Social Media Guidelines

Updated August 2023

University Marketing manages and maintains a strategy for the following official university social media channels.

  • Instagram
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • YouTube

If your functional area would like to create a social media account that represents the Kutztown University Brand in any capacity, it is required that you meet with University Marketing. Email to be put in contact with the right person to advise you.

These guidelines apply to Kutztown University faculty, staff, students, alumni, and any organization, department, office, club that would like to officially represent Kutztown University on a social media network.

General Guidelines

  1. Represent the KU Brand
    • Brand Awareness is a term used to describe the level of familiarity consumers have with the brand and how recognizable the “look” of the brand is to its target audience.
    • Any posting on official social media networks should represent KU as accurately as possible and be aligned with the university's mission and goals.
    • Maintain professionalism, accuracy, and correct mistakes.
    • If you create an official social media account, you may use the university's licensed logos. Be sure to adhere to all application usage guidelines and do not alter the images. Unofficial or personal accounts may not use the licensed logos as it can confuse the users as to what is official and unofficial.
  2. Obey Laws and Policies- All use of social media must adhere to applicable laws (such as FERPA and copyright) and university and PASSHE policies (such as the KU acceptable use policy). 
    • Do not infringe upon others' intellectual property. When sharing information, always be sure to provide proper credit to the original author when possible.
    • Do not post confidential or proprietary university information.
    • Do not use personal social media accounts to conduct official university business and vice versa. Any use of personal accounts while using KU time or resources must adhere to the KU acceptable use policy. 
    • Comments – even those that are unfavorable or off-topic – cannot be deleted. Because KU is a public university, freedom of speech applies to its public digital spaces as well as its physical spaces.
  3. Endorsements- Do not use the official platform to endorse any product, cause or political party or candidate.
  4. Best practices for Content creation- Craft content that resonates with your audience by developing a clear purpose, maintaining consistency, and providing value, all while supporting KU's goals and vision.
  5. Develop a strategy- What is your mission? Why is this account necessary to the success of your functional area?
  6. Know your audience- Who are your trying to reach and why?
  7. Reach your audience- Where are they? What type of content will they resonate with? Streamline platform and account usage where possible.
  8. Keep your audience- Establish trust with consistent and beneficial content. Utilize a customer service approach regarding questions and inquiries.
  9. Track your growth- Utilize organic data insights. What is working? Not working? Adjust accordingly.
  10. Accessibility – Creating Accessible Social Media Content