Digital Media Strategy

The Social Media Affect

L O U I S V I L L E . E D U

Who Cares? You Should!

• Almost 100 percent (97 percent) of consumers who bought a product based on an online review found the review to be accurate.

• Seventy percent of consumers look to online reviews before they buy.

• Seventy-five percent of people don't believe companies tell the truth in advertisements.

• Nearly 90 percent (87 percent) of people believe the CEO's reputation is an important part of the company's reputation.

L O U I S V I L L E . E D U

History of The (nerd) World, part 42

L O U I S V I L L E . E D U

The people who define our global conversations

Today, we use Google, Facebook and

Twitter more than any other source to find

information, news, gossip and to influence

our purchasing decisions.

All three of these products (and several

others) use filtering algorithms to

determine what you actually see (are

influenced by).

Our current world is not inclusive, it is

based on what stories have the most

influence or traction (not always what is

important or relevant to you)

The world we live in

Larry Page

Google

Mark Zuckerburg

Facebook

Jack Dorsey

Twitter

L O U I S V I L L E . E D U

In a room full of screaming kids?

To be successful in today’s digital playground

(online, mobile & tablets):

• You have to exist! • Website

• A static website – not asking for feedback• A blog

• Social Media (Facebook, Twitter & possibly LinkedIn)• You have to have friends in high places (links pointing to you)• An advertising plan – even if it’s long-term.

• You have to have a pulse

• You have to say something that people care about

So, how can you have a voice

L O U I S V I L L E . E D U

Where do you go when you want something?

Search Engine Optimization – the wizard of odd (not in

order)

• Content

• Code

• Architecture of your site(s)

• Links (inbound and outbound)

• Social media

• Trust (are you an authority?)

• Personal demographics (location, language, history, etc)

Search Matters

http://www.google.com/competition/howgooglesearchworks.html

L O U I S V I L L E . E D U

The science of SEO

L O U I S V I L L E . E D U

The science of SEO

L O U I S V I L L E . E D U

Content is king, even social media content counts

How social media impacts SEO

L O U I S V I L L E . E D U

Method to the madness

Developing a strategy

L O U I S V I L L E . E D U

Your post is only the beginning

The ripple effect of the social graph

L O U I S V I L L E . E D U

Numbers that matter

• Over 100 Billion searches (globally) every month.

• 70% of clicks by people searching are organic (not a paid ad)

• Over 70% of ads on search pages are ignored

• 75% of people never scroll past the first page

• When consumers are exposed to a brand through both search and social media, the brands

overall search click-through-rate goes up by 94%

• Search and email are the top two internet activities

• Companies that blog have 434% more indexed pages.

• Inbound leads cost 61% less than outbound leads.

• Search is the #1 driver of traffic to content sites, beating social media by over 300%

• Search Engine Optimization leads have a 14.6% close-rate. Outbound leads have a 1.7%

close-rate.

• Google: 18% go to #1 | 10% go to #2 |

2.7% go to #3

• Bing: 9.7% go to #1 | 5.5% go to #2 |

2.7% go to #3

Gratuitous Stats Scene

http://www.searchenginejournal.com/24-eye-popping-seo-statistics/42665/

L O U I S V I L L E . E D U

Establishing an effective social media strategy

Let’s focus on social media

• Identify a target market or markets• Consumers• Donors / sponsors

• Establish an overarching goal or objective• Branding / exposure• Lead generation / sales / funding

• Develop a fluid plan• Establish a content calendar but be flexible enough to change• Establish consistent programming• Develop content to drive social traffic to your site, a call-to-action or story• Engagement strategy – how much do you want to engage?

• Define your voice or personality

• Go! But be ready to change.

L O U I S V I L L E . E D U

Establishing an effective social media strategy – TARGET

Let’s focus on social media

L O U I S V I L L E . E D U

Establishing an effective social media strategy – GOALS

Let’s focus on social media

• Establish an overarching goal or objective• Branding / exposure

• Size matters – you want your follower-base to increase & share more• Goals should be based on impressions, shares and engagements• Everything you do should encourage sharing• Rich in photos, stories and promoting others

• Lead generation / sales / funding• Sales matter – focus on the close, not the size of your audience• Targeting is the key to success in effective revenue generation• Most organizations require substantial ad budgets (less strategic)• Strategic organizations have a content strategy that leads to sales (but it takes

time)

L O U I S V I L L E . E D U

Establishing an effective social media strategy – PLANNING

Let’s focus on social media

Fluid planning• Establish a content calendar but be flexible enough to change

• Define over-arching themes by month, usually around National/Global themes

• Develop at least one piece of original content to support your themes and link back to it regularly

• Establish consistent programming• Develop daily or weekly programming that is consistent, fun,

engaging and sharable• Heart Health Hump Day – share a photo of how you keep

your heart healthy• Develop content to drive social traffic to website, a call-to-action or story• Engagement strategy – how much do you want to engage?

L O U I S V I L L E . E D U

Establishing an effective social media strategy – VOICE

Let’s focus on social media

Define your “voice”

• Personal• A specific person – usually a personality or made up personality• A personal voice from a corporate account• Will you be conversational?

• Will you answer questions/comments?• Will you engage with positive & negative conversations?

• Institutional• Normally push-marketing• Some engaging, fun or personality-type posts• Fact-based, educational, entertaining or other sharable content

L O U I S V I L L E . E D U

Establishing an effective social media strategy – GO!

Let’s focus on social media

Based on your outline from the previous four three slides• Define resource allocation

• Internal • External / consultants

• Define content ownership• Internal• External / consultants

• Define social media owner (s)• Internal• External / consultants

• Establish metrics to track• Impressions• Unique visitors• Engagements (a comment, like or share)• Reach (total reach, including shares)

• Set times to review and determine next-steps

L O U I S V I L L E . E D U

Email best practices

• Don’t Spam! Know your list & how to build it

• Your top 300 pixels are gold, use them wisely

• Spellcheck, grammar check & check again

• K.I.S.S. – Say less and get to the point

• If you have to be a windbag do it after the 300

pixels

• Pictures are not pretty when over 65-85% of

people will never see them. Use text, highlight

with graphics.

• ALL CAPS IS YELLING!

It’s annoying, just like

these!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Let’s Talk Spam

L O U I S V I L L E . E D U

Q&A

L O U I S V I L L E . E D U

Jeff Rushton

Director of Digital Media

University of Louisville

jeff.rushton@louisville.edu

502-852-8119

Thank you