your data-driven social media strategy
DESCRIPTION
Penn State Web Conference 2012TRANSCRIPT
Your Data-Driven
Social Media Strategy
Alaina Wiens
@alainawiens
Goals
Channels
ContentMeasure
Evaluate
Social Media Strategy
Goal-Setting
Measurable
goals set the
foundation for a
strong social
media strategy.
Image Source:
http://2wheelsdown.wordpress.com/2010/02/27/my-first-brick/
Goal-Setting
• What do you hope to accomplish?
• What audience to you hope to reach?
• What kind of community do you want to
build?
• What results can you hope to achieve?
• Can these results be quantified?
• How will you know when you’ve been
successful?
“ We want UM-Flint’s social networks
to be online communities, where not
only the content—but the experience
itself—reinforces our brand. At the
University of Michigan-Flint,
everyone matters.
UM-Flint’s Goals
1. Grow the university’s online communities
within in-use and new social networks.
2. Increase engagement and participation
within these communities.
Choosing
Channels
Choosing Channels
• Which social networks will best help you
reach your goals?
• Which is preferred or most-used among your
target audience?
• Which networks will best allow you to
connect with your potential community?
Concentrate your
efforts first where
your audience
already lives—
make the
relationship
barrier-free.
Image Source:
http://www.njpsfence.com/
Concentrate on
what you can
do well.
Image Source:
http://www.matsugov.us/planning/index.php
“ Because the university is already
engaged on Facebook, Twitter,
YouTube, Flickr, and Foursquare, we
are not in a position to choose
channels from scratch. Instead, our
choices concern the channels on
which to focus our energy.
Find Your Data
• Published research
• Your own research
• Your own experience
• Your established communities
• Your colleagues
Content
Content
• How will you communicate?
• What matters to your audience?
• What content is the most engaging?
• How can you best be part of your
community?
• What messaging will help you reach your
goals?
“ People like to know what’s
happening on campus, they want to
be able to provide feedback to the
university, and they like to see
themselves and their peers featured
in photos and videos.
Find Your Data
• Published research
• Your own research
• Your own experience
• Your established communities
• Your colleagues
Find Your Content
• Editorial meetings
• Contacts across your campus
• Content calendar
• Student newspaper
• Other social channels
Evaluation
Evaluation
• What metrics will measure your success?
• Is your content reaching your audience?
• Is your messaging effective?
• Is your community engaged?
• Have your goals been reached?
“ Our goal is to identify trends for what
works (or doesn’t) over time.
Comparative reports will be compiled
on a quarterly basis.
Some Examples
• Percentage of growth per quarter in: total likes, people talking about this, and total reach
• Most and least successful content per quarter using post-level data categorized by content type
• Percentage of growth per quarter in: total followers, interactions (mentions and retweets)
• Most consumed content per quarter using click-through and share rates
What does
success look
like?
Image Source: http://memeorama.com/exploitables/success-kid-meme-
template-blank/
Find Your Metrics
• Insights
• Reach
• Impressions
• Click-throughs
• Influencers
• Interactions
• Growth
• Followers
• Likes
• Conversation
• Trends
• Spikes
Adaptation
Adaptation
• What is most successful?
• Are you making progress toward your goal?
• Is your goal still relevant to your community?
• Is your community still the same?
• Where can/should you adjust your methods?
Your Communities
• Communities build themselves.
• Communities change over time.
• Demographics may change.
• Behavior may change.
Goals
Channels
ContentMeasure
Evaluate
Social Media Strategy
Resources
• Noel-Levitz
• Meet Content
• EDUniverse
• FollowEDU
• BlogHighEd
• Higher Ed Live
• Link: The Journal of
Higher Education Web Professionals
• uwebd
• .eduGuru
• “The community <3”
Questions?