From March 14, 2013 – CUPRAP Spring Conference. Navigating the world of new social media— Tumblr, Instagram, Facebook, Google+, Pinterest. Paul Redfern Executive Director of Communications & Marketing, Gettysburg College Becca RamspottCommunications SpecialistFrostburg State University

1. New Social Media
Platforms:
Should you be
(P)interested?
Navigating the world of new social media— Tumblr,
Instagram, Facebook, Google+, Pinterest
March 14, 2013 – CUPRAP Spring Conference

2. Introductions
 Paul Redfern
Executive Director of Communications & Marketing,
Gettysburg College
 Becca Ramspott
Communications Specialist
Frostburg State University

3. WHY ARE YOU HERE?
 Our good looks?
 This was the best of 2 bad options during this time slot?
 My boss told me to come to a social media session?
 The bar is not open yet?
 Other
#CUPRAP13

5. 4 Questions
 How do we know where to be, and where not to be?
 What are some best practices and resources available that
can help us curate meaningful conversations to engage people
with our brands, and inspire them to share our stories?
 What interesting user-generated content is already out there
that our friends, fans and Twitter followers create for us that
we can use ourselves?
 And what do we do when everyone on our campuses wants
their own social media sites, something that can lead to
diluted marketing and branding through overfragmentation?

6. How do we know where to
be, and where not to be?
?

8.  audiences

11. What are some best practices and
resources available that can help
us curate meaningful conversations
to engage people with our
brands, and inspire them to share
our stories?

12. integration

13. Don’t be afraid to fail

14. SOCIAL MEDIA and
the “shiny new toy” syndrome

15. Frostburg’s Foray
Into Social Media …

16. FSU’s Social Media Marketing Philosophy
 Social media is conversation and interaction, not one-way
communication
 We don’t censor our social media communities; instead we
respond or, better yet, wait for one of our constituents to
chime in (Facebook Page policy, though)
 Authenticity is key; if we make a mistake, we acknowledge
it
 Keep it fresh and informal; casual voice

17. What interesting user-generated
content is already out there that
our friends, fans and Twitter
followers create for us that we
can use ourselves?

18. Frostburg’s Formula
for Curating Content, Conversations
• LISTEN to what’s out there, what people are saying
about your brand …
– Socialmention.com (<<< FREE!)
– Hootsuite/Tweetdeck “Mentions” feature
– Brand monitoring/listening tools like Radian6
– Students, students, students!! What are they talking
about?

19. Frostburg’s Foray
Into Social Media …

20. Frostburg’s Formula
for Curating Content, Conversations
• Take advantage of USER-GENERATED CONTENT
– Ask questions on Twitter and RT people’s
responses with your commentary added
– Invite people to share pictures
(#instaFrostburg)
– Do contests

21. Frostburg’s Formula
for Curating Content, Conversations
• Be a CURATOR! (Visual storytelling, organizing info in
an interactive way)
– Create an editorial calendar for your social media
– No posts/tweets without some sort of picture
illustrating the event or announcement, whenever
possible
– PHOTOS, PHOTOS, PHOTOS (Facebook Photo
albums are worth their weight in gold, in terms of
engagement)

22. Frostburg’s Formula
for Curating Content, Conversations

23. How Frostburg
Curates Content, Conversations

24. How Frostburg
Curates Content, Conversations

25. Frostburg’s Formula
for Curating Content, Conversations
• Have a strategic approach that helps you
STAY NIMBLE
– Don’t invest in overly complicated ideas that take a lot
of time and energy … think smart, simple and
shareable
– Be willing to let go of projects that aren’t working or
no longer serve your institution’s goals
– Make sure whatever content you’re curating and
creating supports institutional goals

26. How Frostburg
Curates Content, Conversations

27. Frostburg’s Formula
for Curating Content, Conversations
• CROSS-PROMOTE your social media communities
– Add links to social media in email signatures
– Highlight social media on related print
materials
– Share and share alike across the social media
spectrum (think about how students use their
mobile devices to discover and share info)

28. And what do we do when everyone on
our campuses wants their own social
media sites, something that can lead
to diluted marketing and branding
through overfragmentation?

29. SOCIAL MEDIA
is our Gizmo!
We think social media’s adorable; we’re trying to
take care of it, do all the right stuff with it. And
this has led us to doing some wonderfully creative
things and taking interesting risks to reach our
constituents in new ways.
–Image from “Gremlins,” (1984)

30. And it can get CRAAZZY …
Creative-Commons licensed Gremlin pic by Inti.

31. Frostburg’s Formula
for Curating Content, Conversations
• EDUCATE, DON’T DICTATE, in how you share social
media best practices with your campus
– Form a Social Media Group for collective
leadership/sounding board in spearheading social
media practices
– Have tools and resources at the ready to deal with
flurry of social media creation (eFrostburg
Community)
– Acknowledge departments who use social media
well

32. Staying Current
 Mashable.com
 MediaPost Publications
 ―Wired Edition‖ of Chronicle of
Higher Ed
 #casesmc Twitter chats

33. Questions?
http://www.slideshare.net/coachfern
 Paul Redfern
Executive Director of Communications &
Marketing, Gettysburg College
predfern@gettysburg.edu
@coachfern
 Becca Ramspott
Communications Specialist
Frostburg State University
reramspott@frostburg.edu
@beccaramspott