Social Media
Social Media
UNIVERSITY MARKETING AND COMMUNICATIONS
Social media serves as a powerful communication tools, with each Loyola-related account playing an essential, integrated, and supportive role in narrating the University's story.
Loyola University Chicago utilizes social media to connect with a diverse, global audience, including current and prospective students, faculty, staff, alumni, parents, external media, and local community members.
Plan Your Account
Launching a new channel is a significant commitment. Before you go live, make sure you can answer these five questions. Creating an account because everyone else has one is not a strategy.
What is the purpose of this account?
Name your goal. That could be building awareness with a specific audience, recruiting students, promoting events, strengthening your reputation, or building community among the people you serve. Your goal determines which platform you choose and what you post.
Do you have the resources to manage the account?
Plan for at least one hour a day to post, monitor, respond, and engage, plus time each month to review your results. Accounts must be managed by Loyola faculty or staff, not students.
Who is your audience, and are they on the platform you want to join?
Define who you want to reach, then confirm they use the platform you're considering. See social media demographics by platform from Sprout Social
Where will you source your content?
Decide what you'll post, such as video, photos, text, Stories, or live video, and who will create it. Be realistic, because good content takes time. If you can't produce at least one quality post a week, contributing to an existing Loyola channel may be a better fit.
How will you define success?
Choose at least two metrics to track from the start, such as engagement rate, follower growth, or link clicks. Read Sprout Social's guide to setting social media goals
Register Your Accounts
All official Loyola social media accounts must be registered with University Marketing and Communications. An official account is one authorized to speak for a school, department, office, program, or other University entity. UMC's social media team reviews registered accounts regularly and will reach out if an account needs support.
Why register
- Receive an official Loyola social tile (profile image) for your account.
- Get emergency backup access if you're locked out or your account is compromised.
- Get strategy, content, and training support from UMC's social media team.
Requirements
- Your account has a clear purpose that supports your area's goals, your division's priorities, and the Loyola brand.
- Your account is managed by Loyola faculty or staff, not students.
- You commit to posting at least once a week. This is the minimum to keep an account active, not a target. Quality comes first.
- You use an official Loyola social tile
- You follow Loyola's Social Media Policy and related University policies.
- You give UMC's social media team emergency access to your account.
How to register
Email UMC's social media team with:
- Your account name and a link to it
- The platform, for example Instagram or LinkedIn
- Your school, department, or office
- Names and email addresses of at least two faculty or staff account managers
- One or two sentences about the account's purpose
Please don't send passwords by email. Our team will follow up with you to set up emergency access.
Create Content Worth Stopping For
The goal is not to post more. It's to post better.
Before you publish, ask who the post is for, why they would care, and whether social media is the right place for it. Our content guidelines cover what to post, photo and video standards, and how to make every post accessible.
Manage and Measure With Sprout Social
Sprout Social is Loyola's social media management tool. It helps you:
- Plan and schedule posts across your channels
- Respond to comments and messages quickly
- Track performance and build reports on the metrics that matter
Get Access
To use Sprout Social, you'll complete onboarding training with UMC's social media team.
Keep Learning
Already trained? Training recordings and guidelines are available by request. They are refreshers and don't replace onboarding training.
Request Sprout Social training recordings
Live webinars and on-demands videos, from the basics to advanced features.
How-to guide, videos, and articles
Policies
Review Loyola's Social Media Policy before you create an account or post on behalf of the University.
Questions?
Contact UMC's social media team at UMCSocialMedia@LUC.edu