1. The Center for Women and Gender
Social Media Business Plan
September 2016 – December 2016
Kristen Steiner
2. 2
Content
Introduction
Past and Current Social Media Use
Concerns
Goals
Audiences
CWG Calendar
Stories to produce
Social Media Campaigns and Hashtags
Conflict Resolution
Introduction
In 2010, Utah State University established the Center for Women and Gender (CWG) by
collapsing the Women’s Center, Women and Gender Studies, and the Women and
Gender Research Institute to create a single program focused on the understanding of
intersectionalities, enhancing opportunities for people of all genders and backgrounds,
and building leadership skills. The CWG’s goal is to help teach, serve as an outreach, and
help and provide research in particular fields of study pertaining to women and gender.
While the center provides many different services, it also provides academic programs
such as undergraduate programs and graduation certifications. Students throughout the
university can also use the classes that are offered through CWG as a minor to enhance
any program on campus.
The CWG is home to the Perspectives Club, a club dedicated to equal pay and women
and gender issues at a student level. They also host the Smart Girl Program, a program
helping young girls throughout Cache Valley develop social, emotional, and leadership
skills.
Pastand Current SocialMedia Use
Facebook
The center has a strong presence on Facebook with 618 likes. The last post was written
on August 19, 2016 with posts almost weekly before that. The content published is
mostly videos or links to articles dealing with feminist issues with a variety of likes
ranging on an average from 2 – 12 per post.
Twitter
The twitter account for the CWG is currently being followed by 208 users and is
following 196 users. The last tweet was posted on April 14, 2016 with regular posting
before that. Most content seems to be focused around links to different articles regarding
feminism and politics and current events or issues on campus. There is also another
account with the handle of @CWG_USU that has not been used for four years. It would
be beneficial, if possible to delete that account to make everything focused on the one
active account.
3. 3
Instagram
The “cwg.usu” Instagram account currently has 71 followers and is following 104 users.
Since the centers Instagram account launch there have been 45 posts with the last one 23
weeks ago.
Snapchat
Snapchat is not a platform that is currently being used by the CWG.
YouTube
The center currently has a YouTube page, however, there is no content or videos on the
page. The CWG page has 39 subscribers currently.
Blog
The Center for Women and Gender currently has a blog that is attached to their website.
The blog is simply formatted and accessible to all who visit the site. It is not regularly
updated, nor does it have a schedule for posts. Its last post was August 23, 2016,
however, the last post before that was October 31, 2015.
Concerns
The Center for Women and Gender have had a lot of success in reaching a lot of people
through social media outlets, but there are strong concerns regarding posting material, the
use of certain platforms, and generalized content regarding the center and their mission.
Some current concerns of the CWG are:
Being “edgy” enough and pushing the envelope on particular issues while still
catering to a more conservative audience
Being sensitive to the nature of the program and what it entails in all social
media interaction
Keeping the use of current social media platforms strong through the entire
semester
Keeping under the topic of what the program stands for in all the center does
and produces
The use of Twitter and if it is a effective platform to be using at this time
Producing blog posts that are beyond subpar
Getting more university students involved in activities and social media
engagements
Having an effective, used, and visited YouTube channel
Goals
For the 2016 fall semester at Utah State University, the Center for Women and Gender
have decided to focus its social media efforts on a couple of particular events and topics
to create excitement for what is to come. Those include:
Promote events
Increase followership and recognition of organization among university
students
4. 4
Promoting Nicholas Kristof – Kristof will be a guest lecturer in the upcoming
spring semester, however, the CWG wants to take advantage of this semester
to highlight him, his work, and what he will be speaking about to make people
aware of him and his upcoming USU debut.
Focusing on the topic of sexuality and politics – With the presidential election
coming up in November, and Kristof coming to speak in the spring, the CWG
want to make this a topic that is forward, relevant, and speaking to those
within the Cache Valley demographic.
T-shirt push – The Perspectives Club will be creating and handing out free t-
shirts to make university students, faculty, and staff more aware of what the
center is about and every day issues.
While the above listed items are over arching goals that will be integrated into many
social media posts across the different platforms, there are also specific goals pertaining
to each platform that the CWG would like to address.
Facebook
o X# of posts weekly
o Increasing followers by X%
o Find campus groups to connect with to increase student awareness
Twitter
o Brainstorm ways and ideas to make it more effective and relevant for
target audience
o Decide if it is a platform worth keeping at this particular time
Instagram
o X# of posts weekly
o Follow campus and other groups with similar interests to pull in more
followers
o Post pictures relevant to overarching goals listed above
Snapchat
o Research and decide if Snapchat is worth the time and efforts
o Create an account if applicable
YouTube
o Continue to create content and link to social media sites
o Determine and brainstorm ways to make more it more relevant and at
the forefront of what is being done at the center
Blog
o Post meaningful content every other week
Audiences
Current
At the present, the center reaches a large demographic of people. Not only does it reach
the students, faculty, and staff of Utah State University, the center reaches community
members, scholarship donors, and alumni.
5. 5
Potential
While university students are being reached, the center wants to focus on not only
reaching more students university wide, but reaching more specific colleges. The Center
for Women and Gender is all encompassing. It helps, teaches, and provides opportunities
for people of all genders, races, ethnicities, and backgrounds. The potential to reach out
to particular colleges on campus (i.e., The Huntsman School of Business, The College of
Humanities and Social Science, etc.) and become more involved in clubs and different
organizations is an area that could result with significant impacts for the center.
CWG Calendar
All events will be promoted on social media at least one week in advance, as well as the
day before. The content will be posted during the event as well, however, the particular
content will be determined when more details are given regarding each event.
Event Date Time Place
Scholarship Dinner Thurs, Sept. 22 6 – 8 pm TSC
Carnival and
Documentary
Thurs, Oct. 6 6 – 9 pm UPR Lawn
Brown Bag Wed, Oct. 12 12 – 1 pm Library 208
Clothesline Project Wed, Oct 26 –
Thurs, Oct 27
All Day TSC Sunburst/International
Lounge
Brown Bag Mon, Oct 31 12 -1 pm Library 101
Documentary Thurs, Nov 3 7 – 9 pm NEHMA
Veterans Day
Celebration
Fri, Nov 11 7 – 8 pm TSC Auditorium
Madeline Cavinass Thurs, Nov 17 TBA TBA
Munch and Mingle Thurs, Dec 1 4 – 5 pm TSC 309
Stories to Produce –
When applicable, stories will be written preceding the event being held as to excite
audiences and create an event marketing opportunity.
Carnival and Documentary
Perspectives Club
Clothesline Project
Brown Bag (Oct 31st)
Veterans Day Celebration
Nicholas Kristof
6. 6
SocialMedia Campaigns and Hashtags
Campaigns
Weekly blog posts – Create a weekly blog post highlight upcoming events,
lecturers, and people involved with the center.
Remarkable Women Series – The CWG want to focus on more than the big
names. The Remarkable Women Series will be a type of article series about
amazing women (i.e., staff, faculty, Perspective Club students, top university
students) who have accomplished something spectacular and should be
recognized for their hard works and achievements. CWG wants to give credit
where credit is due.
Did You Know? – This will be a way to educate people what the CWG is
involved in and supports. We will use everyday news facts, facts about the center,
and upcoming events or campaigns for the club to show that CWG is for everyone
and what it stands for. This would also be a great opportunity to find memes or
short video clips to share among users to help follower growth.
Feminist Fridays – This will be a great way to show people that feminism is not a
bad word. We will post memes, pictures, stories (local, nationally, or globally),
and videos to show different aspects of feminism, who is involved in it, and why
it is something fun to be associated with.
Events – CWG is hosting a variety of events this semester. All events are ones
that students can attend, so by using our various platforms we will dedicate a day
to post reminders about upcoming events each week on the different platforms, so
that students, faculty, staff, and alumni are aware of upcoming events.
A Day at the CWG – It is important for Instagram to be involved this semester
when the center is trying to attract university students. This will be a post that
shows pictures of what is happening at the center, who is involved, and the fun
that everyone is having. It will be a visual appeal to highlight the center.
Women Crush Wednesday – This will be a way to highlight important women in
the public who make a huge difference in the world of feminism and paving the
way for women.
Hashtags
- #cwg
- #heforshe
- #leaderHERship
- #usucwg
- #aggielife
- #feministfriday
- #meninfeminism
- #wcw
- #thisiswhatafeministlookslike
7. 7
Content Calendar
Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday
Did you
know?
(Facebook,
Twitter,
Instagram
when
applicable)
Promote
next weeks
event
(Facebook,
Twitter,
Instagram)
Women
Crush
Wednesday
(Facebook,
Instagram)
Remarkable
Women
Series
(Facebook,
Twitter)
Feminist
Fridays
(Facebook,
Twitter)
Promote
blog post
(Facebook,
Twitter,
Instagram)
Did you
know?
(Facebook,
Twitter,
Instagram
when
applicable)
Promote
next weeks
event
(Facebook,
Twitter,
Instagram)
Women
Crush
Wednesday
(Facebook,
Instagram)
A Day at
the CWG
(Instagram)
Feminist
Fridays
(Facebook,
Twitter)
Promote
blog post
(Facebook,
Twitter,
Instagram)
It should also be noted that if possible, content will be posted during and after each event.
Conflict Resolution
If conflicts occur regarding social media posts or usage, a meeting will be arranged with a
representative from the CWG and the other party involved. Inappropriate or negative
content on any of the social media outlets will be dealt with quickly and efficiently. Any
conflicts will also involve the involvement of CWG faculty:
Reni McBride
reni.mcbride@usu.edu
Stephanie Bagnell
Stephanie.Bagnell@usu.edu