Instructor:

Erik Deutsch (@ErikDeutsch)

#UCLAx425

Best Practices in Social Media for the Communications Professional

UCLA X425 Fall 2014

Meeting 3 (November 18):

•Getting more fans, likes, followers•Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) •Types of Social Media Content•SEO for the PR pro•Online reputation management•Make yourself easy to find (inbound links

and referrer sites)•Guest speaker:

Tony Adam (@TonyAdam)

Founder & CEO, Eventup

UCLA X425 Fall 2014

• Follow others (reciprocity)

• Complete your profile and look “legit” (photo, keyword and links)

• Engage!

• Leverage what’s trending (#hashtags/keywords)

• Post when/where your target followers hang out

• Attend events (online/offline; e.g., Twitter chats)

• Mention other users in your posts (“ego bait”)

• Promote everywhere (email sig, website, marketing collateral, etc.)

• Buy them... literally (but don’t)

UCLA X425 Fall 2014

• Reach/Impressions – # of individuals who saw your content

• Clickthrus – # of times someone used a link you posted

• Unique Visitors –# of distinct individuals visiting your website

• Page Views – # of times a user visited a particular page on your website

• Time on Page/Site – length of time spent on your page or website

• Bounce Rate – % of visitors who leave your site after viewing just one page

• Comments – # of responses submitted regarding your content

• Downloads – # of times your content was downloaded

• Conversions – # of times a user responded to your call to action.

1. Marketing-focused (promotional)

2. Useful (provides utility – educational/informational)

3. Entertaining

4. Engaging (ask/answer questions; become part of the discussion)

UCLA X425 Fall 2014

• Enabled by social media and new forms of “owned” and “shared” media.

• Develop branded content and distribute/share with target audiences directly – without the implied third-party endorsement of coverage in traditional news media.

• PR pros are now in the content creation business, as well as the “paid media” business.

• Sponsored posts, blogs, infographics, videos, podcasts, ebooks, mobile apps, etc.

“Content Marketing, “Brand Journalism, “Native Advertising”

UCLA X425 Fall 2014

UCLA X425 Fall 2014

• Take a tour of your company/organization

• Customer testimonials

• Message from the CEO

• Interviews with industry experts

• Event coverage • And of course, Apologies

UCLA X425 Fall 2014

• Video sharing sites (YouTube/Google, Vimeo, Viddy)

• Apps (Vine)

• Live streaming (Ustream, Vokle, Google+ Hangouts)

• Don't forget embed codes (to insert video on any web page)...

UCLA X425 Fall 2014

1. Situation Analysis

2. Goals

3. Target Audiences

4. Competitive Analysis

5. Strategies

6. Tactics

7. Measurement

UCLA X425 Fall 2014

The Final Project

UCLA X425 Fall 2014

The Final Project

It starts with your GOALS!

Vague Social Media Goals: •Increase awareness among key audiences•Enhance company’s image online•Promote company’s products/services

More Specific Social Media Goals: •Drive website traffic and new customer leads•Engage with current/prospective customers and generate sales•Expand company’s leads database and community of followers

Strategy = General Plan of Action

e.g., Divide & Conquer

Tactics = Specific Actions to Carry Out Strategy

e.g., Gather intelligence, destroy enemy communications,

ground invasion, etc.

Or put another way...

A strategy is an idea or conceptualization of how a goal will be achieved.

A tactic is an action to execute the strategy

UCLA X425 Fall 2014

Arm & Hammer Baking Soda (circa 1970s)

Goal: Turn the tide and increase sales of baking soda

Strategy: Devise new uses for baking soda

Tactics: Advertising infomercials, retail promotions, etc.

Quiz... Is "build a Facebook page" a strategy or a tactic?

UCLA X425 Fall 2014

Search engine optimization (SEO) is the process of improving the visibility of a web site or a web page in search engines via the "natural" or un-paid ("organic" or "algorithmic") search results. Other forms of search engine marketing (SEM) target paid listings.

UCLA X425 Fall 2014

UCLA X425 Fall 2014

1) Relevance (based on your content – page titles, keywords, tags,

etc.) 2) Authority (based on your inbound links – note .edu and .gov

vs. the rest – the NY Times trumps a small time blogger)

SEM - Search Engine Marketing

•Purchasing links

•Akin (in PR speak) to "Earned" vs. "Paid" media

UCLA X425 Fall 2014

UCLA X425 Fall 2014

The results that come up when you perform a Google search

UCLA X425 Fall 2014

And remember... all content and links are not created equal.

"The solution to pollution is dilution."

UCLA X425 Fall 2014

Develop multiple content assets to help push down negative links (as well as negative, autosuggested searches).

Tactics: YouTube videos, topic-specific landing pages (with embedded YouTube videos), press releases through online wire services, blog entries and social

media profiles.

"The solution to pollution is dilution."

UCLA X425 Fall 2014

1. Use relevant keywords (and position them prominently)

2. Use “anchor text” (embedded) links

3. Short, SEO and Tweet-friendly headlines (Google displays roughly first 65 characters in search results)

Instructor:

Erik Deutsch (@ErikDeutsch)

Twitter hashtag: #UCLAx425

Best Practices in Social Media for the Communications Professional

UCLA X425 Fall 2014

Meeting 3 (November 18):

Guest speaker:

Tony Adam (@TonyAdam) President & CEO, Visible Factors