LISA DU BOIS LOW

Marketing, Digital & Emerging Media Communications Executive (25 Years)

Fulltime Professor (Third Year) Industries:

High Tech Manufacturing Inorganic Chemicals Licensed Apparel Higher Education Small Business Owner

Education BA Marketing, Finance Minor MBA

PROFESSOR OF PRACTICE IN PUBLIC RELATIONS

Teach Graduate and Undergraduate Digital and PR Strategy CoursesPT Marketing/Branding for the CollegeFaculty Advisor of the Outpost Social Media Lab

State of the Art technologyOne of the first in Higher EducationStudent runGives graduates a competitive

edgeNeed help? We <3

community partners! Email me at lisa.low@ttu.edu

THE OUTPOST SOCIAL MEDIA LAB

AKA Getting found on the internet Digital Social

Back-to-basics approach to creating and maintaining an online reputation management strategy for brands AND individuals.

BUILDING A BASIC DIGITAL FOOTPRINT

According to BIA/Kelsey Group, 97% of online consumers research products and services ONLINE before buying.

Every single business, every single artist, NPO, club, etc. needs some kind of basic website. Google listings are crowdsourced. Example Mc-Merket. You need a single, credible source of basic information.

Infinite choices of website hosting and creation; CMS (if you can create a Word document, you can create a web page! Wix Weebly GoDaddy Squarespace Wordpress

FOUNDATION OF DIGITAL STRATEGY

All major search engines in the Western world get their information from Google and Bing.

Google’s process of assigning weight and value to individual factors when evaluating website and social media content is called an algorithm. It changes FREQUENTLY. In fact experts specialize

in just this facet of digital strategy. Once you establish your SEO strategy, you need

to frequently check and update your keywords.Algorithms aren’t just for Google:

Pandora & Spotify Amazon Target Coupons

THE GOOGLE DANCE

Indexing is just a scary word for how Google and Bing are keeping track of websites.

Search engines “crawl” websites periodically, take snapshots and index them.

This is important because you need to know how entries are being stored in connection with your brand.

Publishing new content is the primary trigger for a new index (or you can request one with Google Fetch.)

This is also called “cache.” Dangerous because this is how outdated or

inaccurate information stays on the web for awhile (and now you know!).

Combat negative information with new information.

INDEXING

Words typed into a “search query” are called keywords.

WHAT people are searching for with regards to your business or service. BTW what about typograpical errorz?

Your job as a digital strategist is to figure out so you get found online!

KEYWORDS?!?!

An DMA is a methodical “outside in” look at your digital and social media assets.

Google and Bing your brand.Record what you find.Audits should be conducted:

At least once per year (tie it to your goal and strategy setting activities).

Before & after new campaigns. Internally, you don’t need to pay an

agency (in fact, an intern can effectively handle this task).

As frequently as once per month.

CHECK YOURSELF! STEP 1: DIGITAL MEDIA AUDIT

Delete unused accounts (or take them offline) or make a concerted effort to have them deleted. You remember … that Instagram account your intern started last year? Yup.

You would not leave a mess in your brick and mortar store. Don’t leave a mess on the internet.

Would you put up a new storefront for a special event? Don’t do it on social. Hint: Facebook Events are HOT right now.

Old and outdated information negatively impacts your SEO rank.

STEP 2: CLEAN YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA HOUSE

Official Channels & Accounts Review branding. Is each accurately

representing the brand? Does each channel have accurate contact

information? Is someone responsible for monitoring in-

platform messaging? When was the last time something was

posted? How’s your cross-channel promotion? Consider your commitment to social media,

blogs and online calendars. It’s ok to let it go ... these accounts are a reflection of your brand. Minimize this threat to your online reputation.

STEP 3: TIME FOR A REFRESH

The best digital strategists understand that they must connect with their consumers are on the channels THEY prefer.

If you can’t, then be honest. Explain in your profile and in one or two

posts how to connect with you.

BE HONEST

Assemble some free and easy-to-use tools that will help you put your best foot forward (and increase your digital footprint).

Google AnalyticsSocial Media In-Platform AnalyticsHootsuite (freemium)

Use this platform to manage all accounts, you’ll never lose access to an account again!

Google TrendsKlout

MOVING FORWARD

Google Analytics: Free and most widely used (google.com/analytics) Signup for a free demo account.

Audience: This shows many things about the people coming to your site, including where they're located geographically, how often they visit your site and what devices and browsers they use to get there.

Acquisition: Here you'll find how people got to your site. You can track which sites link to your page or keywords people search to find you.

Behavior: This tab gives you insight into specific pages on your site. It can help answer questions about how people enter and exit your pages, as well as which ones are most popular.

INSIDE OUT: GOOGLE ANALYTICS

Do: Listen and engage on social media. Publish basic content. Measure and analyze results. Be social! Show the human side of your brand/personality. Be honest and transparent. Know the rules of each platform.

Don’t: Put a # on it (if you’re not going to listen and respond). Delete or ignore negative comments. Don’t ignore positive comments! Link accounts (Twitter/Facebook/Pinterest) for automatic posts. Instagram is exception. Try to be someone you’re not. Always align your digital/social strategy with your core

mission/vision/values.

SOCIAL MEDIA STRATEGY BASICS

Content isn’t hard y’all! If you’d put it on a sign, in a brochure, news release, email, newsletter

… repurpose it online! If you don’t have an editorial calendar, make one.Remember, publishing new content is the single most effective way to

impact search rankings. Identify key words and use them throughout the content (titles, body

text, image names, etc.).Use free tools like Canva, Snappa, Piktochart, QUIZZR to create high-

quality multimedia content on a budget).Live video streaming is highly effective on Twitter and Facebook … show

behind-the-scenes and teaser content (or just show people you’re human!)

THE “C” WORD

Social/Digital was never free, but now these channels are mainstream and should be treated as such.

Consider spending for high-quality content and paid placement. For example, Facebook is very inexpensive

and targeted.Don’t leave it up to interns (without

direction and supervision). Outsourcing digital and social media

content is a smart investment.

CONSIDER SPENDING

Come see us at The Outpost!Connect with me:

lisa.low@ttu.edu @ldlow (Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, snapchat, Slideshare)

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