about ideas around your brand.
Example (Don’t): Open House is on Monday, July 12. Register here.
Objective: To broadcast Open House
Example (Do): What was your favorite high school event? Prom, basketball
championship game, winter formal? Monday, July 12 may hold your first favorite
moment at CUI! (Link to registration)
Objective: Have prospective UG applicants share their favorite High School memories.
Choosing engaging content to post can be a daunting task at first but it doesn’t
last. You are the expert in your field and are surrounded with articles, photos,
news and other relevant media for you to share. RSS feeds are a tool to consider
for collecting content. RSS feeds can be used in Outlook or through websites
such as Feedly and be set up in one sitting and added to or updated at any
time.
Another wonderful aspect of social media is the ‘share’ or “retweet” option. If
someone said it great the first time there is no need to recreate it. Sharing
content from other accounts is equivalent to high fiving someone after an
awesome speech. Sharing is caring.
Questions? Contact Veronica Steele (socialmedia@cui.edu)
9

10. Blogging Guidelines
1. Be authentic. Be yourself. Readers are interested in what you can offer
them as far as expertise.
2. Write a minimum of one post a week. Blog posts should be 300-400
words long and comprehensively cover your topic.
a. Do not focus on writing the maximum amount of words.
Focus on writing quality content that your readers will value
and remember.
3. A picture speaks 1,000 words. A video, even more! Tumblr blogs don't
just have to be written. Tell your story in the best way that captures it.
4. Add links. It’s another great way to enhance your blog and engage
readers. Just be sure to test the link before using it!
5. Be consistent with your blog theme but talk about the unique and
interesting parts of your department, unit or expertise. Those things help
people connect and stay interested.
6. Think about the audience who is reading your blog. What are they
looking for? Remember, it’s not all about what you want to tell them.
What questions can you answer for them?
7. Display respect for other opinions and people, and discourage personal
attacks.
8. Consider the whole of Concordia University Irvine and Higher Ed
experience including our location, academics, athletics, intramurals,
friendships, homesickness, financial aid, music, theatre, hopes, dreams,
and challenges.
9. Be CUI brand minded but not CUI focused. This means that not every
post needs to include CUI in it. It also means that you should be mindful
of what you say and the tone you say it.
10. Most importantly, portray enthusiasm through your content. If you’re
excited about your topic, your readers will be encouraged to take action.
11. Protect your privacy and the privacy of other individuals; be aware that
what you write will be viewable by the public for extended periods of
time.
Questions? Contact Veronica Steele (socialmedia@cui.edu)
10

11. Frequency and Timing
Every social networking site functions differently. You are not expected to post
at the same time or frequency for each site. A general rule of thumb is:
1. Post to Facebook and/or Google+ 3 times per week but no more than 3 times
per day
2. Post to Twitter daily
3. Post to LinkedIn 3 times per week
4. Post to Instagram 2 times a week
5. Post to a blog up to three times per week but no less than once per week
The timing of a response to a comment is another important consideration. It is
best to respond immediately (within 1 hour) however, it is acceptable to respond
up to one day (24 hours). Always keep in mind that the best responses are
authentic, honest, and transparent and that sometimes a simple “like” will do.
Monitoring vs. Listening
Your social media account can be used in many ways including a customer
service center, focus group, brand advocacy unit and sales driver. However, it
can only be used in these ways if you are monitoring and listening to your
audience. When social media is used effectively and purposefully, engagement
among your participants will be active.
As a SMCM it is your responsibility to monitor what is being said about your
department. Monitoring is passive. It simply requires that you read the
interactions taking place on your site.
Listening is active. Listening requires you to push aside your agenda and
honestly receive what people are saying. Many times listening provokes a
response either publically (responding to a comment) or internally (changing
internal practices to create better service).
It’s vital to understand the difference between monitoring and listening and
responding appropriately.
Questions? Contact Veronica Steele (socialmedia@cui.edu)
11

12. Social Media Vocab
Bitly: Bitly is a free URL shortening service that provides statistics for the links users
share online. Bitly is popularly used to condense long URLs to make them easier to
share on social networks such as Twitter.
Blog: Blog is a word that was created from two words: “web log.” Blogs are usually
maintained by an individual or a business with regular entries of commentary,
descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are
commonly displayed in reverse-chronological order. "Blog" can also be used as a verb,
meaning to maintain or add content to a blog.
Chat: Chat can refer to any kind of communication over the internet but traditionally
refers to one-to-one communication through a text-based chat application commonly
referred to as instant messaging applications.
Circles: Circles are clusters of a user's friends on Google+, meaning you can group
certain people you choose to connect with on your Google+ into a certain Circle--such
as colleagues, college connections, family, etc. When you want to share content with
only these individuals, you include that specific Circle in your post's sharing options.
Com m ent: A comment is a response that is often provided as an answer or reaction to
a blog post or message on a social network. Comments are a primary form of two-way
communication on the social web.
Connections: The LinkedIn equivalent of a Facebook 'friend' is a 'connection.'
Because LinkedIn is a social networking site, the people you are connecting with are not
necessarily people you are friends with, but rather you met in brief, heard speak, or
know through another connection.
Forum s: Also known as a message board, a forum is an online discussion site. It
originated as the modern equivalent of a traditional bulletin board, and a technological
evolution of the dialup bulletin board system.
Follow Friday (#ff): Follow Friday is a trend via the hashtag #ff every Friday on
Twitter. Users select other usernames and tweet them with #ff in their post, meaning
they recommend following those Twitter users. People tweet at their favorite brands,
colleagues, celebrities--you name it!
Questions? Contact Veronica Steele (socialmedia@cui.edu)
12

13. Friends: No, not your pals you play poker with on the weekends. We're talking
Facebook friends. These are individuals you consider to be friendly enough with you to
see your Facebook profile and engage with you.
Hangout: A Hangout is a video service on Google+ that allows you to video chat with
up to 10 Google+ users are a time. You can name these chats, watch YouTube videos
during them, open a Google Doc with colleagues, and much more.
Hashtag: A hashtag is a tag used on the social network Twitter as a way to annotate a
message. A hashtag is a word or phrase preceded by a “#.” Example: #yourhashtag.
Hashtags are commonly used to show that a tweet, a Twitter message, is related to an
event or conference, online or offline.
HTM L: Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) is a programing language for web pages.
Think of HTML as the brick-and-mortar of pages on the web. It provides content and
structure while CSS supplies style. HTML has changed over the years, and it is on the
cusp of its next version: HTML5.
Inbound M arketing: Inbound marketing is a style of marketing that essentially
focuses permission-based marketing techniques that businesses can use to get found
by potential customers, convert those prospects into leads and customers, and analyze
the process along the way. Inbound marketing leverages tactics such as SEO, blogging,
social media, lead generation, email marketing, lead nurturing, and analytics. It is in
direct contrast to outbound marketing, which utilizes traditional interruptive marketing
tactics such as direct mail, trade shows, print and TV advertising, and cold calling.
Like: A “Like” is an action that can be made by a Facebook user. Instead of writing a
comment for a message or a status update, a Facebook user can click the "Like" button
as a quick way to show approval and share the message.
News Feed: A news feed is literally a feed full of news. On Facebook, the News Feed
is the homepage of users' accounts where they can see all the latest updates from their
friends. The news feed on Twitter is called Timeline (not to get confused with
Facebook's new look, also called Timeline).
Podcast: A podcast, or non-streamed webcast, is a series of digital media files, either
audio or video, that are released episodically and often downloaded through RSS.
Questions? Contact Veronica Steele (socialmedia@cui.edu)
13

14. Post: Anything answering the question "What's on your mind?"
Retweet: A retweet is when someone on Twitter sees your message and decides to reshare it with his/her followers. A retweet button allows them to quickly resend the
message with attribution to the original sharer's name.
RSS Feed: RSS (Really Simple Syndication) is a family of web feed formats used to
publish frequently updated content such as blogs and videos in a standardized format.
Content publishers can syndicate a feed, which allows users to subscribe to the content
and read it when they please, and from a location other than the website (such as
reader services like Google Reader).
RSS Reader: An RSS reader allows users to aggregate articles from multiple websites
into one place using RSS feeds. The purpose of these aggregators is to allow for a
faster and more efficient consumption of information. An example of an RSS Reader is
Google Reader.
Tag: A tag is a special kind of link. When you tag someone, you create a link to their
timeline.
Tim eline: Timeline is the new Facebook format for personal profiles. It is essentially a
digital scrapbook of a user's life, displaying their profile in an actual timeline format so
they can see at exactly what point in time something a story occurred.
Trend: A trend is seen on every social network. Facebook shows what is trending when
multiple users are sharing the same link or discussing the same topic. Google+
highlights trending topic when a user conducts a search. Twitter has a section to the
bottom right of its home feed which clearly shows what topics and hashtags are
trending in tweets. And LinkedIn shows what industries (in LinkedIn Today) that a
certain story is popular.
Tweet: A tweet is a post or status update on Twitter, a microblogging service. Because
Twitter only allows messages of 140 characters or less, "tweet" is as much a play on the
size of the message as it is on the audible similarity to Twitter.
Tweetup: A tweetup is an organized or impromptu gathering of people that use
Twitter.
Questions? Contact Veronica Steele (socialmedia@cui.edu)
14

15. Twitter Chat: A Twitter Chat is a chat or discussion that is held on Twitter and is open
to all users. Questions are prompted from the user hosting the chat, while anyone else
can respond using a particular hashtag. The hashtag is the marker for someone
participating in the chat. HubSpot has its own chats hosted every other Tuesday via the
hashtag #inboundchat.
Viral M arketing: Viral marketing refers to marketing techniques that use pre-existing
social networks to produce increases in brand awareness or to achieve other marketing
objectives through self-replicating viral processes.
W eb Analytics: Web analytics is the measurement, collection, analysis, and reporting
of internet data for purposes of understanding and optimizing web usage.
W ebinar: A webinar is used to conduct live meetings, training, or presentations via the
internet.
Read more: http://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/6126/The-Ultimate-Glossary120-Social-Media-Marketing-Terms-Explained.aspx#ixzz1zlxQtkqf
Playbook based on an example from Hobsons
Questions? Contact Veronica Steele (socialmedia@cui.edu)
15

16. CUI SOCIAL MEDIA RESPONSE PROCEDURE
Adapted from the Air Force Public Affairs Agency - Emerging Technology Division’s flow graphic
POSTING
ASSESSMENT
Has someone discovered a post
about your organization? Is it a
positive post?
EVALUATE
NO
“TROLLS”
MONITOR ONLY
Is this site dedicated to bashing
and degrading others?
CONCURRENCE
A factual and well cited
response which may agree
or disagree with the post,
yet is not negative.
Avoid responding to
specific posts, monitor the
site for relevant information
YES
NO
and comments.
“RAGER”
You can concur with the
post, let stand or provide a
positive review.
Is this posting a rant, rage, joke,
ridicule or satirical in nature?
FIX THE FACTS
Respond with factual information
Do you want to respond?
directly on the post
NO
(See 5 Response Considerations
below)
“MISGUIDED”
NO
Are there erroneous facts in the
posting?
YES
YES
LET STAND
Let the post stand
NO
- no response
RESTORATION
Rectify the situation, respond and
“UNHAPPY CUSTOMER”
Is the posting a result of a
negative experience from on of
our constituents?
YES
RESPOND
act upon a reasonable solution
YES
(See 5 Response
Considerations below)
NO
YES
FINAL EVALUATION
SHARE SUCCESS
Base response on present
circumstances, site influence and
stakeholders prominence. Will
you respond?
Do you wish to share your
story & mission?
YES
YES
RESPONSE CONSIDERATIONS
SOURCING
TRANSPARENCY
Cite your sources by including
Disclose your CUI connection.
hyperlinks, video, images or
other references.
TIMELINES
Take time to create good
responses.
TONE
Respond in tone that reflects
highly on the mission and
beliefs of CUI.
INFLUENCE
Focus on the most influential
posts related to CUI.