crafting a social media strategy
TRANSCRIPT
Crafting A Social Media Strategy�Liz Gross �November 9, 2015 �Penn State Social Media Summit �
Goals �Voice �Guidelines & Policies �Content �Listening �Measurement �
Six Pillars of Social Strategy�
Goals �Voice �Guidelines & Policies �Content �Listening �Measurement �
Six Pillars of Social Strategy�
What is your social media program trying to
accomplish?�
Social media goals should support already existing goals �
• Furthering the brand�• Providing customer service�• Recruiting students�• Selling tickets�
If you struggle to relate your goal to your
institution, just keep asking “WHY?” �
Goals �Voice �Guidelines & Policies �Content �Listening �Measurement �
Six Pillars of Social Strategy�
Do you have written voice guidelines?�Are they helpful?�
Four Components of Voice�
• Tone�• Intention�• Formality�• Identity�
“Ohio State is an institution, but should not feel ‘institutional’ on social media; we are friendly, conversational and down to earth, just like Ohio State itself.” �
Source: http://ucom.osu.edu/resources/social-media.html �
“We maintain a conversational and polite tone, and only comment on topics we can confidently discuss with complete accuracy.” �
Source: Internal Documents�
“Inspired goofiness.” �
Source: Social Media Breakfast Madison, March 2011 �
Goals �Voice �Guidelines & Policies �Content �Listening �Measurement �
Six Pillars of Social Strategy�
Who has a social media policy?�
Why do you have it?�
Why have policies & guidelines �
• Provide consistent service/presence�• Ensure adherence to other
communication policies that apply to social�• Ease in staffing transitions�
4 Documents I Recommend�
• Social media strategic overview �• Content planning and publishing�• Performing social media monitoring�• Performing social media administrator
tasks �
Goals �Voice �Guidelines & Policies �Content �Listening �Measurement �
Six Pillars of Social Strategy�
How do you approach content development?�
If you struggle to relate your goal to your
institution, just keep asking “WHY?” �
Curation�
Creation�
Why curate? �
• It’s how the internet works�• Establishes you as an authority/
thought leader �• Provide the best possible content at all
times to your community�
Curation Considerations �
• Is it on message?�• Is it appropriate?�• Are there concerns with affiliation?�• Can you attribute authorship?�• Is the source credible?�
Content Creation Considerations �
• Resources �• Framework�
Topic� Examples � Percent of Content �
Leadership Education� Articles about how to become a better leader, campus events that develop leadership skills �
20%�
Leadership Opportunities� Announcements of paid and unpaid opportunities on campus and in the community �
20%�
Inspiration� Stories about campus and community leaders, quotes related to leadership �
20%�
Engaging Future Leaders� Posts that encourage discussion amongst students and staff about topics related to leadership �
20%�
Campus Life� Inside look into campus leadership (profiles of staff members, photos from events and meetings, videos about student experiences) �
10%�
Promotion� General promotion of campus events ��
10%�
Content Creation Considerations �
• Resources �• Framework�• Editorial Calendar �
Goals �Voice �Guidelines & Policies �Content �Listening �Measurement �
Six Pillars of Social Strategy�
What type of social listening are you doing?�
If you choose not to actively listen, you are
guaranteed to miss opportunities �
You MUST listen on Twitter �
• Tweetdeck�• Hootsuite�• search.twitter.com�– Use the advanced search�
More Complex Listening �
• Paid Solutions�– Brandwatch, Crimson Hexagon,
Synthesio, Sysomos, Cision �• Boolean Searches�– “Penn State” NOT football NOT athletics
NOT lions�
Boolean Overload�
(“great lakes educational loan” OR “great lakes higher education” OR “mygreatlakes”) OR (“great lakes” AND “borrow*” OR “servicer” OR “student loan*” OR “defer*” OR “forbearance” OR “repay*” or #studentloan*”) �
Goals �Voice �Guidelines & Policies �Content �Listening �Measurement �
Six Pillars of Social Strategy�
What do your measurement plans look
like?�
Does measurement impact how you do your
work?�
Do senior administrators understand what you are
measuring?�
Why Measure �
• Gauge progress toward your goal �• Identify opportunities for improvement �• Make the case for needed resources�
You will NOT get everything you need
from in-platform analytics�
Add Website Analytics to Social Media Measurement Plans �
• Identify social sources of traffic�• Connect a click on social to subsequent
website activity�• Measure assisted conversions�• Add value to goal completions�
If you struggle to determine what to measure, just keep
asking “HOW?” �
Shameless Plug �
www.higheredexperts.com/smmhe�
Goals �Voice �Guidelines & Policies �Content �Listening �Measurement �
Six Pillars of Social Strategy�