First, if you are not convinced that social media should be used – please check out the following presentation.
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There are a bunch of quotes in it that I think are worth repeating.
25 billion – amount of content (web links, news stories, blog posts, and notes, and photos) shared each month on Facebook – 6x last year
Social media is the ongoing conversation of the planet…it is my home on the internet. It is far richer than any diary or journal. Kurt Sonderegger, VP Marketing, Ploom.com
Social media is like water. On its own, water does some cool things, but when combined with other compounds it enabled the evolution of all forms of life.
Social media on its own is nice, but when combined with other tools, it is enabling everything to evolve, from communications to business to politics to marketing.” Mike Volpe, VP Marketing, Hubspot
Before you go into the basics of social media, you need the basics of what you are trying to do, right?
What’s your communication goal? This doesn’t have to be a hard question. It’s actually pretty straight-forward.
So what do you need?
First, you should have a website. This is where you keep your information about what is going on. People should be able to get basic information and be able to connect with you for more information (like sign up for newsletter or connect through social media). Two ways to get websites at Notre Dame – Conductor or WordPress.
Next, you should have effective outbound communications. You need a newsletter of some kind. Whether paper or email. If you need help with a paper newsletter, our print team specializes in making great newsletter to get results. For email, our digital team recommends using an outside third party system like MailChimp or Campaign Monitor. But there are others.
Once your website and email are running well, then you can jump into the social media.
There are a few things you should know about getting into social media.
Social media is both outbound and inbound communications.
Social Media is 24/7 and in real time. When someone comments or asks a question, they are expecting an answer. If you are not paying attention to it, they will get frustrated.
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There are few things to keep in mind when using social media as a communication tool and this is how the experts do it right.
Listen.
Engage.
Have Fun.
Be Real.
This is how bad communicators and marketers do it wrong:
Push agendas.
Don’t response to anyone.
Take it too serious.
Don’t screw up (they are PC in everything they say and do).
Examples of wrong.
How to do an event:
Wrong – make an event and publish. Don’t encourage or call on people specifically to invite them or ask them to help spread the word. They only use one method like just putting the event on Facebook but not use email or their website. Don’t be funny or ask if people even think this event is worth it.
How to get people engaged in your posts:
Wrong – Just publish your news. Never response when someone comments. Publish once a day or once a week.
I like what our alumni are doing on their Facebook page. For every one bit of regular news, they publish five fun things that people might be willing to engage in. They always ask questions and ask for input.
What you need to do when using social media. Talk all the time. When doing traditional media they say it takes three times before someone takes notice. If you don’t have enough money for three than don’t do it. Don’t post once. Post often and through multiple vehicles. Get others to post for you and share.
Social Media Tools for making it quicker.
Tie Twitter and Facebook together but understand that Facebook is your bread and butter (behind email marketing).
You can also do it with Tweetdeck, Seesmic, Hootsuite, etc…
Social Media Monitoring
You can get reports on social media monitoring using Hootsuite, Facebook Insights, social mention, etc…
The real monitoring that it is being effective. More connections between people online that you can see. More people showing up for events. More donations to the club.
How do you measure the time you spend? ROI – when you start social media, start measuring it. Compare last year’s numbers to this year. Keep track. Collect email addresses. Encourage liking of Page everywhere you can.
How do you do social media here on campus?
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