ALEXANDER CARLSSON | Reporter

In my job as a digital communications assistant, I encounter many students and faculty members who work hard to establish their campus organizations, sport teams and academic departments on social media.

Luckily, the web is filled with “how-to” articles and “step-by- step” methods aspiring social media professionals may adopt when setting up their strategies. They also have a knowledgeable and experienced social media team at Lindenwood’s Marketing and Communications Office as a resource.

The fact is, however, that whether the goal is to gain more followers, increase engagement (get more comments, likes, shares, etc.) or improve conversion rates (get your audience to attend events, buy products, subscribe to newsletter, etc.), the best and fastest way to achieve those goals is to start by engaging the members of the own organization, team or department – a resource often overlooked.

Fraternity brothers, sorority sisters, athletes, members of campus organizations and all other Lions have the ability to have an impact on your organization’s social media presence.

Here are seven things you can do to help your organization dominate social media:

1. Follow/like your organization’s accounts and pages.

It’s as simple as that. When an organization can’t even get their own members to follow them on social media, how do they expect other people to?

2. Like and leave optimized comments for further interaction.

Your social media team is working hard to create good content to promote your organization. Reward them by “liking” the posts and leaving comments with more than just a short response. Use GIFs, tag friends, provide your personal feedback/opinion and ask questions that encourage further interactions from other followers.

3. Engage with followers.

Facebook’s new algorithm pays great attention to what social media marketers call “engagement.” The more comments, likes and shares a post has, the more likely is it to pop up in people’s feeds and reach a bigger audience. Optimize engagement levels of posts by answering followers’ comments and shares. The more conversation, the better.

4. Become a micro-influencer.

Share relevant posts to your personal feed – Considering the characteristics of most people’s social media networks, the chances are big that your personal followers like the same things you do, making you a sort of micro-influencer. Make sure to share organizational posts whenever relevant for your followers and provide a short explanation of why you’re sharing it.

5. Tag the organization’s account in your posts.

When you’re posting social media content related to your organization, tag the account. Are you posting a picture of yourself on campus? Tag your campus organization. Did a friend take an action picture of you during a game? Tag your team’s account.  You get it! This will inspire people to click through to your organization’s social media accounts.

6. Get social.

Tell your friends — Offline word of mouth is a traditional way to effectively spread awareness about something; use it to your advantage. At lunch, tell your friends to follow your organization’s accounts or to check out your latest goal on the team’s Facebook-page. Remember, you’re the micro-influencer.

7. Be cautious about what you post.

An inappropriate post or comment may have a negative effect on not just you but your organization and Lindenwood University as a whole. Here’s a simple rule of thumb: If you’re not sure whether it’s appropriate or not, don’t post it. The Lindenwood University Student Handbook provides more in-depth instruction for students in terms of online use. Also remember that all social media accounts are required to have the oversight of a Lindenwood staff or faculty member.