A Crash Course: Social Media Strategy

A Crash Course:Social Media Strategy

Creative Commons: Matt Hammhttp://ow.ly/ffvUm

With Rachel Esterline Perkins

My Experience

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Keep In Mind…Not every network is right for

every company or organizationHave a goal in mindDecide how to measure success

before implementing a social media program

Focus on engagement, not broadcasting

Step 1: Research/AuditBasic keyword search

◦Use quotes to narrow down resultsSee what is being said about the

client and how people are talking about the industry

Sampling of Sites to Search

Brand’s website Google Google Images Google Blogs YouTube/Vimeo/Viddler Twitter Flickr Ning StumbleUpon Digg Scribd MySpace Pinterest Yelp

SlideShare Social Mention Delicious Diigo Quora LinkedIn Paid options:

◦ Radian6◦ Vocus◦ Sprout Social◦ UberVu

Global sites◦ Renren (China)◦ Orkut (Brazil, India)◦ Xing (Europe)

Competitor Audit

Key FindingsCCFA and IPR are

not currently utilizing social media to promote the program

Need to increase results on search engines (SEO)

Competitors are actively using social media

Two Facebook Groups◦ Integrative Public

Relations (158 members)

◦ CMU Integrative Public Relations Alumni (186 members)

4,339 people on LinkedIn

Step 2: Objectives/GoalsWhat does the client

want to achieve?Who does the

client want to reach?

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Hypothetical Goal:

Position CMU as a leader in the field of public relations education and engage IPR students and alumni

What are your ideas?

Potential RecommendationsBlog

◦ Showcase current students and their achievements

◦ Showcase alumni◦ Publish blog posts

written by faculty that demonstrate knowledge of current best practices

◦ Publish guest posts by alumni and guest speakers

YouTube◦ Upload interviews

with students, alumni, faculty and employers

◦ Create videos with useful advice for students/young professionals

SlideShare/Scribd◦ Share presentations,

documents, resources, etc. w/ CMU IPR branding

Potential RecommendationsStudent

Facebook Group◦ Post internship/job

postings, scholarships and volunteer opportunities

◦ Set a weekly discussion topic and encourage participation

Twitter◦ Post links to relevant

articles/blog posts◦ Host Twitter chats

#PRstudchat

Pinterest◦ Create and post

infographics with a tie to PR, social media, marketing, etc.

◦ Repin “inspiration” for campaigns, designs, etc.

Potential RecommendationsAlumni Facebook Group

◦ Post job postings◦ Post opportunities to engage with

students◦ Set a weekly best practices discussion

topic and encourage participationSocial media monitoring and

engagement◦ Monitor mentions related to program and

respond to build engagement

Endless OpportunitiesPodcasts

◦ iTunes◦ BlogTalkRadio

FlickrFourSquareDiigo/DeliciousStumbleUpon/

DiggNingGoogle+

TumblrWikipediaSocial gaming

Social media is just part of the bigger picture…

Creative Commons: Matt Hammhttp://ow.ly/ffvUm

Writing for Social Media

Creative Commons: Vicki’s Picshttp://ow.ly/fg6U6

The “70-20-10” Rule70% of the time, focus on sharing

with your community. 20% of the time, focus on

interaction. 10% of the time, blatantly self

promote

Tips for Developing ContentFind inspiration

◦Consider the audience. What questions are customers/clients asking? What are they passionate about? What concerns them? LinkedIn Answers, Quora, Google

◦Write about company news, culture and events

◦Share customer stories and testimonials.◦Find industry-related news and blogs

Create a content calendar◦Plan out 2-4 weeks in advance◦Enables you to be more strategic

Tips for Developing ContentBe consistent, post regularlyInclude various media (images, video,

audio)◦Make it Pinterest-worthy

Encourage conversation◦Ask questions◦Ask people to share ideas, photos, etc.

Keep SEO in mind◦Think of how people would search for a post◦Example: Saginaw hospital, hospital in the

Great Lakes Bay Region, mid-Michigan ER

Tips for Developing ContentInclude a “call to action.” What do

you want people to do? ◦Subscribe? Buy? Attend? Request more

information? Analyze the data and evolve your

strategy◦See where people are going on your

website with Google Analytics◦Use Hootsuite to receive reports on clicks

of link◦Engagement & sentiment > # of

Likes/followers

Questions?

Creative Commons: Matt Hammhttp://ow.ly/ffvUm

Connect with me

RachelEsterlinePerkins@gmail.com@RachelEsterlinefacebook.com/rachel.m.esterline