Socially Acceptable

Making Social Media Work for Admissions

Marisa PeacockSilverpoint

May 15, 2012

What we’re going to cover Why: Trends & Statistics, Social Media

Usage What: Using Content to Tell Stories Who: Your Audience How: Getting it Done

Staffing Your website Pinterest Google+ Tumblr Instagram

3 Why: Social Media Usage

Why: Social Media Expands Beyond Facebook, Twitter

In the last year, we’ve seen new social networks emerge: Google+, Pinterest, Tumblr among others

Pinterest now has over 10.4 million registered users, 97.7% are female

Google+ has 100 million users Instagram has 50 million users Tumblr has 42.6 million blogs

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Why: Social Media Usage

Source: ComScore

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Why: Social Media Usage - Pinterest

Source: SiteAnlalytics.compete.com

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Why: Social Media Usage-Google+

Source: Flowtown

Why: Social Media Usage- Tumblr

Source: Mashable

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Why: Social Media Usage- Instagram

Source: Online Colleges

10 What: Using Content to Tell Stories

What: Visual Content New social media platforms favor visual

content Let your digital assets find their voice

Tap into emotion Be interesting and/or humorous Ask questions and solicit responses

Learn to let pictures promote your brand Social media can be an extension of your

view book

What: It’s (Always) About Content

Social Media content is… Updated reasonably regularly Timely

What happened/is happening this week Not what happened last month

Expected to ask questions & ask others to share their experiences

What: The Good News About Content

Good news! You have things happening every day that

are actually interesting You are (hopefully) already creating great

content And it’s easy to put this content onto social

media It’s actually pretty easy Seriously, it’s not all that hard

Also, feel free to repurpose digital assets into informal social media ready “snippets”

What: Sources of Content You have the sources

Administrators – News/blogs, events Faculty & Students – Class projects, trips,

artwork Coaches – Scores, game recaps Alumni – Their lives and memories, archives

Let them contribute! Your fans will get involved and

conversations will happen

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What: Your School’s Stories

Schools on Tumblr http://choatemusic.tumblr.com/ http://hotchkisslookbook.tumblr.com/

Schools on Pinterest http://pinterest.com/sewickley1838/ http://pinterest.com/mastersny/

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What: Your School’s Stories

Schools on Google+ Choate Rosemary Hall The Hun School

Schools on Instagram Hathaway Brown Ithaca College Oberlin

17 Who: Your Audience

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Who: Your Audience is Changing

The way people are responding on social media tools is changing. The applications or social media tools have altered and audiences have shifted or grown. Long winded wordy posts are being replaced

with more and more visual, impactful content like photos and video.

Who: Your Audience & Your Content

Note that there is a tremendous overlap in the content that is of interest to these groups

Priorities one two three

Prospective Families

About News Events

Current Families Events News

Alumni News Events

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Who: Find Your AudienceSee what content they are already

pinning from your website:

http://www.pinterest.com

/source/yourwebsite

21 How: Getting it Done

Before We Proceed…

Q: Does this mean I don’t need a Facebook page or Twitter presence?

A: No. Many, if not all of these additional platforms can be integrated within your Facebook page and Twitter profile.

Visual content allows you to connect with your users as the expand networks.

Getting it Done: Social Media Policies

How does copyright affect your digital assets? use watermarks, and cite sources as appropriate, especially when using user-generated or professional content.

Get permission to use photos of alumnae, students, guest speakers, as necessary.

Getting it Done: The Big Picture

Don’t over-think your strategy, keep it simple

Don’t be afraid to post a single piece of content “everywhere” (website, Pinterest, Tumblr)

There is a big overlap in the content that is of interest to current and prospective families

Experiment with content -- see what gets noticed.

Getting it Done: Staffing for Social Media

Set a Reasonable Goal At least a few posts per week

Create a calendar/topics Schedule contributions and give people tips and

templates Put someone in charge

Give them the ability to gather and post content Don’t forget the weekend!

Getting it Done: Your Website Providing links

Only link to where you are active! Homepage and/or where they are accessible on

every page (header or footer) You can also provide links on specific pages, but

there should be some reason Don’t feel like you have to send them “away” You can use embed tools to place feeds on

your pages Tumblr Feed Instagram feeds Pin boards

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Getting it Done: Your Website

Getting it Done: Your Website

29 How: Pinterest

How: Pinterest Showcase Your School

Show off buildings, popular classes, campus Reflect Your School’s Lifestyle

Promote traditions, history, mission Crowdsource

Ask users to pin an image of themselves wearing School uniform, emblem, gear

Provide Behind-the-Scenes Access provide backstage access or yet-to-be-seen

images of school teams and guest speakers Promote Buzz

used a collaborative board to pin favorite photos, trends and clips from past week's events.

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Getting it Done: Pinterest

Measure Your Reach www.pinreach.com www.pinpuff.com www.pinerly.com

Pin a Quote/Share As Image www.shareasimage.com

32 How: Instagram

How: Instagram

Keep content fresh, interactive, and aligned with the brand attributes you want your fans to notice

Post pictures that have meaning to your users and induce shares

Encourage users to get involved in your content creation.

Give followers a better understanding of how what happens at your school.

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Getting it Done: Instagram

Embed photos www.embedagram.com

Measure engagement statigr.am

Create a vanity url followgram.me

Send a postcard postagramapp.com

35 How: Tumblr

How: Tumblr

Share small chunks of media Share others content Provide relevant, thematic content

Tag your posts: use words that are specific Curate your best content: share from other

social media sites, blogs Use a Watermark:

drives people back to your site no matter how many times it gets reblogged and expanded across the Tumblr.

Getting it Done: Tumblr

Be productive: HelloTxt.com: updates all of your social

networks from the web, email or third party applications all at once, including your tubmlr.

Tumblr Post: post photos, videos, mp3s, quotes and links to your Tumblr page by dragging and dropping content onto the extension's status bar icon (addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/tumblr-post/)

38 How: Google+

How: Google+

Segment and create content for followers, leads and other people you do business with

Engage user who find you via Google searches

Use hangouts to have Live Q&As, discussion forums

Create unique content -- avoid cross posting.

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Getting it Done: Google+

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Getting it Done: Google+

Promote your Google+ Page, Feed Google+ Widgets: (gplusapi.appspot.com)

Compare Stats SocialStatistics.com

Find People FindPeopleOnPlus.com

Share across networks Extended Share for Google+ (Chrome only) G++ (Firefox & Chrome)

Final Thoughts Define your goals and have a plan – start

small, but start well! Gather & Investigate

Look at what others are doing (not just schools)

Be realistic about what you can do Think strategy, tie-ins with existing content

and brand, leveraging what you already have in place

It’s inevitable - you might as well have fun with it