Social Media Diary

I am starting to wonder if to be most effective in social media you have to be really niche specific. For example, in stead of another Facebook page for another one of our campuses, maybe the best approach is a Facebook page for a specific major. This could help improve yield and conversion. This was a short post, but I had to get it off my mind.  

I did some social media promotion for Jr/Sr day. - I created a video:  - I had our EA’s post the video to their profile.  - I asked some students to post the video to their profile.  - I created an image for the EA’s to post on their profiles and tag the students in it who said they were coming. - I made several updates on our main facebook page - We also emailed out the video. Results   - In one week, the video had 353 views. That is a lot for us that quickly.  - In a survey we did the day of the event, 70% of people said they saw the video.  - According to YouTube analytics, 30 percent of those who saw the video were in the age range (13-24) that we recruit in. - Major leap for me- measuring is something I am slowly figuring out.   Things that could have gone better - Not all the EA’s used the video or the photo. Why? I asked them. - It would have been nice to have a couple more students upload the video to their page. - 40 percent of our video views came from ages 65+ (what is that all about?) - More attendance at the Jr/Sr day event would have been great. Lots of RSVPs, but low attendance. Why?  

In a previous post I mentioned how I like to use Kurrently to find mentions of OU on Facebook and Twitter. I really do love using it. Yesterday I found a high school senior who casually tweeted that she was filling out college apps for us and another school. I started following her. I then @replied her and said if she had questions about OU, let me know. I also let our admin rep in her district know about the tweet. He said he would get in touch with her. Why does this feel wrong to me?     I was doing my due diligence as the social media specialist. I was monitoring our brand and looking for opportunities to the join the conversation. However I feel like I have violated her privacy somehow. Shouldn’t she be able to tweet without a stalker like me finding it and jumping on her? FYI- she has not returned the follow or @replied me back as of this morning.  Ottawa is a small brand so when I find mentions like this, I feel it is my duty to follow up. But, maybe next time I will just let them be. Thoughts on this would be nice.

Recently, I have started using the Facebook Events app on our fan page as a way to encourage interaction on the actual page. This is as opposed to getting our fans to attend an event in person. For example, I really want to start engaging our online students more on our page. So, I created a FB event taking place next Tuesday that asks them to upload photos to our page of where they study. Now, I have a URL I can share on Twitter and on our website. Plus, I’m hoping that our fans will see that we’re not just using the events tab to get them to attend school events, but are using it as a way that they can get excited to share something about themselves. Using the Events tab this way may take a while to catch on with our Fans as this is just my second attempt at something like this, but I believe in experiments in social media. I’ll let you know how it goes.       

Wow! All is I can say is that I’m not sure I’m ready for this responsibility. The responsibility of owning our Facebook Places page. There was one thing I did not realize. I heard rumors, but actually seeing it in person…these Places pages are just like Fan pages. They have photo albums, status updates, video apps, notes, discussions, and the kitchen sink that it stole from the traditional FB page.   Am I supposed to promote this page? Am I supposed to abandon our main Facebook page? Am I supposed to update this page daily like I do the other one? I have no answers right now.  OU’s Places Page The status update area Status update in my newsfeed that I wrote on our FB places page.  

I have been totally on top of the Facebook Places launch. Ottawa was not going to miss any opportunity to be up on the latest aspect of Facebook. I was curious to see if anyone would check in at OU. My idea to take advantage of Facebook Places was to host a Virtual Check-In Party. I wanted all our fans and followers who were on campus yesterday and the rest of the week, to take out their phones and simply check-in on Facebook, Foursquare or Gowalla. I created a Facebook event for it and we posted an update on our website. Anyone who checks in can leave a comment on our Facebook wall and they could win a t-shirt.       This was not the raging party I envisioned.  - I kept tabs on our number of check ins on Facebook and Foursquare (I don’t have a Gowalla account), the numbers did not increase.  - No one wrote on the Facebook wall announcing they checked in. Day one, not a success. I don’t really see it getting any better either.  At least we tried. We will always try.   

I have been on Foursquare for about six months. I have been using Facebook Places for a week. Foursquare really proved its worth to me this weekend and it made me realize the current differences between the two services. Every Friday, my hubby and I got out to eat. We choose Houlihan’s this particular evening. I walked in and noticed the “Foursquare Special Here” sticker on the door. I pulled out my phone, checked-in and we got a FREE!!! order of Frites. My husband, our money saver/worrier (I’m the spender, LOL), was very pleased. Also, as I checked-in, I got a pop up recommendation for a near by restaurant, North, by Simon Kuo. I have always wanted to try North, so I think we will on a special occasion. Foursquare was also really helpful when I was in NYC. Every time I checked in at a restaurant, I got a pop-up recommendation about what to order. Each recommendation was fab.    Facebook Places - Facebook Places is a lot different than Foursquare. Facebook is using it as an additional way of staying in touch with friends and family.The point of Foursquare, to me, is to score deals, become a mayor, be a part of a city-wide game.   -With Foursquare I feel like I can go check-in crazy. But, I don’t want to irritate my Facebook friends with tons of check-ins. So, I’m not as willing to use it so willy-nilly. - As a marketer, Facebook hasn’t even allowed me to claim our locations yet. (Hello, Facebook! I sent in all the requirements you asked for!) So, I don’t even know what is possible with it. But, I am currently hosting a check-in party with our Facebook fans. And, I have noticed that I can’t even see who has checked in at our location. It simply gives me a number- 20 check ins. I can’t see who, or when.  I really like Foursquare right now. As a consumer and traveler, it has proven to be valuable to me.