Digital Media Strategy The Social Media Affect

LOUISVILLE.EDU Who Cares? You Should! Almost 100 percent (97 percent) of consumers who bought a product based on an online review found the review to be accurate. Seventy percent of consumers look to online reviews before they buy. Seventy-five percent of people don't believe companies tell the truth in advertisements. Nearly 90 percent (87 percent) of people believe the CEO's reputation is an important part of the company's reputation.

LOUISVILLE.EDU History of The (nerd) World, part 42

LOUISVILLE.EDU The people who define our global conversations Today, we use Google, Facebook and Twitter more than any other source to find information, news, gossip and to influence our purchasing decisions. All three of these products (and several others) use filtering algorithms to determine what you actually see (are influenced by). Our current world is not inclusive, it is based on what stories have the most influence or traction (not always what is important or relevant to you) The world we live in Larry Page Google Mark Zuckerburg Facebook Jack Dorsey Twitter

LOUISVILLE.EDU In a room full of screaming kids? To be successful in today’s digital playground (online, mobile & tablets): You have to exist! Website A static website – not asking for feedback A blog Social Media (Facebook, Twitter & possibly LinkedIn) You have to have friends in high places (links pointing to you) An advertising plan – even if it’s long-term. You have to have a pulse You have to say something that people care about So, how can you have a voice

LOUISVILLE.EDU Where do you go when you want something? Search Engine Optimization – the wizard of odd (not in order) Content Code Architecture of your site(s) Links (inbound and outbound) Social media Trust (are you an authority?) Personal demographics (location, language, history, etc) Search Matters

LOUISVILLE.EDU The science of SEO

LOUISVILLE.EDU The science of SEO

LOUISVILLE.EDU Content is king, even social media content counts How social media impacts SEO

LOUISVILLE.EDU Method to the madness Developing a strategy

LOUISVILLE.EDU Your post is only the beginning The ripple effect of the social graph

LOUISVILLE.EDU Numbers that matter Over 100 Billion searches (globally) every month. 70% of clicks by people searching are organic (not a paid ad) Over 70% of ads on search pages are ignored 75% of people never scroll past the first page When consumers are exposed to a brand through both search and social media, the brands overall search click-through-rate goes up by 94% Search and are the top two internet activities Companies that blog have 434% more indexed pages. Inbound leads cost 61% less than outbound leads. Search is the #1 driver of traffic to content sites, beating social media by over 300% Search Engine Optimization leads have a 14.6% close-rate. Outbound leads have a 1.7% close-rate. Google:18% go to #1 | 10% go to #2| 2.7% go to #3 Bing: 9.7% go to #1 |5.5% go to #2|2.7% go to #3 Gratuitous Stats Scene

LOUISVILLE.EDU Establishing an effective social media strategy Let’s focus on social media Identify a target market or markets Consumers Donors / sponsors Establish an overarching goal or objective Branding / exposure Lead generation / sales / funding Develop a fluid plan Establish a content calendar but be flexible enough to change Establish consistent programming Develop content to drive social traffic to your site, a call-to-action or story Engagement strategy – how much do you want to engage? Define your voice or personality Go! But be ready to change.

LOUISVILLE.EDU Establishing an effective social media strategy – TARGET Let’s focus on social media

LOUISVILLE.EDU Establishing an effective social media strategy – GOALS Let’s focus on social media Establish an overarching goal or objective Branding / exposure Size matters – you want your follower-base to increase & share more Goals should be based on impressions, shares and engagements Everything you do should encourage sharing Rich in photos, stories and promoting others Lead generation / sales / funding Sales matter – focus on the close, not the size of your audience Targeting is the key to success in effective revenue generation Most organizations require substantial ad budgets (less strategic) Strategic organizations have a content strategy that leads to sales (but it takes time)

LOUISVILLE.EDU Establishing an effective social media strategy – PLANNING Let’s focus on social media Fluid planning Establish a content calendar but be flexible enough to change Define over-arching themes by month, usually around National/Global themes Develop at least one piece of original content to support your themes and link back to it regularly Establish consistent programming Develop daily or weekly programming that is consistent, fun, engaging and sharable Heart Health Hump Day – share a photo of how you keep your heart healthy Develop content to drive social traffic to website, a call-to-action or story Engagement strategy – how much do you want to engage?

LOUISVILLE.EDU Establishing an effective social media strategy – VOICE Let’s focus on social media Define your “voice” Personal A specific person – usually a personality or made up personality A personal voice from a corporate account Will you be conversational? Will you answer questions/comments? Will you engage with positive & negative conversations? Institutional Normally push-marketing Some engaging, fun or personality-type posts Fact-based, educational, entertaining or other sharable content

LOUISVILLE.EDU Establishing an effective social media strategy – GO! Let’s focus on social media Based on your outline from the previous four three slides Define resource allocation Internal External / consultants Define content ownership Internal External / consultants Define social media owner (s) Internal External / consultants Establish metrics to track Impressions Unique visitors Engagements (a comment, like or share) Reach (total reach, including shares) Set times to review and determine next-steps

LOUISVILLE.EDU best practices Don’t Spam! Know your list & how to build it Your top 300 pixels are gold, use them wisely Spellcheck, grammar check & check again K.I.S.S. – Say less and get to the point If you have to be a windbag do it after the 300 pixels Pictures are not pretty when over 65-85% of people will never see them. Use text, highlight with graphics. ALL CAPS IS YELLING! It’s annoying, just like these!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Let’s Talk Spam

LOUISVILLE.EDU Q&A

LOUISVILLE.EDU Jeff Rushton Director of Digital Media University of Louisville Thank you