OVPR Social Media Request Process

Submit requests via the support request form.

Requests need to include:

• Your name
• Your email address
• Title of event or request
• Description, including all relevant details, or draft language
• Link for more information (This could be a news post, event link, etc.)
• Due date or estimate of date to be posted.
• Graphic or image to be included. Image sizes:
  • Twitter: 1200 x 675 pixels
  • LinkedIn: 1200 x 627 pixels
• UT Austin departments, schools or units to be tagged (Digital Content Coordinator will find the tags).
• Optional – personal social media tags for speakers/researchers
• Optional – Hashtags

Please be aware of character limits within social media platforms:

• Twitter posts are 280 characters long, including the link, tags and hashtags.
• LinkedIn posts are 3,000 characters long, but only 210 before it shows “See more.”

If content is drafted and graphic is ready upon submission:

• The Digital Content Coordinator will review, edit as needed, and submit changes to the requestor for approval. Please allow 24-48 hours for this process.
• The original requestor is responsible for getting approval from the people who own the content before submission.
  • The Digital Content Coordinator will review the content calendar to find the most appropriate day for the content to be posted. The posting date will be within seven days of approval, unless specified otherwise.
  • The Digital Content Coordinator will then upload the language and assets into Sprout for optimized scheduling and a final proofread by another member of the Research Communications team.
  • Timelines between approval and posting are determined by the editorial calendar, and the urgency of the request. For maximum results, please submit requests as early as possible. We finalize the content calendar one week in advance.

If Research Communications must draft the language:

• Please submit requests two weeks or more in advance of the desired posting date.
  • We will respond to confirm receipt of the request within 24-48 hours and go over any further details we need to complete the request.
  • The Comms team will strategize, draft language, research tags, and gather all assets.
  • Once the draft is established with all tags and visual elements, the draft will be submitted to the original requestor for approval. The original requestor is responsible for getting approval from all necessary parties.
  • Once approved, the Digital Content Coordinator will review the content calendar to find the most appropriate day for the content to be posted. The posting date will be within seven days of approval, unless specified otherwise.
  • The Digital Content Coordinator will upload the language and assets into Sprout for scheduling and a final proofread by another member of the Comms team.

Event Promotion

Registration Assistance

Social media promotion of events should be part of a wider communications strategy, as relying on social media alone for event promotion does not typically produce the desired results. For an event with this goal to be shared on social media, the following technical aspects must be met:

• There is ample time to promote the event.
  • There is not a set time beforehand as events have various considerations that will determine the amount of time needed to promote an event. Those considerations can be things such as price to attend, registration deadlines, virtual/in-person, etc.
  • If you are working with the OVPR Events team to coordinate, please include Comms by your 2nd meeting with Events.
• There is a website with more information and RSVP details.
• You can provide a high-quality visual asset, like a headshot, image or graphic. You can work with the Comms or Events teams to identify or develop an image.
• Event organizers have done due diligence in promoting the event in other ways besides social.

Thought leadership

For some events, the real value is the thought leadership or insights that came out of the session. To promote key takeaways from the event, it is useful if this is a recurring event you want to build awareness around for future dates, or if you want to position the event and the participants as leaders in their field.

To get the most value out and engagement out of these types of posts, they should be shared one to three weeks after the event, so it is best to submit as soon as possible after the event is over.

For thought leadership after an event to be shared on OVPR social media channels, the following technical aspects must be met:

• You can provide a high-quality visual asset. Images from the event are highly encouraged.
  • Cell phone photos are perfectly acceptable, provided that the image is clear, lighting is bright, and the composition of the photo clearly gets the point across.
• You can provide a draft statement on the message you’d like to convey. OVPR will edit as needed and submit to the original poster for approval. Please see above for timelines for revisions and approvals, and character limits.
• It is especially helpful if you can provide a web post, media hit or similar online presence published as a result of the event.