Creating a Presence on Emerging Social Channels
Months and months ago, I gave a talk at the Penn State Social Media Summit on creating a presence on new & emerging social channels. It’s a question I get asked a lot, from both peer institutions and higher ed marketers. How does Snapchat work for the University of Michigan? Why do we care so much about Pinterest? To me, it’s not about the new channels, the hype behind what the next big thing is, or being the first to try something. It’s about the connections they allow us to build.
I’ve written before about how, and why we decided to start a Snapchat account, and you can see what we were up to on Snapchat this summer on the #UMsocial blog (and in this amazing infographic from our ‘Hail to the Victors’ crowdsourced story). I could go on and on about how much of a success Snapchat has been, and how we’ve seen more views on a story in 24 hours, than traffic to our website in one month, but that may not apply to you. Your university, your brand, or your company has different goals, different content, and a different audience. So how do you know which social channels are right for you?
Before jumping in and creating new channels, it’s important to look at what you already have. Are you posting your tweets automatically to your Facebook page, to Google+, and filling your Twitter with Instagram links?
When I first started at the University of Michigan, our Pinterest page was not optimized. It wasn’t a priority, and therefore, we weren’t getting much out of it. Most people know by now, I’m crazy about Pinterest. I write about it, I talk about it on podcasts, I create campaigns on it for the University of Michigan. I made it my priority to breathe life into this channel, and it paid off. Here are a few starting points if one of your less active channels could be more of an asset:
- Optimize your profile design
- Streamline your content
- Engage with your followers
- Set goals, track your progress
- Analyze your competition
So you think you’re ready to start something new? Be sure you do your research. While new platforms like Snapchat and whatever else is to come seem enticing, it isn’t right for everyone. It’s important to ask yourself the following questions before jumping in:
- Is your audience here?
- What will this add to your already existing presence?
- Do you have content to populate this channel, or will you just be repurposing content from an already existing channel?
- Who will manage your new presence?
Next (still, before starting), you should define your goals, and decide how you will track and reach them. Make a plan before you hit publish. Have your content bank built up. All of this seems obvious, but many of us have seen (or been guilty of) starting a new presence, only for it to fall flat after 3 days because we run out of content. This. Is. Bad.
Like I said before, you can read the full details about why and how we started Snapchat in an earlier post. The more important thing, outside of these successes, is when to say NO. Many, many brands have adopted Snapchat now, and many still don’t know what to do with it!
Of course, you can plan and strategize endlessly beforehand but you still don’t really know what will happen. Maybe you find out it isn’t for you. Maybe you find out you don’t have the time to dedicate to it. Maybe you should hit delete.
Deleting an inactive, or underperforming channel doesn’t have to mean failure. Most of the time, you’re just embracing change, and freeing up more time (and content) for channels that make more sense.
As the social landscape continues to evolve, it’s important to continuously evaluate your presences, and be sure you’re making the most of your resources, in time, content, and manpower. I’ve said it many many times before, but I’ll say it again. It’s better to have a few great channels, than many “okay,” or even blank channels. Don’t be okay. Adapt. Be great.
It is not the strongest or the most intelligent who will survive but those who can best manage change. —Charles Darwin
