SEMM 2019 Using Research to Optimize Your Social Media Strategy - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

SEMM 2019 Using Research to Optimize Your Social Media Strategy

ACADEMICA GROUP Moving Higher Ed Forward v At Academica, we’re driven by the singular mission of moving higher ed forward. In our 20 years of working with post- secondary institutions across Canada and the US, we’ve used our deep sector expertise to provide solutions that have maximum impact for each of our clients.

OUR COMPANY v 23 100 Research experts, Projects consultants, and completed each support staff year

COMPLETE BRAND RESEARCH TOOLKIT Ad/Viewbook Social Media Competitor v Concept Testing Analysis Review Web Brand Awareness/ Ad Recall Tracking Testing Perception Studies

SUCCINCT SOCIAL MEDIA Kara’s career has been centered on the philosophy that in order to create content that drives results, there needs to be a clear understanding of audience and their objectives. In working with clients, she has strived to forge partnerships between interactive and traditional media divisions and opportunities to bridge the digital divide between clients and their target v market. Kara’s specialty is Social Network Analysis. The in-depth understanding of how likes, follows, replies, shares, ratings and online activities all form collections of connections. Gain insights and the ability to effectively change your social media engagement!

OVERVIEW 1 SOCIAL MEDIA AUDIT v 2 COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS 3 TARGET AUDIENCE IDENTIFICATION 4 KEYWORD RESEARCH

OVERVIEW 5 NETWORK ANALYSIS v 6 A/B TESTING 7 SOCIAL METRICS FOR HIGHER ED

Social Media Audit v

SOCIAL MEDIA AUDIT • Process of evaluating an organization’s v social media • Provides clear picture of current efforts

SOCIAL MEDIA AUDIT: Basic Process 01 02 03 Document all Are your Are your v current active profiles profiles social profiles complete? consistent?

Consistent Profiles v

SOCIAL MEDIA AUDIT: Example v

SOCIAL MEDIA AUDIT: Extras v Purpose Content Frequency Followers Engagement What is the What type of How often is How many What content is purpose of each content is being content being followers does contributing account? shared? posted? Last each account most to your post? have? goals?

SOCIAL MEDIA AUDIT: End Product v

Comparative Analysis v

COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS • Comparing your social media v performance to that of other institutions • Stay on top of what others in the sector are doing

COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS: Basic Process v 01 02 03 04 05 List Channels Frequency Content Engagement List of key What channels are How often do they What type of What types of posts comparators (mix of they active on? post? content are they are garnering the competitors, posting? What best engagement? similar, and social hashtags are they leaders) using?

COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS: Tools v

COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS: Example Instagram Profiles v

COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS: Example Facebook: Number of Posts Per Week Institution A posts the v most frequently, averaging around 20 posts per week Institutions B and C post on Facebook significantly less than comparator institutions

COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS: Example Top Performing Channels Interactions/ Platform Institution Posted Content Total Interactions Instagram is Posted Content Institution A’s the top Instagram A 23 5709 248 Instagram garnered performing Instagram C 46 3119 68 v the most interactions channel for Instagram B 40 2525 63 per post interactions Facebook D 10 295 30 Facebook E 21 439 21 Facebook A 38 724 19 Facebook C 48 658 14 Facebook B 90 617 7 Twitter B 97 647 7 Twitter A 66 440 7 Twitter D 10 70 7 Twitter E 16 101 6 LinkedIn A 4 15 4 LinkedIn E 15 52 3 Twitter C 82 120 1 Instagram E 0 0 - Instagram D 0 0 -

Target Audience v Understanding

TARGET AUDIENCE UNDERSTANDING • Your target audience is not “everyone” v • General personas can help understand how your audience thinks, feels, and acts • Need social media-specific understanding as well

AUDIENCE UNDERSTANDING: Basic Process v 1 Channels What social channels does your target audience use the most? 2 Content What types of content do they engage with? 3 Topics What do they talk about online?

AUDIENCE UNDERSTANDING: Tools • Market research v • 3 rd party information

AUDIENCE UNDERSTANDING: Tools v

AUDIENCE UNDERSTANDING: Example Who is our target audience? v Who are they? (E.g. age, gender, location, interests, etc.) What are they interested in that you can (E.g. educational content, information, provide? etc.) Where do they usually hang out online? (E.g. Facebook, Instagram, etc. or niche platforms) When do they look for the type of (E.g. weekends, evenings, etc.) content you can provide? Why do they consume the content? (E.g. to get better at their job, to stay up to date, to determine fit, etc.) How do they consume the content? (E.g. read blogs, listen to podcasts, watch videos, etc.)

Keyword Research v

KEYWORD RESEARCH • Identifying the topics, hashtags, and keywords v your target audience uses • Use this information to share content relevant to their interests

KEYWORD RESEARCH: Basic Process STEP 1 STEP 2 STEP 3 STEP 4 Develop list of Search using keyword Understand user Use high volume v relevant topics research tools intent keywords that reflect your user intent

Network Analysis v

NETWORK ANALYSIS • Data visualization v • Can identify top influencers (mayors), hashtags, topics and more

NETWORK ANALYSIS: Structure and Phases v

NETWORK ANALYSIS: Example Strategy v

A/B Testing v

A/B TESTING • Social lends itself to a ‘try-and- see’ approach v • Focus on continually monitoring and adjusting • You can find recommendations for timing, frequency, headlines, hashtags, etc. but they won’t be specific to YOUR target audience

A/B TESTING: Basic Process SHARE WINNING …or continue to iterate and test TRACK AND ANALYZE Based on the goal of the post, v track relevant metrics SHOW TO SEGMENT Show each variation to a random segment of followers CREATE TWO VARIATIONS Ensure only one element is varied CHOOSE ELEMENT Choose an element to test

A/B TESTING: What to test POST TEXT CONTENT TYPE Length, style, tone Image, video, carousel, GIFs v HEADLINE AND DESCRIPTION TIME OF DAY/WEEK For linked articles, events, Morning, afternoon, etc. evening, day of week CALL TO ACTION HASHTAGS Long vs. short, built-in CTA Specific hashtags, number, buttons vs. CTA in the post placement

Social Metrics for Higher Ed v

SOCIAL METRICS FOR HIGHER ED • Followers, reach and engagement are v common but insufficient • Metrics need to be tied to the goals of your social media program

SOCIAL METRICS MAP v Source: SproutSocial

SOCIAL METRICS FOR HIGHER ED • Depending on your goals, this may include: • % of web visitors referred by social media v • Response rate and response time to inquiries • % increase in share of voice • % increase in share of desired positioning • Sentiment • % increase in coverage containing desirable quotes from key influencers

SOCIAL METRICS FOR HIGHER ED • Depending on your goals, this may include: • % increase in organic mentions v • Developing a point system to determine whether you are talking about and getting mentioned for what matters to your institution

Questions/Discussion

Jul Julie P Peters Vice President, Research Th Thank you! Academica Group julie@academicagroup.com v Ka Kara Wood Founder and CDO Succinct Social Media kara@succinctsocialmedia.com