Metrics matter

In class today, my group read an article about how the top 100 colleges in the world utilize Facebook and other social media platforms. The conclusion was that nearly 60% of colleges and universities did employ use of the social networking sites, but were not doing so in an effective manner. It turns out that even a few years ago, top schools using Facebook were having issues understanding how exactly to engage with their target audience. Some did not even allow users to comment or post material.  How were they thinking about engaging in a dialogue with their audience if they only allowed for one-way communication? As we delve into our social media research, it’ll be important to stress the usefulness of engagement and how our client can have a conversation. Then, we’ll have to track progress and see what’s working and what isn’t. This is a great article from PR News that lists six helpful tips to keep in mind about metrics.  Here are a few of them and my thoughts of how to incorporate these metric-watching tips into our projects:

  • Frequency of conversation. It’s important that CLAHS be involved in trending topics and events, and responds to people who tweet, message, or post to them. Being active and posting more than once weekly or when there is a big event lats followers know that they’re engaged and actively participating in what’s happening now.
  • Most active influencers. Many students are influencers, both on and off social media. They would serve as great brand ambassadors for the college if they got involved with its social media. CLAHS could do a similar setup to Virinia Tech’s “I’m a Hokie” Twitter account, and have students from each college tweet about their experiences. This may garner more interest in current students to follow and interact with CLAHS online.
  • Tonality of share of voice tone. Finding the voice! This will probably be the most challenging part for CLAHS, as the college houses so many different departments. It may take a while to find this voice, because it also has three distinct target audiences, but when it does, I feel the connection will be great.

About Kristin Sorenson

Aspiring PR professional. Virginia Tech '14. Spanish. Communication. Professional Writing. Winchester, VA. ¡Pregúntame sobre mis experiencias en Ecuador!

One Response to Metrics matter

  1. I believe your post offered some great tips and insight for many users not only colleges to utilize and take advantage of. It is important for users to understand the emerging trends of social media and how they are being used. One is used one day today might not be used the same way tomorrow. It is essential especially when your goal is to reach a lot of people. Nowadays everyone uses some form of social media platform, in order for colleges and even companies to reach these stakeholders they need to understand each platform and know how to use it to the best of their abilities.

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