Posts Tagged ‘social media’
Friday, May 3rd, 2013
Keeping up with Facebook’s changes and understanding what they mean on both personal and business levels is no easy task. You may have heard some rumblings about this thing called Graph Search. It sounds pretty vague, sure, but like all Facebook changes, it just takes a little time and knowledge to get used to. We signed up for the Beta version of Facebook’s Graph Search (the feature will be rolled out for all Facebook users in the next few months) to get a head start on figuring it out (you can sign up for the Beta version here). You can do some cool things with it, you can do some creepy things with it, and for marketing purposes, we look forward to doing some creative things with it.
Graph Search is Facebook’s way of slicing themselves a big piece of the search engine pie. The function will allow users to search things you’d use Google or Bing for, allow you to search your friends’ names to find their Facebook profiles, and will help you locate your favorite brand pages in a matter of seconds.
But the reason people are both excited and concerned about it is because of the added capability of allowing people to enter personalized search queries, like “My friends who like Metallica,”
or “My friends who are not in a relationship.”
You can even search things like “My friends who eat burritos,” and Facebook will come up with lists of Mexican restaurants that your friends have visited.
Some may call this creepy or say that it’s a violation of privacy. But really, Facebook is only aggregating the information you and your friends have already shared. So what does this mean? Be careful about what you share. Check your privacy settings. Make sure that people only find what you want them to find.
So before Graph Search is available to everyone, we’re trying to understand its implications. Let’s get down to what’s important to MergeThis Media’s clients.
This Forbes article makes a good point: In order for Facebook to make money from Graph Search, they “will need to encourage users to frequently use the ‘Like’ feature as well as try to integrate some sponsored search links within the results of Graph Search.” This could mean that when people search their friends’ “Likes” and interests, they may come across your page, and will then be prompted to “Like” it. This is a good thing for follower numbers. But what it means for getting more engaged fans we have yet to find out. (Remember, you can have thousands of fans, but if they don’t engage with your page you lose EdgeRank brownie points–we don’t want that! It makes a business page less relevant.)
This means that the more people who “Like” your page, the more you’ll show up in other users’ Graph searches–making engaging and interesting Facebook campaigns all the more important.
And what’s more? The new search function could draw more people to your page through sponsored search results–meaning news feeds and targeted Facebook ads won’t be the only ways you reach potential customers.
Overall, we don’t know exactly what Graph Search will or won’t do for us. But it seems that, if used right, it will be good for business. It might just take some getting used to.
Want to know more? Check out this helpful article.
Tags: Facebook, Graph Search, Marketing, social media
Posted in Blog No Comments »
Monday, April 4th, 2011
How to build your own successful, integrated social media program, Part I.
Is your company ready to start a social media campaign to support your online marketing, public relations or sales efforts? If so, before you build your platforms out, it’s a good idea to develop a “strategy of engagement”. When I started at Metropolitan State College of Denver in December 2009, I spent a month developing a social media and online web presence strategy before building out the individual platforms. It’s unlikely that you will do everything that you lay out in your plan. However, it’s important to have a document to refer back to so that you can stay focused on your goals and measure your results.
While developing my plan, I took into account previous marketing research done for the College and also the latest developments in social media. I read numerous books, including “Facebook Marketing for Dummies” and “How to Really Use LinkedIn”. And I was fortunate to have access to extensive, tailored research done by KEOS Marketing for the Office of College Communications. The research compared and contrasted social media programs of colleges and universities throughout the United States. The study evaluated the most and least successful programs and pointed Metro State in the right direction. While I took into account much of the KEOS research, there were other factors that I had to consider in developing my plan.
Metro State is dissimilar from other colleges in that it caters to commuters, rather than 18-year-olds fresh out of high school There is very little campus housing, and the average student is 26 with a full-time job and/or a family. As well, there has traditionally been little communication with alumni. Thus, many students don’t necessarily feel the same sort of affinity for their alma mater as students in other schools. Or, even if they do feel affinity, there aren’t many avenues for communication with the College. Taking all that information into consideration, I established various goals. They were:
- To leverage social marketing as another communication vehicle to support the current Alumni Association strategic plan, which focused almost 100 percent on increasing alumni engagement (which meant alumni: communicating with each other, faculty members or departments; volunteering for or attending events; reading e-mails; donating money; reading College-disseminated publications; and/or somehow interacting with the College.)
- Develop and implement campaigns that increase online involvement, and then measure (and eventually monetize) the results
- Utilize available analytics to gauge where alumni where going online and what they were interested in reading/viewing/clicking on
- To meet or exceed objectives of increased involvement, and define the best approach to do that
- To be on the cutting edge of social online marketing
- To create a written plan detailing methods of engagement that can be used as a model for other institutions
- To use social media platforms to support a College-based, password-protected Content Management System that would be made available just for Alumni. (Note: We ended up not using the product because after beta testing it for three months we discovered our alumni really disliked it. Subsequently, we changed our strategic direction by focusing exclusively on traditional social media platforms).
I also took into account the main reasons why social media campaigns fail, which are that organizations and businesses:
- Lack expectations
- Don’t specify what they are trying to accomplish
- Have insufficient tracking capabilities
Finally, I outlined a seven-step process specifically for Metro State. I’ll write more about those steps in next Monday’s article of the week.
Tags: develop strategy of engagement, how to do social media, instruction, Lizzy Scully, social media
Posted in Uncategorized No Comments »
Thursday, March 10th, 2011
By Lizzy Scully
If you run a business or other organization, you can no longer afford to ignore social media when creating your marketing plans. Thousands of your potential customers (your future “fans”!) flock to social media sites. In fact, more than five million people actively use Facebook now, with 50% signing on daily(1). Plus, more than six million people utilize Twitter. Social media sites have proven to be one of the most significant ways you can engage your customers or constituents. When the Office of Alumni Relations first embarked on its social media journey, we spent extensive time researching what other colleges and universities were doing and we formulated an extensive plan accordingly. Here are seven tips & tricks we learned along the way:
Planning: Do significant planning prior to launching any social media plan or starting your social media sites. As with any marketing/public relations plan, define your goals. What do you want to accomplish? Who are your fans (i.e. who do you want to engage)? Do some research on which sites might best fit your needs. I have discovered that Metro State alumni use LinkedIn to communicate about career-related topics and to network with each other, while they check out Facebook to link to event coverage or fun articles about other alumni or faculty/staff members. They also regularly read our Job Blog, which has job listings and helpful career advancement tips.
Voice: Establish the “voice” of your social media sites. Typically, social media sites offer a more personal, in-depth perspective of your business/organization, while your website has static, tidy information. (For more on types of voices you can use, click here). The Office of Alumni Relations maintains professionalism in that we treat people who visit our sites respectfully and as we would if they came into the office. However, we have balanced that with informality. For example, our responses to people who pose questions, suggestions, or musings are informal and friendly. As well, we post fun, interactive articles and videos on our blog that aren’t necessarily perfectly well made.
Coordinator(s): After you figure out your “voice”, choose one or more coordinators who will regularly post on the social media sites you utilize. This person should not hide behind an alias, but should be open about his/her relationship with your business. I am the main person posting on the Office of Alumni Relations social media sites and interacting with visitors. I strive to establish trustful relationships with our visitors, and have developed numerous in-person relationships with people. Even if I never meet someone in person, my goal is for that person to feel welcomed to all of our social media sites. On the other hand, you don’t have to mix business with pleasure. It is not necessary for you to invite all the fans on your Facebook Fanpage to be “friends” on your personal page.
Listening: Cultivate relationships with your constituents. In order to be effective with social media, you have to regularly engage your fans, which means posting daily or weekly, answering questions posed by fans, and addressing issues they bring up. I check all the social media sites five days per week. If a negative comment surfaces, for example, I can address it immediately. (Read more on tips for addressing negative comments here).
Flexibility: The beauty of social media is its flexibility. If something isn’t working, you can change it instantly. Build all your social media sites and then see which ones are most popular, and then modify your activities accordingly. We discovered that our MySpace page and the LinkedIn page we created were both mostly worthless. However, I found and began to participate on an unofficial LinkedIn page that was far more active. I befriended the alumnus who created it, and now we manage it together. We have regular interactions, and new people joining every day!
Analyze the data: Dozens of analytics tools exist that can help you track traffic to and from your websites. The Office of Alumni Relations currently uses Google Analytics and StatCounter on our website and blogs, and Bit.ly to shorten and track our URLs. None of these programs are perfect, so utilize many and analyze all the results. By doing so, you will figure out what links are being clicked on most and what people avoid, thereby refining how you distribute your content.
Integration: Finally, to be full successful, your social media strategy must be integrated with and supportive of your overall marketing plan. One of our most successful endeavors this year was our Official College Ring Launch and Facebook Ring Contest. The contest drew in plenty of contestants because it was a fun and engaging way of finding out why people loved Metro State. We asked people to tell or show us why they loved Metro State. This resulted in people posting poems, stories, and great photos about their experiences at Metro State on our Facebook fan page, which in turn drew more people to our fan page. However, it was only part of a greater strategic plan that included advertisements in the College newspaper, flyers, mailings, emails sent out to students, and plenty of social media notifications. These are just a few of the things you should consider when launching a social media plan. For more information of if you want to ask me any questions based on this article, come to the LAS Lunch & Learn on Tuesday, August 10th. For more information or to register for the event, click here.
Tags: beginners, social media, social media for newbies
Posted in Uncategorized No Comments »
Monday, February 21st, 2011
By Lizzy Scully
Social Engagement Manager
Office of Alumni Relations
If you run a business or other organization, you can no longer afford to ignore social media when creating your marketing plans. Thousands of your potential customers (your future “fans”!) flock to social media sites. In fact, more than five million people actively use Facebook now, with 50% signing on daily. Plus, more than six million people utilize Twitter. Social media sites have proven to be one of the most significant ways you can engage your customers or constituents. When the Office of Alumni Relations first embarked on its social media journey, we spent extensive time researching what other colleges and universities were doing and we formulated an extensive plan accordingly. Here are seven tips & tricks we learned along the way:
Planning: Do significant planning prior to launching any social media plan or starting your social media sites. As with any marketing/public relations plan, define your goals. What do you want to accomplish? Who are your fans (i.e. who do you want to engage)? Do some research on which sites might best fit your needs. I have discovered that Metro State alumni use LinkedIn to communicate about career-related topics and to network with each other, while they check out Facebook to link to event coverage or fun articles about other alumni or faculty/staff members.
Voice: Establish the “voice” of your social media sites. Typically, social media sites offer a more personal, in-depth perspective of your business/organization, while your website has static, tidy information. (For more on types of voices you can use, click here). The Office of Alumni Relations maintains professionalism in that we treat people who visit our sites respectfully and as we would if they came into the office. However, we have balanced that with informality. For example, our responses to people who pose questions, suggestions, or musings are informal and friendly. As well, we post fun, interactive articles and videos on our blog that aren’t necessarily perfectly well made.
Coordinator(s): After you figure out your “voice”, choose one or more coordinators who will regularly post on the social media sites you utilize. This person should not hide behind an alias, but should be open about his/her relationship with your business. I am the main person posting on the Office of Alumni Relations social media sites and interacting with visitors. I strive to establish trustful relationships with our visitors, and have developed numerous in-person relationships with people. Even if I never meet someone in person, my goal is for that person to feel welcomed to all of our social media sites. On the other hand, you don’t have to mix business with pleasure. It is not necessary for you to invite all the fans on your Facebook Fanpage to be “friends” on your personal page.
Listening: Cultivate relationships with your constituents. In order to be effective with social media, you have to regularly engage your fans, which means posting daily or weekly, answering questions posed by fans, and addressing issues they bring up. I check all the social media sites five days per week. If a negative comment surfaces, for example, I can address it immediately. (Read more on tips for addressing negative comments here).
Flexibility: The beauty of social media is its flexibility. If something isn’t working, you can change it instantly. Build all your social media sites and then see which ones are most popular, and then modify your activities accordingly. We discovered that our MySpace page and the LinkedIn page we created were both mostly worthless. However, I found and began to participate on an unofficial LinkedIn page that was far more active. I befriended the alumnus who created it, and now we manage it together. We have regular interactions, and new people joining every day!
Analyze the data: Dozens of analytics tools exist that can help you track traffic to and from your websites. The Office of Alumni Relations currently uses Google Analytics and StatCounter on our website and blogs, and Bit.ly to shorten and track our URLs. None of these programs are perfect, so utilize many and analyze all the results. By doing so, you will figure out what links are being clicked on most and what people avoid, thereby refining how you distribute your content.
Integration: Finally, to be full successful, your social media strategy must be integrated with and supportive of your overall marketing plan. One of our most successful endeavors this year was our Official College Ring Launch and Facebook Ring Contest. The contest drew in plenty of contestants because it was a fun and engaging way of finding out why people loved Metro State. We asked people to tell or show us why they loved Metro State. This resulted in people posting poems, stories, and great photos about their experiences at Metro State on our Facebook fan page, which in turn drew more people to our fan page. However, it was only part of a greater strategic plan that included advertisements in the College newspaper, flyers, mailings, emails sent out to students, and plenty of social media notifications.
These are just a few of the things you should consider when launching a social media plan. For more information of if you want to ask me any questions based on this article, come to the LAS Lunch & Learn on Tuesday, August 10th. For more information or to register for the event, click here.
Tags: planning for success, social media
Posted in Uncategorized No Comments »
