10 Digital Tools to Make Your Life Easier as a Social Media Manager

Here's a list of great digital and social tools to make your life easier as a social media manager!

• Hootsuite - analytics/monitoring platform 
• Enhance - App from Hootsuite for editing photos with watermark
• Canva - graphic design templates 
• Google Docs - Great for social calendars 
• Storify - Storytelling
• Boomerang - Video app 
• Layout - Photo Collage app 
• Repost - Great for reposting/sharing Instagram photos 
• Snapseed - Photo editing
• Facebook Pages - App for Facebook Page administrators/editors

Instagram Direct or Snapchat?

Instagram recently introduce Instagram Direct, their new feature to send disappearing photos and videos to groups or friends within the app. As you may recall, this feature is very similar to the original premise of Snapchat. Snapchat began as an app to send disappearing photos and videos to friends, before later incorporating the concept of Stories. Instagram has introduced these components in reverse order, continuing their insistence to look strikingly similar to Snapchat.

From my early experiments with Instagram Direct, you cannot choose the length of the photo you set as your Story or send to a friend. In Snapchat, you're able to choose it's length between 1 and 10 seconds. This is frustrating if you're sending a photo to a friend that requires them to look a bit longer. Several friends responded that they didn't have enough time to see an Instagram Direct photo I sent them.

While the lack of time length control is frustrating, the ability to send to groups is convenient within Instagram. You can develop groups of people to send photos or videos to, which are saved and only require one click to later send to that same group. You can also send a snap to multiple people in Snapchat, but those recipients have to be selected individually each time.

The ability to send content directly to individuals or groups may not directly influence your social media strategy at a higher education institution, but it's definitely something to consider as you analyze how your audience uses both apps. Where do you want them to view your university's content (most likely in the Stories feature of both apps)?

Using Storify for Storytelling

Using Storify for Storytelling is a great way to show a series of social media posts... perfect for displaying Instagram Takeovers, which were mentioned in one of my posts last week! Here is a Storify covering an Instagram Takeover I did on the Higher Ed Experts account, showing a day in my life at UNMC, leading up to the Higher Ed Social Media Conference next week. How could you use Storify for storytelling at your institution?

Instagram Student Takeovers

Instagram student takeovers are a great way to showcase a day in the life of a student at your university. I started Instagram Takeovers at UNMC on a weekly basis about a month ago, and they've been going very well so far. The mission is to show the world what a day in the life of a UNMC student looks like.

But how do you implement this tactic without giving up control of your school's social account? Instead of establishing temporary passwords for each student, the students send me all of their content (4-6 photos and captions) and I post it to our Instagram account. This allows me to be the filter for all the takeover content, to ensure that all the posts are appropriate. Check out the further guidelines and rules I have in place below. I send these out to each student participating in the takeover each week.

Guidelines:

• Show UNMC love! Show off your school pride.
• What should the captions say? Write the captions in first person, as if you are actually taking over the account. 
• Use the UNMC social team as a resource. 
• Photo rights: We want to show the world what you’re doing, so your photo may be shared by others on other platforms. 
• Tag other accounts.
• Hashtags to be used: #IamUNMC, #TakeoverTuesdayUNMC
• Have fun! 

 Rules:

1. Send appropriate content only. No alcohol or drug use (Not in any capacity). If you send us a potentially inappropriate photo/video, we will contact you about replacing the photo. Your photos can be of whatever you want that depict your life at UNMC, but keep the photos and captions positive and appropriate. No alcohol or drug use (Not in any capacity). If you send us a potentially inappropriate photo, we will contact you about replacing the photo. 
2. Get verbal permission. If you’re taking pictures of your friends, classmates, professor, etc. GET PERMISSION from them to post this on UNMC’s public Instagram account. Every time. Even if you don’t think it’s necessary. (Unless they are unrecognizable in the photos, i.e. back of their heads, far in the distance, etc.)
3. Introduction and Conclusion. Don’t forget to introduce yourself in the first photo. Also wrap up your final photo/video in a way that is a clear indication that your Takeover is finished (through the caption). 
4. Order of photos. Please note what order you would like the photos to appear. It works best if it corresponds to how your day happens chronologically, starting in the morning. I can post the photos anytime throughout the day, whatever makes the most sense with your Takeover depending on your photos. (Breakfast would be during breakfast, for example) We typically get more engagement in the late afternoon or evening though. 

Tip of the Day: Layout Layout Layout!

I've had some people ask me about the collages I share on UNMC's Instagram, and how I make them look so clean, without an app's watermark. I use Layout, an app developed within the same family as Instagram! It's FREE, super easy to use, and you can incorporate up to nine photos in a Layout collage. You can move the photos around, flip or mirror them, and add borders (like the collage below), before syncing it with Instagram to share. I would highly recommend it!

Fruit vs. Med Students: A Comparison Story on Different Types of Social Media Managers

I formally began my career in social media by interning at an advertising agency. I worked over 40 hours a week managing the social content for my client, Cuties Clementines. At least eight people were working on the client team at any given point, and most of those individuals worked on social content. My position was a catch-all "Swiss Army Knife" role, serving as a project manager for Cuties' social media content, monitoring Cuties' social platforms, listening to the social conversation, engaging with consumers, shooting photos, writing copy, etc. I loved the variety that every week brought. We were expected to develop original content daily for Cuties' Facebook and Twitter platforms, which usually required a significant amount of time to concept the ideas and design them. Our main target audience was moms, buying healthy foods for their kids. Working in an advertising agency on a national client like Cuties was stressful at times, but it was so much fun. We were moving so quickly, constantly brainstorming new ways to engage moms with the brand, whether it was through recipes and crafts involving Cuties, or Twitter Chats or contests.

Working in higher education social media now at the University of Nebraska Medical Center has been just as enjoyable but significantly different. As the Web Content/Social Media Specialist, I am responsible for the social media strategy, content, and execution for all of UNMC's primary social platforms, such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat. Instead of working on a team of 6-8 people on social media content, I am now primarily working alone, with an intern. Being fully responsible for UNMC's social presence, as well as social listening, monitoring, engagement, paid content, etc. can be a lot to juggle, so it's important be organized, self-motivated, and capable of brainstorming without a team around you. Since I'm no longer producing content based on a product, like clementines, my role as a strategist is different as well. Social media is more of a public relations initiative at UNMC, continually engaging with our community and informing them about the great things happening at UNMC.

How have your experiences in higher education differed from outside academia? What has helped with your transition? Let me know in the comments below!

Tip of the Day: CANVA

Have you heard of Canva? It's this week's Tip of the Day because of how easy it makes your life as a Social Media Manager! Check out all these design templates available to you, and it's all for FREE! So many design templates and various scenarios ready to be tweaked to meet your needs. You can also customize the fonts and colors to match your brand standards. Using Canva is very user-friendly. Don't have the time or skills for Photoshop or InDesign? Have no fear, Canva is here! You can set up an account and use all of the capabilities for free, and purchase stock photography for only $1 per photo! This is truly a lifesaver for those working in social media, when our social media plans call for well-designed graphics so regularly. Check it out! canva.com