Social Media Strategy

Before you get started with social media, it is important to understand DOD and U.S. Army social media policies, which can be found at the next section, Official U.S. Army Social Media Account Requirements and at the U.S. Army’s Slideshare account.

• What do you want to achieve/communicate?
• Your communication goals could include distributing command information, connecting to a community, building esprit de corps, etc.
• Define your tactics that support those goals and how to measure success.

• Identify your intended audience.
• Research their social media habits
• This includes Soldiers, Families, veterans, Army civilians and the general public.
• Your stakeholders, politicians, community leaders, as well as criminals, impostors, adversaries or enemies are also watching.

• Ensure you have appropriate staffing and resources (personnel, equipment, connectivity, SOPs) to meet the requirements needed to maintain the platform.
• Identify primary and alternate social media managers and establish a process for how alternate managers will take over established duties.

Determine whether you can efficiently and effectively maintain and manage a social media account.

Your audience’s demographics will determine what platforms are most effective for reaching them in a meaningful manner. A person’s age group, occupation, military affiliation, nationality and education influences what platforms he or she will be active on.

• Consider using a name that is easily remembered and logical.
• Avoid nicknames, call signs, acronyms or mottos the public may not know
• Use the official U.S. Army logo and other branded graphics to develop a cohesive identity that supports Department of the Army efforts. For more information on branding visit the U.S. Army Branding Portal.

• First, identify your target audiences.
• Select the platforms and approved branding.
• Begin drafting a posting strategy based on your audience’s engagement patterns.

• The organization’s social media team must develop organization-specific social media policies, procedures and training materials.
• Ensure the material is readily available and provide training to individuals at all levels of your organization, including Family Readiness Groups.

• The U.S. Army Office of the Chief of Public Affairs’ policy mandates all organizations, brigade level and above, to register their social media accounts.
• DMD will only register organizations authorized by a PAO with release authority and an understanding of OPSEC/SAPP/PII/HIPAA/Hatch Act review.
• See the requirements to register official U.S. Army social media accounts in the next section.

Depending on the platform, a badge shows users that your account is authentic.