Social Media: Connecting Students & Faculty With Your School

Allison Garriga & Jeff Stanger

A Social Media Overview

Social Media Platforms Explained I’m eating a donut I like donuts Here’s a vintage photo of my donut My skills include eating a donut Here is my donut recipe Watch as I eat a donut

Demographics of Social Media Users 71% of online adults use Facebook 28% use Pinterest 28% use LinkedIn 26% use Instagram 23% of online adults use Twitter

Other Highlights of the Pew Research

How do we choose the right social network?

Important Questions to Ask What kind of content do you plan to use/produce? Do your potential fans spend time on the network? Does the network fit your demographic? Does your industry have a presence on the network?

Exercise #1 Based on the information you’ve learned so far, identify: Who is your target audience? On what social channels do you think they can they be found? How will you reach them? TIP: Don’t try to tackle all social channels at once. Come up with a plan that focuses on one or two networks while you learn more about your audience. Be awesome at one platform rather than mediocre on several platforms.

Creating the Right Content

Whatever your objective is, we all have a specific audience to reach.

How Content Marketing Works We make content We click on content If we like it, we remember it If we see more content, we revisit We develop trust & build a relationship If we need the product, we come back

Get Your Content Right Find successful content in your niche (Who are the influencers & what channels are they on?). Who is doing the sharing? Copy what works for them. Build relationships with those who can help. Experiment, learn, apply.

Make Your Content Compelling 1.Know Your Audience 2.Find Your Voice and Tone 3.Provide Value 4.Start the Conversation 5.Automate and Engage

What Content Should You Be Posting? Images are ideal On Facebook, photos get 53% more likes, 104% more comments & 84% more click throughs on links On Twitter, photos get 35% more retweets Start with the basic 5 types of updates: Links, images, quotes, reshares, text. Choose a staple type of post that will make up the majority of your posts. For every 4 “staple” posts, publish 1 different type for variety.

How Often Should You Post?

What Are the Best Posting Times?

Organize Your Content “I can create a content calendar and just write a post for Facebook and use the exact same message on my other channels.” Wrong!

Build a Content Calendar & Develop a Posting Strategy Each network has a different audience and therefore should have different content. Take advantage of each social network and what they offer. Test your content on each network. If it doesn’t work on one network, try it on another.

Exercise #2 Now that you are a content expert, take what you have learned and create a content strategy for your audience. Questions to keep in mind: How often will you post to each channel? How will you find your content? How will you measure success?

Outreach Through Social Networks

Alumni and student networks have the potential to be a huge asset to your organization or school. They already have a connection to your school which can result in a lifetime membership.

Creating Groups

LinkedIn Alumni Network Use your personal “brand” to share your institutions content. Reach out to as many alumni as you can on LinkedIn and share your best content with them. Identify advocates and enthusiasts There are several active and savvy social media enthusiasts on LinkedIn. Below the header of their profile, get an idea of how influential your alumni might be. Create communities to help your alumni network

Tips for Engaging Alumni Ask questions Ask for advice Share content that helps them do their work better. Encourage them to share their successes. Via LinkedIn, identify influential alumni and build ambassador programs.

Tips for Engaging Students Encourage a students to do video diaries of what they are learning. Share a quote each week that reinforces the primary curriculum point(s) for the week. Share a weekly success story from an alum. At the end of each week ask for feedback: What did you learn? What was surprising? What was harder than you thought? Etc.

Rely on social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn to help you communicate your message. But, don’t rely on them solely.

Exercise #3 How will you engage with your audience? Are you going to create groups? Which networks? Are you going to create pages? Which networks? How often will you engage with the groups/pages?

Growing Your Audience

Organic Growth Tips and Tricks Use hashtags on Twitter. Add social icons to s Tag others in posts/tweets Host chats on Twitter and Facebook Cross promote your channels

Paid Media Paid media can help drive community growth and engagement with a relevant and targeted audience.

Facebook Ads

Twitter Promoted Accounts

LinkedIn Ads

Statistics 95% of consumers use and 91% check it once a day (that’s still more than Facebook). There are 3.25 times more accounts than social media accounts. Last year, marketers reported delivered 40% more new customers than Facebook and Twitter. 42% of heavy social media users say that is the best way for brands to communicate with them. Integrating with social is the best way to maximize your brand online.

Campaigns

Market Across Multiple Platforms Convert your Facebook fans into Twitter followers and LinkedIn connections into contacts on Google Plus. Capture addresses across all of your platforms in order to increase the permission you have with students & alumni.

Exercise #4 Growing Your audience on your social networks Will you have paid methods or primarily organic? What will your budget be? Will you use ? How often will you send them?

Q & A

Resources Creating a LinkedIn Group: Creating a Facebook Group: LinkedIn Groups vs. Pages

Thank You Allison Garriga Jeff Stanger