Social Media Why use it and how do we get started strategically?

Why Use Social Media? Social Media Revolution Jim Asaro – YouTube.com January 2, 2013

What is Social Selling? “Social selling is making a few tweaks to your daily routine to align yourself with the new buyer’s behavior. These tweaks will be like putting high- octane fuel in your race car.” Julio Viskovich Social Media Today November 16, 2013

Social Proximity  Social Proximity refers to how close your social connections are to that of your prospective customer.  On social media, you are always growing your network of social connections  More mutual connections = higher social proximity = higher likelihood of getting a good and quick introduction or referral.

Search Engine Influence “Recent research suggests that social sharing has now become the number one driver for SEO rank. In other words, Google and Bing are monitoring the social sharing activity for each site and are assigning substantial weight on that activity to determine the search rank.” Social Media Today November 27, 2013

Creating a Social Media Plan  What are your goals? Some examples: < Share news < Get the word out about events < Provide tips and expertise < Attract prospective customers < Increase your visibility on campus < Serve your customers

Creating a Social Media Plan  The goals of the University’s Social Media are: 1.To provide customer service 2.To get the word out about happenings on campus 3.To connect with current and prospective students 4.To raise brand awareness for the University 5.To promote campus services

Creating a Social Media Plan  Who is your audience? <You don’t have to appeal to everyone <Targeting content to your niche audience makes your content more relevant and interesting to them

Creating a Social Media Plan  University’s Audience: 1.Current and Prospective Students 2.Current and Prospective Students Parents and Family 3.Alumni & Friends of the University 4.University Employees

Creating a Social Media Plan  What are you trying to communicate and how will you communicate it? < Facebook: For casual interactions, sharing links, sharing photos and videos. No character limit. < Twitter: For short casual interactions, sharing links, sharing photos and videos. Character limit 140, great for specialized topics. < YouTube: A video sharing site. Upload and share videos, people can comment on them.

Creating a Social Media Plan  What are you trying to communicate and how will you communicate it? <LinkedIn: For professional interactions – great for creating professional groups for students. <FourSquare: Allows customers to “check in” at your location. You can also provide facts or coupons for customers, and they can comment on your location. <Instagram, Vine, or Tumbler: For short and visual media, fun and very casual.

Creating a Social Media Plan  How will you brand yourself? <Using your department, office or organization’s full name <Creating a memorable username based off your name <Using your department, office or organization’s approved logo <Using the University logo <Using a vanity URL

Creating a Social Media Plan  University’s Branding Strategy: <Use University Logo <Use University Full Name in profile <Username MNStateMankato for handles and vanity URLs

Drive Traffic  A few easy ways to start promoting your page without spending money: < Add links and icons from your website to your social media pages < Include your social media URLs in your signature < Connect with other social media users on campus and ask them to share your content < Post frequently and respond to engaged customers