University Communications

People, and brands, have been flocking to social media for the last few years. But that is far from reason enough to join the conversation. Done correctly, social media is about developing meaningful relationships with customers and prospective customers, and diving in without a clear answer to the question of ‘why?’ will damage your brand. Before getting involved in social media consider which communities you will participate in, create engaging content for each, and establish your internal protocol. Many successful social media programs take months (or even more than a year) to really take hold.

There are many different social media platforms – e.g. Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, etc. – each with its own audience, sense of etiquette, purpose, and so forth. Take the time to lurk on a new site, passively observing who is there and learning how to navigate it before deciding to officially join. Because of the vast differences between social media sites and their audiences, it likely will be critical for you to have accounts on many sites.

Regardless of your audience and which social media site you are in, the key to your success is engaging content. People use social media to personally get something – like a pat on the back or moral support from friends, or exclusive deals and content from brands. A critical piece of your overall social media strategy must be a solid content strategy, ensuring your relevance to and engagement with your audiences.

Once you have established your accounts, regular posting will be critical to keep your audiences engaged and avoid a damaging ‘blackout.’ Develop a content calendar that will establish your content’s theme for weeks to come, and even write the posts that will not be time-sensitive. You should also develop your internal protocol – who will post, when you will post, who will listen, how responses will be generated, etc. Having these pieces in place ahead of time will avoid a last-minute fire drill should an issue arise.

For more on developing your social media strategy, check out Clickz.

Keep in mind university guidelines.

Introduced with the advent of the Blackberry and taken to the next level with the release of the first iPhone, the mobile web has changed the way we interact with the worldwide web. Your audience can now seek out your content anytime, from anywhere on their mobile device. However differences in devices’ capabilities and in consumers’ sophistication can all create barriers to success.

This is why your strategy should first consider the content delivery method. The first method is a mobile application [or ‘app’]. In short, apps are programs that users download and install on their smartphone. Once installed, the app operates similarly to a program installed on your home computer. And like those programs, the app cannot be changed once it’s installed without downloading/installing a new update. Apps generally require a more sophisticated user to be successful.

An alternative content delivery method is a mobile website. A mobile site is not merely a reproduction of your existing website, but is defined as a website that has content targeted specifically to the web-connected smartphone user, optimized for faster delivery and attractive display on a mobile device – accommodating these devices’ shortcomings. Mobile websites can find success with a less sophisticated audience than apps’, as they can be linked to from anywhere and there is no software to download and install.

The final mobile content delivery method is simple messaging service (SMS) and multimedia messaging service (MMS). Basically, SMS is a text message and MMS is picture/video/audio content delivered alongside text. These methods are far and away the most accessible – requiring that a user simply have a cell phone (vs. a smartphone).

The next question to consider is how you will link users to your content. The most direct way to link users in the real/physical world to your content in the virtual world is via scanable tags. The first type of tag is a 2-dimensional barcodes [a.k.a. quick response code or ‘QR code], whose appearance resembles a schizophrenic checkerboard. Users with the appropriate app scan these codes and are immediately served your content. Another type of tag, the SnapTag, allows users with any camera phone to snap a picture of the tag and receive an SMS or MMS interaction – requiring no smartphone nor internet connectivity.

The final consideration when developing your mobile strategy is about the content itself. The mobile consumer is a special breed – they are on-the-go, out and about and looking for content immediately. Therefore the content you deliver should not be a regurgitation of content for normal web users, but content unique to the mobile user – e.g. specific to a particular location, map/directions to find you, or exclusive content. And it should be optimized for fast delivery and viewing on a small screen.

Find more useful tips from the Mobile Marketing Association [MMA].

And, check out the university’s Mobile Media Guidelines [coming soon!].