Lopez: Unlock social media success with organization and planning

As part of Social Media Day on Oct. 1, sponsored by the mass communication department, students learned how to create a plan and execute a conversation online, and how this assists greatly in achieving success on the web.

“Organization and planning help out immensely when putting information out there,” AJ Lopez III, digital marketing and social media manager, said.

Social media is not random, he said, and one of the most effective ways to build a voice is consistency.

“Posting on a regular schedule, hitting each medium’s primetime, will help people hear you on a more regular basis,” Lopez said.

With Facebook celebrating its 14th anniversary this fall, social media is no longer a new concept. Websites and apps like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat have become increasingly popular, and can all help grow the online presence of an individual or organization.

With more than 100 organizations on campus, there are several students who are in charge of their respective club’s social media accounts.

Steven Ehlert, criminal justice senior and Residence and Housing Association president, is also the social media chair of the Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity.

“The most difficult part about social media is getting people to repost and spread the word,” Ehlert said. “Getting something out that will attract people from different demographic areas too can be hard.”

It is important to have someone in charge of a club or organization’s social media accounts.

“The old-fashioned term is gatekeeper, someone who keeps everything straight,” Lopez said. “Each organization should have an overseer to make sure that everything posted online doesn’t steer away from the desired message. They need someone who is organized and will post things online that will reflect on the organization correctly.”

Ehlert uses this type of strategy on a daily basis.

“I currently post in a time rotation. I do a post early in the morning, mid-day and then evening,” Ehlert said. “This consistency has seemed to help. Being RHA president I have had experience with reaching different students and have had time to do trial and error, and generate somewhat of a plan or outline for the scheduling of posts.”

Victor Venegas, political science sophomore, is also in charge of social media for his organization.

“I often get behind on tweeting, or posting on my organization’s Facebook page,” Venegas said. “I definitely need to balance my time out better, so I can take good photos and figure out a good caption for the posts. Being a social media chair isn’t as easy as it sounds.”

Lopez said that one of his most difficult times when doing his job was this time last year, when Robert Grays was injured during the football game.

“You think you know how everything is going to go. We knew the score, we knew who we were going to interview, what we were going to post, and then suddenly everything changed. It was chaos,” Lopez said.

Lopez said that it’s during times like these that a social media plan can be a real asset.

“When something goes wrong, it’s great to have an outline to go back on. All of the new websites and technology are great, but the thing that really decides success is the pen and paper,” Lopez said. “Plan out everything so you can have something to reel you back in.”

During these times of hardship, it is essential to learn from the backlash and negativity.

“Not everything will be positive,” Lopez said. “It sounds weird, but sometimes it’s best to steer into the negative, as it is from this that you can grow and learn.”

FOR MORE INFORMATION ON MSU TEXAS SOCIAL MEDIA

The MSU Texas social media page on the university website has several helpful worksheets to help plan out the advertisements of events and learn more about each department, as well as learn more about hashtags and snapchat takeover opportunities.