Social Media Posting Procedures, Guidelines & Resources

Hebrew College Marketing works to ensure that all College-affiliated social media accounts operate according to College, channel-specific best practices, and follow recommendations for data security and legal compliance.

Facebook
(In order of most followers)

Instagram
(In order of most followers)

LinkedIn

YouTube

All new social media accounts MUST be approved and created by the Hebrew College Marketing Department. Please contact Wendy Linden before creating any social media account. Before starting a new social media account, ensure that you have established a strategy for why an account is needed. You should know the answer to these questions:

  • Why is this needed beyond an existing social media channel?
  • Who is your audience and how does this social media account connect with them?
  • How will you reach your audience through this social media account?
  • How will you build your followers?
  • What content do you plan to share on this account?
  • Who will create content and how frequently will you be posting?
  • Who will maintain and monitor the social media account?

  • You must request access from the Hebrew College Marketing department and login using your personal or professional Facebook account
  • A Hebrew College Marketing Department staff member will have to “friend” you in order to give you access to the account.
  • You must complete a social media training with a member of the Hebrew College Marketing Department.
  • Monitor your social media site/sites carefully to ensure you notice quickly if an unauthorized person gains access.
  • When page editors and administrators have left the College and no longer require access to social media accounts, you must update/adjust your page roles immediately. Please contact the Marketing Department any time an admin must be removed or added.

  • Posting consistently is important to social media success. While you may not need to post every day, you must be able to continuously support the efforts of your account.
  • Take advantage of opportunities to post timely content. Capitalize on the moment by posting in real-time with posts from classes, students studying in the Beit Midrash, events, and lectures.
  • Language
    • Use a consistent voice that reflects the Hebrew College brand: open, creative, engaged, committed to community, learning, service, and innovation, and dedicated to deep Jewish rootedness & universal human concern.
    • Use plain language. Avoid verbose, convoluted language, and jargon.
    • Define Hebrew terms.
    • Avoid using acronyms whenever possible. Don’t assume your audience is knowledgeable about all acronyms. If space allows, try to spell out the acronyms instead, or use a different way to convey the information.
    • Be thoughtful: Remember that you are the “voice” of the College/ program department. If you ever have any question about whether a message is appropriate, check with the Marketing Department.
  • Images
    • We must have rights to photos and videos
      Add image descriptions and captions for all images and videos
    • Add closed captions to YouTube and Facebook videos
    • Do not create a profile image which includes your department’s name or use a photo with logos or graphics over it unless it has been approved by the Marketing Department.
    • The same profile image must be used across all platforms for consistency. Keep in mind it will be formatted as a square or a circle depending on the site.
  • Visual Guidelines
  • Tagging and Linking
    • Tag/ link to partners as often as possible (especially temples/ synagogues/ schools/Jewish organizations that “host” our community learning courses and relevant individuals (HC faculty members and President Anisfeld.)
    • Always include a link to an accessible website with more information.
    • Use short links. Short, concise links are less likely to frustrate screen-reader users than long, imprecise links.
    • Once you add a link to a Facebook post, write message text and hit return (not publish), you can delete the actual link form the message text. The linked page should appear with your post without having to actually include the link URL in the message itself.
  • Be confidential and maintain privacy. Be careful not to reveal confidential or proprietary information or discuss a situation regarding a Hebrew College student, employee or alumni without their permission. As a guideline, do not post anything that you would not present in any public forum.
  • Stay accurate. Get the facts straight before posting them on social media sites. When possible, link back to the original source. Review content for grammatical and spelling mistakes. If you make an error, correct it quickly and visibly.
  • Think before posting. Posts are indexed in search engines, and private comments can be forwarded or copied and easily made available to the public.
    Review your posts on desktop and mobile devices immediately after posting and edit immediately, if necessary.
  • When you are logged in as a Hebrew College, be careful not to “like” posts on other sites from your Hebrew College name.

As a benchmark, the main Hebrew College channels aim to post on include:

  • Instagram: 3–5x week
  • Facebook: 1-2x daily
  • LinkedIn: 2-3x weekly

Posting Classes

  • Community Learning classes should be posted as a single event.
  • Hebrew College should be listed as a co-sponsor of all classes, along with the institution (synagogue, school, etc) hosting the class.
  • All classes posted on Facebook should also be posted on JewishBoston.com and in the local Newton Patch and TAB newspapers.

Facebook

  • Keep posts relatively short. The job of a Facebook post is to get people interested and to know where they need to go for more information (our website).
  • If you are advertising for a course or a related program, please make sure to highlight the name of your course and to advertise it as being offered by Hebrew College [Name of Program]. Please tag us using the “@” feature when you mention the program.
  • Include a relevant picture with your post whenever possible. Check the AL Cabinet Image library for photos. If you need a new photo, please reach out to our marketing team if you need help locating or identifying an appropriate photo.

Draft Post

  • Here is an example of a reusable draft template advertising for Community Education courses.

[A hook.] Join me this fall for my course “[course name]” offered by Hebrew College [Name of Program] at [optional: location of offering, ex: Temple Beth Israel].

More information about the content of the course.

“[course name]” will be offered both in-person and online via Zoom on [Day of the Week]s at [time]. [optional: start date].

[Link]

Sample Post

  • Here is an example of the draft template advertising for Community Education courses filled in with a specific course offering.

Sick and disabled people are the experts on their own experience and that expertise is prophetic, especially in plague times—and given our own on-going pandemic, now is a better time than any to learn from these prophetic voices. Join me this fall for my course “Plagues and Prophets in Performance” offered by Hebrew College Open Circle Jewish Learning.

Students will discuss prophetic wisdom throughout plagues, dramatic literature of the AIDS epidemic, and write about their own experiences of prophetic wisdom in our contemporary pandemic era.

“Plagues and Prophets in Performance” will be offered both online via Zoom on Mondays at 8-9:30 p.m. EST. The course starts 10/25.

X / Twitter

  • Aim to fit the entire (original) post on a single post (avoid threads when possible).
  • After your post, feel free to “quote it” and add additional information. Quoting a tweet is usually better for the algorithm than making a thread.
  • Add a photo if your link does not automatically generate one.
  • Like your FB post, but with even less information.
  • Hebrew College is no longer on X. so there is no way to tag us. You are welcome to promote Hebrew College courses and events on your own accounts.

Draft Post

  • Here is an example of a reusable draft template advertising for Community Education courses.

[Hook] [very brief intro to course, at Hebrew College] [link].

Sample Post

  • Here is an example of the draft template advertising for Community Education courses filled in with a specific course offering.

What does your soul thirst for? Join me in an Open Circle course offered by Hebrew College in an exploration of text, meditation, and contemporary neurobiology as we seek to better understand the nature of the soul and how to give it expression.

https://hec-web.scansoftware.com/cafeweb/tapestry?page=CommunityEducation&cnum=CIRCLC10&csec=15&sem=202302&_ga=2.8099314.1393960100.1662991202-1483422555.1657804036&_gac=1.247156342.1660067313.CjwKCAjwi8iXBhBeEiwAKbUofRkrI0cGvxplToWzV9zP4_gaRaFazJ06ZTLJ7NTIuyRJmVRbosjNBRoC1mgQAvD_BwE

Photo: here (Found with the appropriate usage permission through Creative Commons).

Instagram

  • Typically and statistically, stories get higher engagement than regular posts. Videos do better than both.
  • For all posts, use a high-quality photo/video that you have permission to use. Check the AL Cabinet Image library for photos. If you need a new photo, please reach out to our marketing team if you need help locating or identifying an appropriate photo.
  • Links do not work on Instagram posts themselves. Instead, it is preferred to write #LinkInBio and add the link to your Instagram bio. If you have problems adding your link, watch this tutorial video.
  • Captions should be similar to the Facebook post guidelines (above). Be sure to remove the link, though.
  • You can still have a “hook” in the caption, but the real “hook” is the photo—so be sure the photo is relevant and somehow speaks to or directly represents your course.
  • If you want to try to make a video, follow these guidelines to the best of your abilities and post away! The advantage to this is you don’t need a photo to stand-in or draw attention—your personable and friendly face will do that!

Draft Caption

  • Here is an example of a reusable draft template advertising for Community Education courses.

[A hook / course information] Join me this fall for my course “[course name]” offered by Hebrew College [Name of Program / be sure to tag our account] at [optional: location of offering, ex: Temple Beth Israel].

“[course name]” will be offered both in-person and online via Zoom on [Day of the Week]s at [time]. [optional: start date].

More information about the content of the course.

#LinkInBio

Rights and permissions must be secured before posting, sharing or distributing copyrighted materials including, but not limited to: music, art, copyrighted photographs or texts, portions of copyrighted video

Photo and video consent

Hebrew College students, faculty, and friends sign a photo release when they start at the College and/ or RSVP to an event, giving permission to have their photo taken and published.

 

The Marketing Department has the right to disable or temporarily unpublish Hebrew College social media accounts that are dormant (no posts, no activity) for more than SIX months, as such stagnancy reflects poorly on the College.

 

Marketing Guide to Self-Generated Films

  1. Cleaning the lens of your smartphone. Please clean the camera lens by wiping it off with a
    microfiber cloth (like you’d use to clean glasses) or simply using your shirt sleeve.
  2. Film inside. Filming inside generally results in better audio, unless you live in an exceptionally quiet location.
  3. Positioning your smartphone. Position the camera on your phone or computer at or slightly above eye level. When the camera is below eye level, the resulting footage can have the effect of looking up your nose or creating inadvertent double chins.
  4. Finding the best background. Consider the background and try to choose something uncluttered.
  5. What to wear. Try to wear something that contrasts with the background and is not too busy. It is best to avoid narrow stripes, checks, houndstooth, and herringbone as these can create a rippled effect. Avoid black, white, loud colors and bold prints, as well as red or dangly jewelry. We recommend strong solid colors that contrast with your skin tone.
  6. Lighting. Make sure that there is a light source (lamp, window, etc.) in front of you rather than above or behind you so that your face is nicely lit. We want you to look your best.
  7. Phone orientation. If using your phone, please turn it sideways and film in landscape mode (so the image is wide, not tall). When using a computer, this will happen automatically.
  8. Front or back camera? If using your phone, please use the front camera for better resolution (not the selfie camera on the same side as the screen).
  9. Using earbuds or a headset. If you have earbuds or a nice headset, you can use these for the recording to help get a more intimate sound although we recommend using an external microphone for recording audio that can plug into your device. Make sure to keep the mic away from your scarf, dangly earrings, or anything that might scratch against the mic or otherwise interfere with the audio.

Updated September 2023