Social media is a mature and mainstream communication vehicle. This session focuses on social media as an important element of your marketing and communications strategy. Your audiences experience your brand and hear from you through an ever-growing list of social media platforms. How do you take your social channels to the next level? How should your social content engage audiences and integrate with your institutional website? We'll talk about specific suggestions and review best practices through case studies from educational institutions. This presentation was a general session at the 2013 CASE Annual Conference for Publications Professionals.

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Engaging Audiences with Social Media:
What’s true? What’s best? What’s next?
Susan T. Evans | Senior Strategist | mStoner
CASE Annual Conference for Publications Professionals | October 2013

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Susan T. Evans
susan.evans@mstoner.com
@susantevans

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I first used social in 2006.

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I first used social in 2006.

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I first used social in 2006.

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I first used social in 2006.

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It’s not about us. It’s about
the audience we want to reach.
#social #truethat #casepubs

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Social is
pervasive.

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Social is
maturing.

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Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn

13. The mobile device is like a new lover.
Social is
mobile.

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The mobile web will be bigger than
desktop Internet use by 2015.

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In part, we can blame #mobile.
71% of Facebook’s traffic comes from a mobile device.

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We live in a world where...

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What do we do while waiting?

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Standards and best
practices for social content.

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Easy to
find.

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Offer easy access to social
channels. Place icons in the
website footer (or header).

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Integrate
with web.

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Overcome increased
audience fragmentation.
Integrate your channels.

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34. Social =
brand.

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Think about reinforcing your
brand promise and brand
identity.

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This?
(Could be any of us...)

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Facebook
Twitter
This!
(Can be done...)

39. Run a
campaign.

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Use a social campaign (a
focused effort to achieve
goals using a variety of
channels).

41. #ROARDay

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Plan
ahead.

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Crisis and emergencies:
figure it out.

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Content
for all.

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The root of it all is content.

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#gettysburgcollege

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CASE Social Media Survey
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2
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4

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Use of platforms other
than Facebook, Twitter,
LinkedIn and YouTube has
decreased from 2012.
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About one-third of
respondents have one or
more people dedicated to
social media.
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Social media is used by
35 percent of institutions
to raise private donations.
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Top institutional goals for
social media efforts are to
engage alumni and
strengthen brand image.
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Repeat after me:
The root of it all is content.
#casepubs

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Who’s doing what?

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Prospectives, Alumni, and Parents

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Prospectives.

57. #OberlinCollege
#blogs
- 5,000 unique visitors
every month
- 2/3 of those are new

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“Practically everyone on campus has been here during the
existence of the blogs.”
“Nearly every applicant from first year to double-degree
fifth year states that part of the reason they wish to blog
for Oberlin is that the Oberlin blogs helped them solidify
their decision.”
#oberlinblogs (a 5 year run)
- Ma’ayan Plaut

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Said by a 1st year student...
“I didn't start using Facebook until after I was accepted,
really the only social media that I found from Oberlin that
influenced my decision were the Oberlin blogs.”
Even though they're unconventional and not a mainstay
of social media, I found that they were a nice
supplement, and I had friends who were excited about
the social aspects of the schools they were interested in
but were disappointed that they didn't have a
supplement like Oberlin did that provided a first person
perspective on where you were going to spend the next
four years.”

60. #Etown #shareyourmoment

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Alumni.

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Parents.

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Admission:
Posted comments or asked questions on
the Facebook page of a college.
Students: 15%
Parents: 26%
Noel-Levitz | 2011 E-Expectations Report
The Online Expectations of Prospective College Students and Their Parents

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70. page 57

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They hover...
Parents are turning to social media
to help them feel close to their kids
when they’re at school.

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Especially on Facebook.
Phone Home: Tech Draws Parents, College Kids Closer (NPR 2012)

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Especially on Facebook.
Phone Home: Tech Draws Parents, College Kids Closer (NPR 2012)
"I'm friends with my daughter on Facebook,
I'm friends with most of her friends on Facebook,
and she's friends with most of my friends on
Facebook."

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Customer Service

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Customer Service and Complaints

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“There’s growth in the use of social media to
engage current students and their parents.”
51% use social to communicate with
parents of current students
45% use social to communicate with
parents of prospective students
2012 CASE Social Media Survey

78. What else do you
need to know?

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Hashtags with #tagboard

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Social hubs with #TINT

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“What do you think is most interesting
about social media right now?”

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“I think micro-blogging is one of the most interesting,
personally. I feel like a lot of people I've watched/
followed are moving towards quicker pieces of content
(like on Instagram) rather than long form blogs.”
“I'd say a quick second is location-based social media. I
know Foursquare is old news, but I think tools like Yelp
that integrate location with other stuff make it really
interesting. It has less of a "creepy" factor maybe?”
Kylie Larson

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“LinkedIn University Pages. Because they are an attempt
by a third-party, unaffiliated, for-profit company to enter a
space that until now has been the domain of career
services / placement / alumni offices and proprietary
vendors such as iModules and they are going to win, in
my opinion.”
Fran Zablocki

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“Beautiful social feeds with tools like Tint and Tagboard
are really popular right now. Finally, people have figured
out a way to aggregate feeds from a lot of different
accounts in a really beautiful way. And, the high usage of
these sites also tells us that people see the value in
sharing real-time content. People see the relevancy and
need to display the larger conversation.”
Mallory Wood

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“Two things. 1) The push to make things visual—
Instagram, larger photos in Facebook, Vine. And 2) The
leveling out of the hype. Social media is no longer the
new kid and just like TV, it didn't kill the radio. Social
didn't kill websites and it didn't kill print either.”
Patrick Powers

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Use social media as your professional
development tool. Every day.
#casepubs

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Visit the CASE blog.
http://blog.case.org
CASE Social Media Conference - March 2014 - Marina Del Ray

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Join the network for
intergalactic .edu knowledge.
http://eduniverse.org

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Read the book.
http://eduniverse.org/socialworks

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Thank you!
#questions
Susan T. Evans
Senior Strategist, mStoner
susan.evans@mstoner.com
@susantevans