Twitter & LinkedIn a guide for higher education Lance Kissler Director of Marketing, Pacific University @lkissler

Twitter & LinkedIn

a guide for higher education

Lance KisslerDirector of Marketing, Pacific University@lkissler

16 Nov 2010 via CASE District VIII | Lance Kissler, @lkissler

Who am I?

• Twitter• @pacificu• @prsapdxmetro• @pdxcommconf• @case8• @inhs• @CHERSpokane• @NWMedStar• @stlukesrehab

• Facebook• Pacific University• Portland PRSA• CASE District VIII• Inland Northwest

Health Service• CHERSpokane• Northwest MedStar• St. Luke’s

Rehabilitation Inst.


What is social media?

• Creating and sharing in an online conversation with your constituents.



• Social & Professional Networking

• Customer Service Networks

• Location/Check-In Services

• Video & Picture Sharing

• Wikis

• Comment & Reputation

• Crowdsourced Content

• Social Bookmarks• Micromedia• Blogging• Events• Music



• Cost-effective strategy to reach just about everyone: alumni, donors, prospective students, current students, parents, faculty, staff, media and more.

175,000,000

500,000,000

80,000,000


How to use it

• Personally• Connect with family,

friends & colleagues• Share your photos,

videos & stories• Stay current on

trends, news & interests

• Professionally• Connect with internal &

external audiences, media & the public

• Share your events, announcements, videos, photos, knowledge & stories

• Stay current on trends, news & your brand (PR)


10 Steps to Getting Started

• It’s not a formula.

• It’s organic.

• Have patience.

• Be creative.

• Now let’s get started…


1 | Create personal accounts first

• Don’t jump into the pool without getting your feet wet first:• Create a Twitter account• Create a LinkedIn profile• Join LinkedIn groups

• Demo anyone?


2 | Follow & listen

• Don’t be that awkward person at the cocktail party:• Follow local news sources• Follow your favorite companies• Check out the celebrities

• Demo anyone?


3 | Interact

• Be a rookie—it’s okay:• Message your friends• Upload videos & photos• Ask questions

• Conventions: @ reply/mention, direct message (dm), retweet (RT)


4 | Research

• Know the groundrules:• Checkout Mashable.com (subscribe to their

email updates• Investigate tools & services• Find out where your audience is (go to them)


5 | Develop a strategy

• Establish a gameplan:• Determine your objectives:

• Recruitment• Fundraising• Awareness• Publicity• Alumni engagement

• Integrate social media into your mix• Create promotion strategies


6 | Create professional accounts

• Let’s get this party started:• Implement a social media policy

• Commenting guidelines• Employee policies• Organizational policies• Usage guidelines

• Setup your accounts


Commenting Guidelines

Comments and thoughts are encouraged. We ask that all conversation should be thoughtful, civil and appropriate for all audiences. Please follow these basic guidelines when posting a comment:•Relevance•Appropriate language•Concise (comments may be edited for length and clarity)•Identify yourself

We reserve the right to review all comments and remove comments that violate any of the above conditions.


7 | Follow & listen

• Keep your competition as close as your friends:• Follow your constituents• Follow your competition• Connect with B2B/media opportunities


8 | Be part of the conversation

• Social media isn’t about controlling the conversation, it’s about creating and sharing it:• Position yourself as an expert• Offer incentives or meaningful content• Respond timely & truthfully


9 | Measure

• Twitter metrics:• # of followers, listings, RTs & @ mentions• Replies/conversations, direct messages• Clickthrough rates (shortened URLs)

• LinkedIn metrics:• # of group members• Discussions & comments


10 | Stay on the edge

• Don’t get left behind—social media changes constantly–stay current by:• Reading up on trends (resource sheet)• Visiting Mashable• Attending presentations


Twitter Tips & Tricks

• Add shortened URLs to your tweets so you can track clickthrough rates

• Take advantage of #FF (Follow Friday)• Use hashtags to identify trends and topics• Tweet live from events and include picture

links• Send updates that are timely and relevant

(current issues, news, etc.)



• Remind your followers of important deadlines and events

• Monitor your brand & keywords through social media searches

• Don’t tweet too often—3 to 5 times per day of your own content

• Use 120 characters or less• Drive users to your website (SEM/SEO)



• Be selective of who you follow• Monitor new followers for spam accounts• Utilize lists to track & promote groups• Customize your background• Use your bio real estate; include URL• Acknowledge new followers• Be authentic, approachable and have a

personality


LinkedIn Tips & Tricks

• Create groups for target audiences (general alumni, chapters, interns, etc.)

• Consider importing your Twitter feed into LinkedIn

• Utilize the event feature• Encourage your students to sign up—and then

train them how to use it• Use it as a recruitment and background check

tool


LinkedIn Tips & Tricks

• Use announcements sparingly—can only send every 7 days

• Join interest groups• Coordinate with your Career Center and

Alumni offices


Questions / Demos

• Using Twitter | setup, engaging, searching• Using LinkedIn | setup, groups, RSS feeds• Shortened URLs• Hootsuite

• Thank you!


Connect

• Lance Kissler• @lkissler / @someprtips• [email protected]• someprtips.wordpress.com• linkedin.com/in/lkissler• 503-329-9145

Documents

Twitter & LinkedIn a guide for higher education Lance Kissler Director of Marketing, Pacific University @lkissler