University of Colorado – Boulder Alumni

Association:Social Media Strategy

Recommendation Overview

Social Media Task Force5/19/2010

Task Force Background

Committee Members Volunteers:

Tom Mirande – Chair (Hist ‘91), Senior Director, Channel Sales - WebVisible

Matt Duncan (IT/Fin’92), Social Business Strategy Consultant – Duncan Integrated Info

Chris Hemphill (IS/Fin‘04), Sales Engineer - Salesforce.com Douglas Dinsmoor (Bio‘77) , eMarketing Consultant John Worrell (Econ‘95), Director of Solutions Engineering – NewsGator

Technologies

Staff: Kim Egan, Director of Online Communication Jackie Garcia (SPPR ‘08), Event Coordinator

Intranet https://www.cualum.org/alumnivolunteers/groups/smtf/

The Social Media Task Force of the CU-Boulder Alumni Association will research and identify social media opportunities and platforms and will develop and propose a social networking recommendation for the organization that works to facilitate lifelong CU relationships among CU-Boulder alumni and students.

Mission Statement:

Task Force Background (cont’d) Goal

Develop and deliver a comprehensive social media strategy recommendation for the CU Boulder Alumni Association

Objectives ID strengths and weaknesses with the Association’s current social media

presences ID opportunities to elevate the Association as a stronger hub for social

media engagement Evaluate the role of internal platforms as part of the overall presence ID role of chapters and how they can better integrate with the Association ID how Flagship 2030 plan impacts Association use of social media

Recommendation Formal document Presentation Volunteer standpoint

Overview Research

Statistics and Demonstrations

Current Situation

Recommendation

Question and Answer

Demo

Value of Social Media

Best-selling author, entrepreneur and innovator, Seth Godin says the

“value of social networking, especially for businesses, is in the opportunity to form real, genuine relationships with people and organizations who are relevant to your

business, and who may be far less approachable in real life than they are on the Web.”

Social Media in Business 4 Ways Social Media is Changing Business

– From “Trying to Sell” to “Making Connections”– From “Large Campaigns” to “Small Acts”– From “Controlling Our Image” to “Being

Ourselves”– From “Hard to Reach” to “Available

Everywhere”

http://mashable.com/2009/09/22/social-media-business/

What % of social networking is done via mobile devices?a.75%b.15%c.60%d.35%(According to Ground Truth April 2010)

“This is the movement we call the groundswell. And while you can’t stop it, you can understand it. You can not only live with it; you can thrive in it.”

Groundswell by Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff

We are now in the age of open communication, engaged dialogue, and transparency, and business success may now have less to do with the size of ad budgets, but on the quality of interactions with customers.

Brand Monitoring

Where are customers going for answers?

Is our campaign working?

Customers have grown accustomed to the inherent transparency of a social media-rich world. They expect and demand that you listen and engage with them in AUTHENTIC conversations online. Those that do are rewarded. Those that don’t are punished.

What’s being said about our

brand?

What’s our perception vs. competitors?

Brand Monitoring

Where are customers going for answers? Is our

campaign working?

Customers have grown accustomed to the inherent transparency of a social media-rich world. They expect and demand that you listen and engage with them in AUTHENTIC conversations online. Those that do are rewarded. Those that don’t are punished.

What’s being said about our brand?

What’s our perception

vs. competitors?

Brand Monitoring

Where are customers going for answers? Is our

campaign working?

Customers have grown accustomed to the inherent transparency of a social media-rich world. They expect and demand that you listen and engage with them in AUTHENTIC conversations online. Those that do are rewarded. Those that don’t are punished.

What’s being said about our brand?

What’s our perception

vs. competitors?

First proactive mention by United on Twitter: 4 days after video

(after 1.2M video views, 10,000+ negative tweets specific to the incident)

Brand Monitoring

Where are customers going for answers? Is our

campaign working?

Customers have grown accustomed to the inherent transparency of a social media-rich world. They expect and demand that you listen and engage with them in AUTHENTIC conversations online. Those that do are rewarded. Those that don’t are punished.

What’s being said about our brand?

What’s our perception

vs. competitors?

Social media triage

Can you add value?

Can you add value?

Evaluate the purpose

Evaluate the purpose

Respond in kind & shareRespond in kind & share

Thank the person

Thank the person

Unhappy Customer?Unhappy

Customer?

DedicatedComplainer?

DedicatedComplainer?

Comedian Want-to-Be?Comedian

Want-to-Be?

NegativePositive

Yes No

Do you want to respond?Do you want to respond?

No Response

No Response

No

Yes

Take reasonable action to fix issue and let customer

know action taken

Take reasonable action to fix issue and let customer

know action taken

Are the facts correct?

Are the facts correct?

Gently correct the facts

Gently correct the facts

No

No

No

Yes

Are the facts correct?

Are the facts correct?

Does customer need/deserve more

info?

Does customer need/deserve more

info?

Yes

Explain what is being done to correct the

issue.

Explain what is being done to correct the

issue.

Yes

Is the problem

being fixed?

Is the problem

being fixed?

Yes

Let post stand and monitor.

Let post stand and monitor.

No

Yes

NoYes

Yes

Assess the message

Assess the message

Engagement and Dialogue

Caterpillar

IBM

BMW

Starbucks

MTV

Tiffany

Apple

Disney

CocaCola

The leveraging of social media to interact with customers

Out of this list which company is the first AND which is the last in Social Media Engagement?

(According to www.engagementdb.com ranking of top 100 companies)

1

69

57

28

64

17

33

19

51

Engagement and Dialogue

People are engaged

by related topics. They get “news” via

the school’s website and monthly e-newsletter.

“It’s interesting to see parents at social functions talking about the comments that were made on our Facebook Fan Page. The conversations that are happening there are translating into interpersonal relationships that otherwise wouldn’t have ever

transpired.” School director, CU-Boulder alum Kerry Merkel (Psych’01)

Viral Marketing

SubscribeRetweet

Buzz UpStumble

BookmarkDigg

SuggestFriend

FollowConnect

LikeShare

512,795 People Like This

Viral Marketing

Viral Marketing

10%

Ease of Use

It’s easier to drive on concrete than in mud, and likewise, it’s easier to spread a message when tools are there to help disseminate it.

With the rise of social tools, spreading a meme* has never been easier.”

* A unit of cultural information that represents a basic idea that can be transferred from one individual to another, and subjected to mutation, crossover and adaptation.

Ease of Use

"The brigade command team is happy to see that they also still have a good sense of humor and that morale is high," said Maj. Michelle Baldanza, a spokeswoman in Afghanistan for the division's 4th Brigade Combat Team via e-mail from Kandahar Air Field.

Trends, Stats & Demographics“CU” scope

• Task Force audited Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn

• Facebook:– >94 groups– >10,400 members– at least 8 logo versions

• Twitter:– 80 groups– Dozens of CU-related accounts– Hundreds (thousands?) of CU alum-related conversations

• LinkedIn:– >80 groups– >20,000 members– at least 8 logo versions

Trends, Stats & DemographicsCU-Boulder Alumni

• Under Forever Buffs, the Association services

– 252,000 living alumni– 33,000 students– 7,200 non-alumni incl. Herd and donors

• Alumni by age range– Ages 20-30 34,826– Ages 31-40 42,946– Ages 41-50 41,659– Ages 50+ 145,922

• Alumni by gender– Unkown– Ages 31-40 1,937– Ages 41-50 98,131– Ages 50+ 116,778

Trends, Stats & DemographicsSocial Media

Social will be like air!

40% of information sharing on the web is via Facebook and Twitter, beating out email at 12%

Pop Quiz!

How many views per day are there on YouTube?

2,000,000,000

Current Situation Making strides in the right

direction

Strengths Forever Buffs initiative New graphic mark Presence on social media Great database/robust CRM program Website is current and relevant

Recommendation Make an investment

Hire a Community Manager Purchase Enterprise Solution

Strategic plan Monitor and measure Increase engagement Chapter integration and support Campus coordination Make it easy Continuation of committee

Recommendation:Make an investment

*Fortune 500 and Social Media: A Longitudinal Study of Blogging and Twitter Usage – by Bill Ives @ www.fastforwardblog.com/2010/03/05

**XYZ Survey Data

Recommendation:Strategic Plan

Yet Most Companies Fail to Plan Properly

Many companies like the idea, but don’t fully execute

Presence is a good start but stopping there misses opportunities

Companies Jump Into Social

Recommendation:Strategic Plan

Strategic plans are important because they will outlive the latest and hottest platform – whatever that might be in a changing social media environment.

A social media strategy will outline how current communications and programs are supported by social media and how they work to create a rich experience for the audience.

Recommendation:Strategic Plan

The plan should include:

Research (already provided through task force

Establish Protocol, Policies, and Crisis Response Plans

Identify Action Strategies to increase awareness about the Association’s Social Channels

Develop Strategic Messaging that echo the system’s rebranding efforts, the University’s Flagship 2030 tenants and the Association’s Forever Buffs initiative

Recommendation:Strategic Plan

Under Flagship 2030, the university aims to become a leading model of the "new flagship university" of the 21st century—by redefining learning and discovery in a global context.

It’s slogan is “Serving Colorado. Engaged in the world.”

Key goals include expanding outreach programming aimed at Colorado communities and enhancing opportunities for lifelong and distance learning.

RecommendationStrategic PlanForever Buffs, the Alumni

Association’s initiative, works to engage our 240,000 alumni and 30,000 students in every step of their lives.

It’s three tenets are engage, contribute and celebrate.

Recommendation:Strategic Plan

The CU rebranding effort lists

the below value statements of consistent brand messaging. To be more efficient and

effective with limited resources To enhance our ability to tell

our story so others don’t tell it for us

To solidify our reputation and build more positive relationships

To better compete for students, faculty, staff, and funding

These same value statements can be achieved with a social media strategy.

Recommendation:Strategic Plan

Continuation of Social Media Task Force Use Social Media to complement existing channels Monitor and Analyze Increase Engagement Support and integrate chapters Increase coordination with campus groups Make it easy Action Strategies

Recommendation: Continuation of committee

Social media is a new fast moving space that will

require that we adapt to new technologies and platforms

We will need to define suggested toolsets to enable alumni groups to monitor and engage in the social space

New strategies will develop to drive engagement in Social Media and continuous education is important to sucess

Recommendation:Complement existing channels

Social media efforts complement existing marketing channels. They do not replace them.

Social Media extends the reach and lifecycle of communications and programs such as the Coloradan, Buffalum Notes, www.cualum.org and Forever Buffs Network.

Bring real-time awareness to an online and interactive audience

Increases effectiveness with feedback and open two-way conversations.

Pop-Quiz!

Which Group of consumers is most important?

(none, they all are important in the integrated marketing mix)

Recommendation: Monitor and measure

Social media monitoring

and analyzing provides the Association with a new and valuable opportunity to gain insights and influence perceptions.

Recommendation: Monitor and measure

Measure

An

alyze

Learn

Ad

ap

t

Recommendation: Make it easy

OpenID User Experience Summit, Feb 2010 - 89% of

LadyGaga.com visitors chose to sign in with Facebook, Twitter or other 3rd party platforms.

Facebook Connect has proven that user registration rises 30%-200% by enabling Facebook Connect.

Recommendation: Increase engagement

Start the conversation – Content strategy is different

than Traditional or Tradigital Marketing push messaging – more conversational and interactive.

Recommendation: Chapter integration and support

Extend wordpress platform to involve social tools and

make this easy for chapter leaders of all backgrounds Provide email templates that are consistent in branding

and help drive alumni to the correct local communities

Recommendation: Campus coordination

Establish communication channels for events and

happenings across groups – Alumni Association, CSO, Schools, Local Clubs

Leverage local chapters and their communities to engage alumni, ensure messaging can be shared easily to gain participation, two examples where social media could have expanded reach in NorCal region Leeds Business School Alumni Event in SF Engineering School Speaking Event in SF

Pop-Quiz!

What does SSO stand for?

(Single Sign On)

Recommendation: Make it easy - CSO

CSO is an online job database under University Career

Services

Opportunity Squandered “Clunky” and antiquated system to establish an account Website is confusing Alumni needs not addressed Confusion between CSO & Forever Buffs sites

Re-activate job database in Forever Buffs Network Continue to offer links to CSO Add links to LinkedIn

Alums are savvy and will choose what service fits their needs best.

Tactics Additional tactics are outlined in the appendix

Tactics Facebook - Strategic posts, use events, ask questions

designed to engage alumni Twitter – Similar engagement tactics to Facebook, use a

monitoring tool, create lists, use hashtags, ReTweet! Flickr – Promote with other channels, create contests for

alum to post pictures and drive engagement YouTube – Similar strategy to Flickr, Create professional

videos and share via other channels – encourages ReTweets by alum

LinkedIn – Work with LinkedIn, drive awareness of FBN, work with CSO

Website Integration – Share, ReTweet buttons, links to social communities

Email Communications – Include links to social communities as part of template

Demonstration

Guest Speakers

Summary Social media and networking will only become more

prevalent and preferred means of communication by alums

The Forever Buffs initiative and rebranding can capitalize on end user adoption

Let Flagship 2030’s tenants help guide implementation and adaptation

A good plan now is better than a perfect plan later

Value to volunteers

Questions?