The Power of the Middle Leveraging digital content to build reputation, mission awareness and value in higher education.

Who we are, what we do and why it matters Collectively, we are the voice of the university. The mission: To enhance the university’s reputation and public understanding of who we are, what we do and why it matters with state and national audiences through a holistic and integrated communications strategy with flexible tactics that can be implemented by all areas of campus.

So many platforms, so little time

U of A Audience Research

Driving the message

Building a Better World

Building a Better World Dedicated to Arkansas

Building a Better World Dedicated to Arkansas Life-Changing Opportunities

Building a Better World Dedicated to Arkansas Life-Changing Opportunities We are Home

Unified messaging: An integrated approach

The Power of the Middle

Outer Focus Higher Ed Influencers State and National Traditional Media TV and Newspapers

The Power of the Middle State leaders, everyday Arkansans, Mid-level peers, targeted media and speciality and trade publications, influencial alumni, corporate R&D.

Delivered by Influencers Reaches more people in those communities & state leaders = shifts perception of value Delivered by Influencers U of A News on Impact

Deans, Chancellor, Provost Admissions Communicator Department Chair

More Voices + One Message = More Reach COMBINED SHARED POSTS PR PARTNER POST SHARED POST U of A POST

U of A Social Media Post Tagging or Shared by Partner PASSIVE: Only seen by U of A Audiences. We're talking to ourselves. Social Media Post From U of A PROACTIVE: Seen by U of A audiences AND partner audiences as well as getting the attention of the entity tagged. NSF example: The news is in the feeds of influential scientists, national science writers and peers.

Velocity and Reach It’s time to rethink influencers and earned media Our message resonates more and is stronger when shared by others beyond traditional media: community leaders, advisors, organizations and peers. Build social media ambassador crews Influential and engaged alumni and community leaders Select faculty, staff and students Grow relationships with PR partners Work together to amplify through shared press releases, social media tagging Step up media targeting to include trade pubs, specialty pubs & writers Get news into the publications influencers read. Focus influencer pushes on mid-level peers who advise leaders

Storytelling in the Digital World With multiple storytelling platforms, we have more creative storytelling options than ever before. Be Creative and cross pollinate. Our websites are the foundation of this strategy, pulling in readers through SEO and being the home base for all strategic pushes. Not everything is a long story. Short videos, social media teases, hook graphs pushing to Newswire Our most powerful distribution tool is people. Others telling our story builds impact and interest through credibility. Write once, use everywhere. And share.

WHAT’S NEXT?