Social Media Takeover Guide

Takeovers of your social media accounts are an invaluable way to showcase new and varied perspectives of the BU experience. Whether on Snapchat or Instagram, they provide a distinct point of view, personalize the program/experience you’re highlighting, and help facilitate peer-to-peer conversations on topics of strategic importance. However, while it might seem like you’re off the hook by having someone else do the posting, facilitating a takeover is still plenty of work. Below are our tips for doing so successfully.

How do I make sure people tune in?

Use your other communication channels to notify users that you’re hosting an account takeover. You can connect with members of your school/college through newsletters, event calendars, and on social media ahead of time once you’ve scheduled a date for the takeover. In addition, once it’s ongoing you can share a link to your Snapchat or Instagram on a Twitter account and encourage people to tune in throughout the day. If you’re showing off experiences that involve other departments at BU (i.e., Study Abroad, Housing, etc.), you can reach out and let them know in advance so that they can share as well. Lastly, tap into your host’s network to get the word out. Ask them to share on their personal channels that they’ll be hosting a takeover and encourage their followers to follow your account to watch along live.

Checklist:

Ahead of Time:

  • Identify a takeover host and make sure they’re comfortable using the platform you’ve chosen.
  • Be specific in your communications about what they will show off, i.e., an internship, a study abroad location, or simply “a day in the life.”
  • Create a set of guidelines for the host to know what’s acceptable and what’s not when hosting the takeover. This can (and should) include information about what types of questions they’re free to reply to and which should be sent your way. Send these guidelines to the host in advance and get confirmation from them that they’ve read and understand all of them. If it’s helpful, you can even ask them to sign an agreement indicating that they understand the rules.
  • Use your owned channels to promote the takeover and encourage your host to do the same! Reach out to affiliated departments on campus and ask if they’ll promote your upcoming takeover.
  • Before the takeover begins, log in to your account and change the password. Send the new password to the takeover host.
  • Ask the host to let you know once the takeover is complete.

During:

  • Follow along throughout the day, ensuring that the posts are appropriate and relevant.
  • Be available to answer any questions the host receives that they feel unqualified to answer. Alternatively, you can ask them to take screenshots of questions and log in to answer them following the takeover.
  • For Snapchat specifically, do not log in to the account during the takeover. This will sign the host out.

After:

  • Log in to your account and immediately change the password.
  • Save the takeover as a video. If you’re comfortable, send it back to the host. They often like to keep the files as a memento of the experience.
  • If agreed to in advance, send the host any stats available on their takeover such as views or screenshots.
  • Post the video file on your other social media platforms (YouTube and Twitter) to improve discoverability and reach of the content.
http://www.hyuuji.com/prsocial/best-practices/social-media/social-media-takeover-guide/
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