45 should have these talking points for reference, as each reflects the Chapter’s brand and can be a spokesperson for the Chapter at any time. Chapter talking points can begin with the Chapter mission statement or value proposition and can be backed up by data from the Chapter’s performance (e.g., number and types of events), member academics (i.e., average GPA, graduation rate, common majors), or even information from National Headquarters research, such as NVEST. SVA on Social Media National Headquarters maintains a social media presence on behalf of the SVA network. This includes a Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/studentvets/) as well as the Chapter Leader Forum Facebook group (https://www.facebook.com/groups/SVAChapterLeaders/), an Instagram account (https://www.instagram.com/studentvets/), a Twitter account (https://twitter.com/studentvets), and a LinkedIn organizational page (https://www.linkedin.com/company/studentveterans/) as well as the SVA Professional Development Community on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/groups/58320/). Social media is a great way to market a Chapter, and Chapter Officers are encouraged to create a social media presence, if one does not already exist. Generally speaking, social media content performs better if it contains both graphic(s) and text. Candid photos of members in action, volunteering, trying new activities, etc. are often the most interesting ones to share. Tagging other student groups, partners, donors, the university, or others can amplify a message, gaining engagement. Twitter Best Practices Best practices for Twitter recommend at least one tweet per day, but more daily tweets and retweets are encouraged for higher engagement. Twitter only allows 280 characters to tell a full story and less if a photo or link is included. One to three hashtags at the end of each tweet is a good practice to track engagements on specific topics. One common tweet for Chapters, particularly during regional or national events, is #SVALeads. Tagging the university, partner organizations, or individuals increases engagement and impact. Retweets are a great way to spread the word about @studentvets updates in real time. Add a new piece of information to the retweet. The ‘quote’ retweet option is a great way to expand upon the story in a tweet, integrate hashtags and messaging that may have been left out. Facebook Guidelines Best practices for Facebook recommend posting three to four times per week. Hashtags integrated to posts increase engagement and create a thread that’s easy to search. When posting articles from a public page, the link photo can be changed if it is inappropriate for the post. Changing the photo drastically increases the visual appeal of posts. Instagram Guidelines Instagram posts serve a direct purpose of sharing a Chapter’s a narrative through images. Real photos of Chapter Members will lead to the most engagement. To contribute to the wider story of student veterans, Instagram posts can tag @studentvets. The text that accompanies Instagram posts is generally kept brief, but hashtags are used extensively to extend the reach of the post. Because Instagram focuses on images, higher quality photos are the standard. Calendar Pulse Moments There are certain times of year that Chapters as well as National Headquarters are most likely to generate more attention and engagement with their communications efforts. Stronger messaging and communications efforts during these times are often picked up and shared more. These times include
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