Best Practices for Social Media in

Higher Education

Lavilla Capener

My Story

Circa June 2012

What is social media?

Communication

Showcase

Technology

Discussion

User generated content

Photos

Channel Exchanges

Information

Video

Transparency Listening device

Marketing tool

Dialogue

Interaction

What is social media?

“Social media are primarily Internet-based tools for sharing and discussing information among human beings.” - Wikipedia

Social media is a way to have a conversation directly with your

consumers, customers and stakeholders.

But … with great power comes great responsibility

What can social media do for

me?

Social media is what you make of it …

… and sometimes it just doesn’t work the way to

expected.

How to choose a social media

network.

You HAVE to be on (Fill-in-the-blank)

The conversation prism

How do I figure out where my audience spends time online?

Do research. It doesn’t have to be expensive or even

cost money.

The Top 3

71% of internet users have a Facebook account,

and 70% of Facebook users log on daily.

70%

17%

12%

How often users visit Facebook

DailyWeeklyLess Often

Keep it short. Include photos. Ask questions.

Google the rest.

Keep it short.

Use photos (and graphics).

Ask Questions.

LinkedIn has grown its user base in the past year,

but users log on less often than in 2013.

13%

25% 61%

How often users visit LinkedIn

DailyWeeklyLess Often

Content on LinkedIn should be informative,

relevant, and actionable.

LinkedIn users are looking for content that is

informative. No cat videos here.

What you post on LinkedIn should be relevant to your

audience.

For every post, ask yourself: can a reader take a positive action with this

information?

Twitter usage is growing among all age groups,

but is most popular among those under 30.

36%

24%

40%

How often users visit Twitter

DailyWeeklyLess Often

Be brief, visual, and clever.

The ideal length for a tweet is 71-100

characters.

Be visual.

Be clever.

Example Social Media

Campaigns

Organic campaign: Graphics for Writers’

Institute

Engagement rate: 13%

Organic campaign: Graphics for Writers’

Institute

Engagement rate: 18%

Organic campaign: Graphics for Writers’

Institute

Engagement rate: 25%

Results: Graphics for Writers’ Institute

Total reach: 693

Total clicks: 33

Total likes, comments and

shares: 80

Average engagement

rate: 14.8%

Total impressions:

1,388

Paid campaign: ESL Immersion

Timeframe: March 25-April 20 Total budget: $600 Target audience: São Paulo (state), Colombia, Spain, France, Jakarta (+50 mi), South Korea, Mexico, Singapore, Thailand, Taiwan Interests: Study abroad, Summer camp, English as a second or foreign language, English language. Behaviors: All frequent travelers, used travel app recently Age: 18 - 25 Language: English

Results: ESL Immersion

Total reach: 173,246

Key website views: 3,237

Total unique

clicks: 4,359

Average frequency:

10.12

Total impressions:

1,752,927

Results: ESL Immersion

Results: ESL Immersion

Facebook ads began

Results: ESL Immersion

Results: ESL Immersion

Takeaways: 1. You don’t have to spend a

fortune to get people to your website.

2. People need to see an ad multiple times before

clicking. 3. You need lots of clicks to even find a qualified lead.

4. Advertising takes time to work.

How to become a social media

expert.

1. Practice

2. Learn from experts

3. Google is your friend

4. Test everything.