SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING

Staff Training

Linda DettermanJune 9, 2009

What’s In It for ICPSR and Its Projects?• How does ICPSR deliver its products/services? What

“environment” are we operating in?

• Who are our main “customers”?

– How do they find information?

– How do they share information?

– Where are they located?

• Will the majority find us at conferences or by some other means?

• The answer: Just like SEM, Social Media will assist us to be “found” – and found with credibility!

What’s In It For You?

• My assumption:

– Promoting yourself professionally is good for ICPSR credibility for you and for the organization!

• Users post content & questions, you respond and link to appropriate solutions/answers (credibility), users follow and share solutions with other users (more credibility) – this is called going “viral”

• It’s also a lot of fun!

Agenda & Goals

• Get you comfortable with social media terms

• Explore a few social media outlets – even interact with them if you are comfortable!

• Gain understanding of how they might benefit ICPSR or your project – and you!

• Disclaimer: Social Media is a rapidly evolving environment – you jump in, gain understanding, & then it all changes! The trick is to jump!

Social Media – From 30,000 Feet

What is Social Media?

• Let’s start with Wikipedia on Social Media

• Now for the visual . . .

Social Media – When It Rains, It Pours!

Still Others

• Wikipedia

• RSS

• Widgets

• Virtual Communities (Second Life; Webkinz)

And the list of “old fashion” new media:

• Email (subscribed lists) – but dress it up if you can! - http://www.icpsr.umich.edu/ICPSR/enewsletter/2009-04-07.html

• Websites – design & tag for search engines

– Sidenote: You can create your own website or a project website in seconds! See Google sites - https://www.google.com/accounts/ManageAccount

• Webinars – old technology in the new media! B4 & After approach:

– B4 - Promote it in the new media

– After - Put it out there as a recording

Commonality between Social Media Types?

• User generated content – users as publishers

– Online conversations between friends and strangers resulting in content

• Tags & links

• Those with interest can “find” content

• It’s free!

Social Media- A Deep Dive

Let’s start with blogs:

•A blog (from weblog) is much like a diary

•Blogger and WordPress are popular

• ICPSR Blog moving to Blogger

•Tags, categories & comments

How is ICPSR using its blog?

• Informal announcements

• Explanation of process & procedures in a conversational manner – the nominations process

• Webinar registration links

• Providing a community for the data community

– This will increase for the 2009 OR Meeting

Blogging Tips• Be conversational – link to hard core content don’t just

repurpose it

• Tags are critical – how you’re found

• If you want to be found, let Google know you exist! See Google Webmaster tools.

• Add media content (visuals, YouTube, etc.)

• What do you trust more? Content from anonymous or real names?

• Afraid to start? You can delete it – the “throw-away blog” concept!

– Advice I was given: You won’t truly understand it until you do it!

Moving on to Communities

•Facebook•Twitter•LinkedIn

How can our organization use online communities?

• Announcements & links to events

• Create communities (self-selected – so very targeted)

• Show images of people, where we work, what we do

• Build a personality for our brand, our websites – “pull away the curtain”

• Increase chances of going “viral” & being found by the right people

• Enhance search engine interpretation

The “Visual” Social Media

• YouTube• Flickr• Slideshare

The Impact of YouTube – better viewed than described!

• Pure Michigan (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7oHe6GRo7Dg&feature=related)

• ICPSR (Summer Program) (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TWx1V-KBTPQ)

And Still More Outlets!

• Delicious – social bookmarking

• Digg – social news• RSS• Widget• Wikipedia

Bringing It All Together

• Check out Keotag – to find your project across several platforms (and maybe yourself!)

• Aggregators – still no king, but highly desired so stay tuned!

Getting Started

• Check out RSS• Find some blogs to follow:

– Google Blog Search– Technorati (searches other platforms too)

• Then jump in and comment!• Why not Twitter for awhile? Follow the 2009

OR Meeting!• Remember, you can always delete your

account!

Social Media Rules to Live and Succeed by:

• If anything you post would make your mother, children, significant other, or EMPLOYER blush, DO NOT HIT THE SUBMIT BUTTON!– Guess what the majority of employers are

doing with respect to new candidates?• If you are posting anonymously because you

would NOT want your mother, children, significant other, or EMPLOYER to know you were responsible for the post, DO NOT HIT THE SUBMIT BUTTON!

Go Be Social!