The Main Line Canal Greenway Social Media Project

“THE GREENWAY PROJECT”

Enhancing student learning with a social media community development project in higher

education

An Academic-Community Partnership

Presenters:

Tulay Girard and Kristina Snyder

Pennsylvania State University-Altoona

Anchorage, AK May 31-June 2, 2014

THE MAIN LINE CANAL GREENWAY: AN ACADEMIC-COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIP PROJECT Describes the Project

Goals of the Main Line Canal Greenway Goals of Social Media Marketing project Background on development

Includes Literature Review Identifies factors that contribute to the success of social media efforts

Identifies factors that contribute to the economic development of towns

Implementation Process and output Future outlook

GREENWAYS ARE…

Urban, suburban, and rural areas that frame natural, cultural

and scenic features and landscapes tracing old railways,

canals, ridge tops, or stream corridors on both public and

private land.

PITTSBURGH-TO-HARRISBURG MAIN LINE

CANAL GREENWAY™

connects land and water trails following the path of the

historic Main Line Canal.

OBJECTIVES OF THE

MAIN LINE CANAL GREENWAY

Develop continuity and synergy among Greenway clusters

Maximize human and financial resources

Stimulate marketing and promotion

Assist in regional planning

Allow for a single point of contact for municipal officials and funding sources

Educate public

Act as a forum to raise the visibility of projects and the work of the cluster groups.

SOCIAL MEDIA

PROJECT MISSION:

REVITALIZING THE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT OF

TOWNS BY CONNECTING THE COMMUNITIES WITH

COMMON INTERESTS IN THE MLC GREENWAY

THROUGH SOCIAL MEDIA.

Higher Education

GOALS OF THE GREENWAY

SOCIAL MEDIA PROJECT

Inform public and build awareness

• On-line Marketing

Connect people with interest groups

• Social Media Platforms

Become an informational hub

• Web-site

BACKGROUND OF THE GREENWAY

SOCIAL MEDIA PROJECT

Started with initial meetings with ARCorp

Internships to build a marketing plan and literature review

Intermediate Social Media Marketing course

Sponsor visits to classes

CRITICAL SUCCESS FACTORS OF

REVITALIZATION EFFORTS

Clear Vision

Community Support

Strong ‘Brand’

CRITICAL SUCCESS FACTORS OF

REVITALIZATION EFFORTS

Funding

Assess Needs

Community Leaders

CRITICAL SUCCESS FACTORS OF

REVITALIZATION EFFORTS

Utilize Local Media

“Main Street”

Information

FAILURES IN REVITALIZATION EFFORTS

Lack of Local Leadership

No “Main Streets” to Serve Tourists

Outdated Web-Sites and Social Media

FAILURES IN REVITALIZATION EFFORTS

Not Partnering with Local

Businesses

Lack of Amenities

Lack of Support from Community

SUCCESSFUL

SOCIAL MEDIA TACTICS

Videos &

Pictures

Encourage

Sharing

Events &

Schedule

s

Share

LinksArticles

Contests

&

Specials

MapsEducational

Information

Promote &

Partner with

Retailers

SUCCESSFUL

SOCIAL MEDIA TACTICS

Promote Partners and Similar Organizations

Ask Questions to Encourage Discussions

Encourage Creative ways to Preserve Heritage

Ask for Feedback

Connect with Bloggers to gain Mentions

SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING PLAN

DEVELOPMENT

Established:

Mission, Objectives and Goals

Successful Revitalization Efforts

Successful Social Media Tactics

Analyzed the Target Market

SWOT Analysis

Analyzed Tools and Platforms

Established Metrics and KPI’s

Developed Strategies

IMPLEMENTATION OF SOCIAL MEDIA

MARKETING PLAN

Rebuild the web site in WordPress

Framework

Images

Content

Traffic

Add a blog

Refresh and update the content

Create social media sites (Facebook, LinkedIn, Meetup)

Optimize traffic and search-ability

OLD WEB-SITEHTTP://WWW.MAINLINECANALGREENWAY.ORG

OLD WEB-SITE

Outdated

Static

Not User Friendly

NEW WEB SITE UNDER CONSTRUCTION

NEW INTERACTIVE WORDPRESS SITE

Aesthetically Pleasing

Interactive

Responsive

OPPORTUNITIES CREATED FOR

STUDENTS

Real-time project for SMM Course

Social Media Marketing plans in fall 2013

Implementation in spring 2014

Collaboration (ARCorp, Web designer, Internship

Coordinator)

Conference papers (Mackenzie & Kristina)

Internship (Brittany)

Market Research Project (Kristina & Brittany)

THANK YOU

Acknowledgements:

Mackenzie Sternberg

Brittany Gill

Thomas Shaffer

Kyle Dammann