Minneapolis Marketing Summit 2018 Dana Truby, Chief Creative Officer, MDR

1. Winning at
Social Media in
the Education
Space

2. Today’s Agenda
The State of Social
We’ll talk about the biggest social challenges, the
importance of building engagement & how educators
are using social media.
What Works
This is the part where we share all of our juicy secrets.
Rules, Rules, Rules
How to set yourself up for success by establishing
guidelines.
Questions
You’ve got questions, we’ve got answers!

3. SlideType #2:
The “Chapter Break”
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4. SlideType #2:
The “Chapter Break”
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5. That Conference Feeling..
How do educators feel when they attend
conferences?
• Respected
• Understood
• Inspired
• Like a true
“member”
• Filled with ideas
• Connected
• Appreciative of
your organization
How can you use social media to cultivate that
feeling the rest of the year?

6. Educators are more active on social channels than the general public and twice as likely to use Pinterest.
Educators Are Social
Sources: Pew Research, 2018 and MDR “Teachers and Social Media” Survey, 2018

7. 2,000,000
300
300,000
Followers across ten
channels
mm+ monthly
impressions
Engaged Facebook
users daily
Here’sWhat We Know
Works
1. Give your audience content they want… and
your followers and engagement will grow.
2. Engage with the influencers in your space.
3. Facebook groups are a goldmine for listening
to your customers and creating true
community.
4. Prioritize video in your context mix.
5. Prioritize Instagram and get ready for
Snapchat.
6. Paid social: Think beyond the boost.

8. #1. No More Selfies
Too often, brands treat social media
as a one-way broadcast channel instead of
a powerful community-building tool. Focus
on what your followers care about most.
TIPS:
• Ask: How would your social media channels
change if they were for your audience, instead
of about your organization?
• Determine 5-10 categories of content your
followers are most interested in.
• Change your mix. Fewer “selfies,” more service
posts. Recommended ratio 4:1.
• Share content that is all about what they care
about, regardless of the source.

9. “Brands that use social media as a
broadcast system will end up
feeling pretty lonely.”
- Kim Garst (@kimgarst)

10. #2. Reach Out to Influencers
Use your social channels to connect with
influencers who share your audience and start
building stronger relationships now.
TIPS:
• Identify, follow and regram or retweet on
Instagram & Twitter.
• Use and follow the hashtags:
#teachersofinstagram has 3.5 million posts
#teachersfollowteachers has 2.8 million posts
• Surprise + Delight: Send influencers special
invites and swag.
• Consider paid influencer campaigns.

11. Influencers by the Numbers…
The Rising Importance of Influencer Marketing, March 2018

12. WeAreTeachers Influencer Game

13. #3. Get Serious About
Facebook Groups
Groups are all about community and social
interaction. They allow any member to post and
start a discussion. Facebook favors group posts
over page and brand posts.
TIPS:
• Use groups to give members or subsets of
members a place to connect.
• Limit promotion in Groups.
• Choose the “Closed Group” option and use
qualifying questions to maintain a healthy
group culture.
• Use groups as a listening tool and a testing
ground.

14. Groups Are on the Rise

15. Our Groups

16. #4. AddVideo toYour Channels
Facebook optimizes video in users’ Newsfeeds, and
your followers love the video medium. Twitter,
Instagram, and of course,YouTube, allow you to
ramp up views but also create an emotional
connection.
TIPS:
• Make video a part of content planning from the
beginning.
• For social video, keep it short and simple.
• Try easy slide-share style videos to take advantage of
the photos you have.
• If you’re not using Facebook Live, it’s time to start.
• Try user-submitted video.

17. Video is King
“By 2019, video content will be the driving factor behind
85% of search traffic in the US.”

18. GrowthThroughVideo
https://www.facebook.com/WeAreTeachers/videos/10155958886813708/

19. #5. Prioritize Instagram and
Prepare for Snapchat
Instagram stories are a game changer this year
with the ability to add a link…once you hit that
10K follower level. To get there…
TIPS:
• Not using hashtags? The optimum number of
hashtags is 11.
• Engage with your community on a micro level (a like
or comment from you when tagged goes a long way!)
• Engage on a macro level with influencers, video and
contents.
• Don’t even think about buying followers.

20. Embracing Instagram

21. Instagram is Hot … and Snapchat is Growing

22. #6.Ad Spending Beyond the
Boost
Building organic and relationships with
influencers should be first priority. Ad spending
is not a substitute.
TIPS:
• Prioritize growing organic to get more out of your social
ad spending.
• Try Instagram ads—the reach has not declined, Pinterest
ads.
• Try multiple creatives and wait before putting money ads
behind it.
• Retarget ads off of content and video.

23. Finally, Six Rules We Live and Post By:
1. Talk like a person. No jargon. No passive voice. Never say “rigor.”
2. Optimize every post. Make the most of every element—image, description,
comment, hashtags.
3. Use real photos whenever you can. Don’t use the same sad classroom stock
photos you see all the time.
4. RememberThe 3 E’s. People can’t resist content that is emotional, educational,
or entertaining.
5. ThinkVideo first. Content is more than blogs and articles.
6. We’re not the stars of the show. Educators and kids are the headliners.

25. DanaTruby
Chief Creative Officer, MDR
trubyd@dnb.com
ThankYou