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The College will be closed from Monday, March 9 - Sunday, March 15, 2026 for Spring Break. No classes are scheduled. Normal operations will resume on Monday, March 16.

Best Practices for Social Media Marketing

Content Creation

The content you create for your social media account(s) should answer the question: “How do we increase top-of-mind awareness for PBSC?”

You should publish a mix of content.  Remember a “60-20-20” rule of thumb:

  • 60% informative content
  • 20% emotional/engaging content
  • 20% promotional content


Content ideas
The follow are content ideas:

 

Think Before You Post
Take time to create posts without mistakes. Create and save drafts of posts. If you are unsure about posting something or responding to a comment, ask your club advisor for feedback or email the Digital Media Manager, Caroline Sheikhnia at sheikhnc@pbsc.edu. You leave a digital footprint every time you choose to publish a post. Even if a post or comment is deleted, there may be a screenshot or cached version elsewhere. Regarding responding to comments and messages, please see Best Practices section.


Accessibility (ADA/Section 508)
All College-affiliated social media content should comply with accessibility standards (e.g., captions for video,
alt text for images) consistent with Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act and the Americans with Disabilities
Act (ADA). Learn more about Accessibility for social media

 

Model Release

A signed model release is required when photos or videos are used for advertising, marketing, recruitment, or other promotional purposes. A release should also be obtained when an individual student is featured prominently in a social media post.

For group or event photos used in non-promotional contexts, a release is not required, but subjects should be informed that photography/recording is taking place. For more information on model releases can be found on the OCPA website.

 

Hashtags

A Hashtag is “a word or phrase preceded by the symbol # that classifies or categorizes the accompanying text (such as a tweet). Originally designed for categorizing posts, the hashtag can now be a tool for a supplementary coy or witty comment (e.g., #awkward). The word tag can mean "a word or phrase used for description or identification." Hash is short for hash mark, a term for what we more commonly call a pound sign.” (reference)

 

PBSC Social Media Hashtags

#MyPBSC is the main hashtag to use on our social media posts. It’s not required but should be used on a regular basis.  It’s best to keep hashtags to a minimum as the more you create and use less of, the more our posts will get lost in the social media landscape.

  • #PBSCgrad & #PBSCAlumni - Use for commencement and graduate related posts.
  • #PantherProud, #PantherStrong or #PantherPride - Any of these can be used to support the College spirit and positivity.
  • #PBSCnews - Use to share news about PBSC.

 

Example of hashtag in use:

Instagram post shows an image for Haitain Flag Day and uses the hashtags #haiti, #haitianheritgaemonth, #haitianflagday and #mypbsc

Hashtags is also what we use to filter posts for our Juicer social media feed on the PBSC homepage.

 

Tagging

To tag is to mention a person, business or brand’s social media account preceded by the symbol @ followed by the account name.  The font color for tagged content turns blue.  When you click on the text, it will take you to that Facebook account page.

 

This is an example of both hashtags and tagging in use:

Social media post using both hashtags and tagging

 

Social Media Best Practices

Training
Account manager(s) will meet with the Digital Media Manager for any necessary training and/or social media strategy planning. Training may be in the form of group or one-on-one sessions and in person or virtual. Regular evaluations are essential to ensuring we’re staying on track with PBSC’s strategic goals. Training sessions are also opportunities for you to use the Digital Media Manager as a resource to help you build your social media skills.

 

Resources
Note: These resources are not endorsed or used in partnership with PBSC.

Social Media Resource List
Category Resource Name & Website Link Description
Graphic Design Canva  |  www.Canva.com Canva is an online image creation tool. Canva has templates with common social media sizes so you can create multiple posts at once.
Post scheduling Later  |  www.Later.com You can schedule posts months in advance or simply for the days when you know you’re unavailable to create content. Keeping a calendar will help you stay on track. The free plan includes 1 social account per platform, 1 user, 30 Instagram posts, 50 Twitter posts, 30 Facebook posts, 30 Pinterest posts, can schedule photos and upload unlimited photos to Media Library, basic Instagram analytics, can search and repost User Generated Content.
Post scheduling Social Champ  |  www.socialchamp.io Under the Free plan, you can connect up to 3 social media accounts and unlimited scheduled posts.
Resharing Instagram Content Repost App (there are many to choose from). This free app allows you to reshare (“repost”) an Instagram post from other profile. You can choose where to display the watermark (credit to original poster) and copy/paste the original caption while you add your own caption. Note: some free apps come with in-app purchases such as subscriptions.
Social Media Blog Social Media Examiner  | www.socialmediaexaminer.com This web site includes podcasts and blog posts on social media marketing trends. 

 

Important Note: You must still check on your page to make sure that any important questions are being answered, and inappropriate content is not being posted on your page.

 

Comments & Messages

  • You must maintain the utmost professionalism when replying to comments and/or direct messages. It is in our human nature to empathize; however, when it comes to digital communication it is better to err on the side of caution and write back in a gentle and concise manner.
  • You may hide comments if they reflect spam, advertising, or content unrelated to the post and/or PBSC.
  • Do not delete comments. If there is reason for concern, take a screen shot of the post – date, time, platform, the post, the username, the questionable comment – and e-mail sheikhnc@pbsc.edu.
  • Posts that are off-topic, abusive, contain profanity, are threatening in tone or devolve into personal attacks may be deleted. Prior to deleting a comment of this nature, take a screen shot of the post – date, time, platform, the post, the username, the questionable comment – and e-mail sheikhnc@pbsc.edu.

 

Do's and Don't's

DO

  Write in complete sentences. You can be conversational but follow proper spelling, punctuation and writing style. Factual errors, incorrect spelling, bad grammar and broken links reflect poorly on PBSC.

  Respect other people’s right to comment and/or post, even if it is different from your beliefs.

  Give credit if you are taking content from another source, even if it’s from PBSC’s official social media.


  Provide a call to action (visit web site, sign up, register, attend, RSVP, etc) when necessary. Remember our goal is to bring people to PBSC – in person or virtually through social media. Content should link back to palmbeachstate.edu as necessary. We advise you to follow PBSC’s social media accounts and to engage with PBSC’s official accounts.

DON'T

  Don’t write as if you’re logged into your personal account. Everything you post is on behalf of PBSC and should be presented as such.


  Don’t argue or engage with users in a negative way. If you feel a social media user is being inappropriate, take a screen grab of the post/comment/message and email it to the Digital Media Coordinator. Include username, date and time.


  Don't plagiarize and cite sources when possible. Give credit to accounts if you take their visual and written content.


  Don’t share or repost memes and/or jokes frequently. Remember, you are representing PBSC.

 

Inappropriate Uses of Social Media

  • PBSC social media cannot be used to advance personal views, political views, political candidates, or political parties.
  • PBSC social media cannot be used to promote commercial products or services. The exception applies to PBSC events or events made in partnership/sponsorship with outside companies, organizations or individuals. 
  • Unless otherwise directed by OCPA, staff do not have the authority to speak on behalf of the College on any social networking platform.
  • Should you see any posts that comprise of threats, harassment, hate messages, illegal activity and/or any inappropriate posting(s) that could warrant emergency procedures, e-mail sheikhnc@pbsc.edu with a screen shot of the post, account user, date & time of post.
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