New Social Media Platforms: should you be (P)interested?

New Social Media Platforms:

Should you be (P)interested?

Navigating the world of new social media— Tumblr, Instagram, Facebook, Google+, Pinterest

March 14, 2013 – CUPRAP Spring Conference

Introductions

Paul Redfern Executive Director of Communications & Marketing, Gettysburg College

Becca RamspottCommunications SpecialistFrostburg State University

WHY ARE YOU HERE?

Our good looks?

This was the best of 2 bad options during this time slot?

My boss told me to come to a social media session?

The bar is not open yet?

Other

#CUPRAP13

4 Questions

How do we know where to be, and where not to be?

What are some best practices and resources available that can help us curate meaningful conversations to engage people with our brands, and inspire them to share our stories?

What interesting user-generated content is already out there that our friends, fans and Twitter followers create for us that we can use ourselves?

And what do we do when everyone on our campuses wants their own social media sites, something that can lead to diluted marketing and branding through overfragmentation?

How do we know where to be, and where not to be?

?

audiences

What are some best practices and resources available that can help us curate meaningful conversations to engage people with our brands, and inspire them to share our stories?

integration

Don’t be afraid to fail

SOCIAL MEDIA and the “shiny new toy” syndrome

Frostburg’s Foray Into Social Media …

FSU’s Social Media Marketing Philosophy

Social media is conversation and interaction, not one-way communication

We don’t censor our social media communities; instead we respond or, better yet, wait for one of our constituents to chime in (Facebook Page policy, though)

Authenticity is key; if we make a mistake, we acknowledge it

Keep it fresh and informal; casual voice

What interesting user-generated content is already

out there that our friends, fans and Twitter followers

create for us that we can use ourselves?

Frostburg’s Formula for Curating Content, Conversations

• LISTEN to what’s out there, what people are saying about your brand …

– Socialmention.com (<<< FREE!)– Hootsuite/Tweetdeck “Mentions” feature– Brand monitoring/listening tools like Radian6 – Students, students, students!! What are they talking

about?

Frostburg’s Foray Into Social Media …

Frostburg’s Formula for Curating Content, Conversations

• Take advantage of USER-GENERATED CONTENT

– Ask questions on Twitter and RT people’s responses with your commentary added

– Invite people to share pictures (#instaFrostburg)

– Do contests

Frostburg’s Formula for Curating Content, Conversations

• Be a CURATOR! (Visual storytelling, organizing info in an interactive way)

– Create an editorial calendar for your social media– No posts/tweets without some sort of picture

illustrating the event or announcement, whenever possible

– PHOTOS, PHOTOS, PHOTOS (Facebook Photo albums are worth their weight in gold, in terms of engagement)

Frostburg’s Formula for Curating Content, Conversations

How Frostburg Curates Content, Conversations

How Frostburg Curates Content, Conversations

Frostburg’s Formula for Curating Content, Conversations

• Have a strategic approach that helps you

STAY NIMBLE

– Don’t invest in overly complicated ideas that take a lot of time and energy … think smart, simple and shareable

– Be willing to let go of projects that aren’t working or no longer serve your institution’s goals

– Make sure whatever content you’re curating and creating supports institutional goals

How Frostburg Curates Content, Conversations

Frostburg’s Formula for Curating Content, Conversations

• CROSS-PROMOTE your social media communities

– Add links to social media in email signatures– Highlight social media on related print

materials– Share and share alike across the social media

spectrum (think about how students use their mobile devices to discover and share info)

And what do we do when everyone on our campuses wants their own social media sites, something that can lead to diluted marketing and branding through overfragmentation?

SOCIAL MEDIA is our Gizmo!

We think social media’s adorable; we’re trying to take care of it, do all the right stuff with it. And this has led us to doing some wonderfully creative things and taking interesting risks to reach our constituents in new ways. – Image from “Gremlins,” (1984)

And it can get CRAAZZY …

Creative-Commons licensed Gremlin pic by Inti.

Frostburg’s Formula for Curating Content, Conversations

• EDUCATE, DON’T DICTATE, in how you share social media best practices with your campus

– Form a Social Media Group for collective leadership/sounding board in spearheading social media practices

– Have tools and resources at the ready to deal with flurry of social media creation (eFrostburg Community)

– Acknowledge departments who use social media well

Mashable.com

MediaPost Publications

“Wired Edition” of Chronicle of Higher Ed

#casesmc Twitter chats

Staying Current

Questions?http://www.slideshare.net/coachfern

Paul Redfern Executive Director of Communications & Marketing, Gettysburg [email protected]@coachfern

Becca RamspottCommunications SpecialistFrostburg State [email protected]@beccaramspott