Social Media and the "Four Rs"

Tony Burgess-Webb is the co-founder of Sociagility.

The annual planning season for fundraising is in full swing and as the economy continues to falter, achieving the best return on investment will be on everyone’s minds. No more so than in the area of social media. Yet many seem to be struggling with a framework for measurement which makes sense for the sector.

Most organizations across all sectors are still grappling with the issue of measuring social media. As Econsultancy’s State of Social 2011 report finds:

41 percent of respondents report that they do not have an ROI (return on investment) figure for any of the money they spend on social media marketing, while 26 percent say they can attribute an ROI figure to a tiny amount of the money spent on social media.

For how much of the money you spend on social media do you have an ROI figure?

The problem is that without full financial data—i.e. exactly what has been spent and what has been returned or saved—a real ROI calculation is impossible. Even more fundamentally, without a framework for setting objectives which relate to organisational success, any measure of social performance is fairly pointless. So I’d like to suggest a simple framework for applying social media measurement to the higher education sector, starting with the ”three R’s”—not reading, writing and arithmetic—but reputation, recruitment and revenue.

Reputation

An institution's reputation is first and foremost about the fundamentals, genuine performance, a really good student experience and value for money. It is also about the perceptions created both by the volume of information about a brand and the value of what the brand says about itself as well as what third party communications say. Social media impacts both. There’s no good reason why this aspect of social media cannot be measured directly via surveys or studies.

Recruitment

Generation Z (born between 1994 and 2004) is the age group most engaged with social media. This group expects its peers and desired brands to be engaged as well. Not engaging, or merely paying lip service, sends a strong negative signal and opens up a competitive advantage for other institutions.

Research by The Student Room shows that potential students value online sources most for evaluating the quality of the teaching experience, the social experience and other key section criteria relating to the experience they can expect, i.e. what do my peers think? What do existing students say?

Revenue

Social media and networks also have a part to play in two other sources of funding: Government and alumni. Not being present on social media platforms to showcase achievements and engage on relevant issues impacts an institution negatively. Among alumni, social media provide a natural way to connect which is not simply dependent on events and emails. With this group, more than most, tools exist for measuring the real impact of social media in achieving wider goals.

Return on social

Proving that social marketing in isolation delivers a real ROI is a fruitless exercise. It’s usually next to impossible to determine real dollar returns, just as for many other parts of the marketing or operational budget. The three Rs may or may not provide a suitable framework for some social marketers in education to show how their work adds value. But some kind of framework is necessary. Only by setting clear objectives and measuring the contribution social marketing makes, can we discern the fourth R—a useful, understandable and genuine return on social?

Useful resources:

• New metrics for social media
• B2B social media metrics need to match goals
• Best social media metrics: conversation, amplification, applause, economic value
• The social media ROI conversation [video]
• Measuring social media ROI: 3 things to consider
• How to create social media metrics that matter
• 12 marketing predictions for 2012
• Social media ROI not well understood

Up a (live) Stream with an iPad(dle)

Ma'ayan Plaut is the social media coordinator at Oberlin College.

Here at Oberlin, parents and family weekend is second only to commencement/reunion weekend in terms of the sheer number of events. These three days in early November are packed with concerts, faculty lectures and student performances as well as lots of quality family time. This is a perfect, slightly lower-key scenario from which to plunge headfirst into an experiment in livestreaming.

I had livestreamed before, earlier in this semester, with great success. This weekend offered a plethora of events to choose from, but we selected our targets based on ease of streaming (we're currently working from an iPad 2, which has superb audio and pretty good video quality), ability to position intelligently during the stream (can we actually see based on where the streamer is positioned in the space?), diversity of events (several kinds of music, improv comedy and an aerial circus show) and the nostalgia rating (how much would an adoring Oberlin fan appreciate this video?).

One of the "challenges" of being on a college campus is that there are so many wonderful things happening—especially on the weekends—and many of them occur at the same time. I ran into just that problem this weekend: competing events that were equally awesome and had excellent livestreaming draw and only one of me. Luckily, my coworker Harris was planning on attending many of the weekend's events as well and was able to broadcast some of them to the world outside Oberlin. Thanks for the double-team-stream, Harris!

Things to consider when livestreaming:

• Permission is golden. On a college campus absolutely swimming in music, this is extremely important. Conservatory-based performances have strict rules about recording—both video and audio—because of the restrictions involved with playing original works (same goes for plays and theatrical works). In contrast, student groups often arrange their own music and perform new creative pieces. Ask them for permission in person.
• Test everything. I biked around campus to check the Internet connections at all the locations from which we'd be streaming. (Livestreaming requires a good Internet connection, whether wireless coverage or 3G. Without a good connection, your stream will go from live to dead in seconds and your loyal viewers will be quite disappointed.) I also tested several different streaming services and settled on UStream for their speedy setup during the tests. (Note: Sites like Bambuser offer Facebook plugins that allow the stream to be broadcast straight from your Facebook page. For the future!)
• Archive, archive, archive. While part of the "cool factor" of livestreaming is the live aspect, the archived video is as an excellent pick-me-up for folks who were not able to watch the live stream. UStream also allows for uploads to Youtube and the ability to download the video afterward as well.
• You're the tripod. If you're doing the quick and dirty version of livestreaming like I was, you're holding a smart phone, iPad or the equivalent for no less than 30 minutes. You need stamina and you also need to be conscious of your viewers, which means no sudden movements and no personal commentary. I didn't think this would be a problem, but the first event I went to was a performance by OSteel, our campus steel drum band. I realized that dancing wasn't really an option. Neither was laughing at the improv showcase nor was cheering for my friends during an a capella performance or the aerial circus show.
• Publicity is key! If no one is watching, why are you livestreaming? Since this weekend was more of a test, we didn't do a huge publicity push, but my co-streamer and I did let people know on Facebook and Twitter that we would be streaming within the hour. (The only exception was the aerial showcase. After checking in with the performers, they sent the link to coaches and parents, which meant double the number of viewers compared with the earlier streams—pretty cool!) Otherwise, we counted on the serendipitous possibility of a curious friend or follower clicking on our links.

It turns out we did pretty well. After each stream, I posted the link to the archived video to my own Facebook and Twitter accounts and in the comments announcing the stream on the Oberlin College Facebook page. The comments poured in from nostalgic alumni and grateful parents thanking us for allowing them to be a part of the weekend.

While we probably won't do streams regularly, the thought of it is less intimidating now that we've tried it. We know we have an audience out there, and we might as well regale them with some live Oberlin spirit. Stay tuned!

Have you livestreamed at your school? What was the response from your viewers?

Authentic Perspectives

Matthew Herek currently serves as the associate director of young alumni engagement in the office of alumni relations and development at Northwestern University.

College football at U.S. institutions seems to dominate news headlines in the fall. Some of us work on campuses where whether the team is a success or not determines more than bowl position, but also how happy alumni will be when a brave student makes a phoneathon call.

Earlier this month, my alma matter Michigan State, pulled off a last second and somewhat miraculous win against the University of Wisconsin. I want to talk about how my numerous viewings of the big play on YouTube led me to connect with our alumni relations work.

With respect to Michigan State's win, user-generated content helps tell a more complete story than any one camera angle could.

In 1984, Doug Flutie, playing for Boston College, threw a similar touchdown pass, winning the game against the University of Miami. If you search YouTube, you will find exactly one video of this pass. It has been uploaded multiple times by multiple people, but you'll find only one angle.

I’m sure the two institutions have that image seared into their institutional memories, for better or worse. I’m also certain that if we could see a video of the reaction from the fans in the stadium, we'd have a more complete picture of what happened.

Fast forward 27 years. If you watch the Michigan State vs. University of Wisconsin game below for about 45 seconds, it will give you a good idea of how many different angles from which the play was viewed within the stadium. The many angles were filmed through handheld cameras, phones and other video-supporting media.

Following the play, there was a video review. Numerous videos of fans waiting for confirmation of the touchdown have cropped up, but this one is my favorite. It's what I think it would be like to be in the middle of a sonic boom.

As an alum of the school, I can tell you that it’s the poorly shot video of the crowd waiting in anticipation that I could watch over and over (and 24,000 people agree with me). On that Saturday night, 72,000 people might have been in the stadium, but many more felt a strong connection to the event. The connection did not happen because the marketing team was ready to produce content about fan reactions. The fans reacted and produced their own content, providing numerous perspectives that when combined created a panorama of emotion.

There are a couple of lessons here about social media. Social media allows us to engage our alums in the moment in a more authentic way than the most well planned marketing piece could ever hope to. From my own point of view, the videos of fan reactions stoke memories of similar reactions I had in the same stadium and remind me that passion is an important driver for inspiring alumni to engage and participate in meaningful ways.

A second lesson is to rememember that our obligation to tell the story supercedes our desire to own the story. There are moments in the lives of our alumni that should not be edited or made more palatable for wider consumption. If you decide to view the world through the lens of your alumni, make sure the view is authentic.

Practically speaking, isn't this an opportunity for your alumni magazine to provide a QR code linking back to some of these exciting videos? And, why not alert your campus archivist to alumni content?

The motto of the state of Michigan where the game took place is “If you seek a pleasant peninsula look around you.” Fellow social media curators, if you seek engaging content look around YouTube.

Season’s E-Greetings! Great Examples of Year-End Outreach

Jennifer Doak is the online communications specialist at CASE.

I came across a fun question last month on CASE’s proto-social network, the communications listserv, about holiday cards. Amanda Beck, at the College of Sciences at The University of Texas at San Antonio, was planning out her end-of-the-year outreach and asked for examples of cards—but there were a few limitations. “We don’t have snow. Or sledding, or evergreens, or mittens,” she said. “And since we’re a public institution, we don’t mention the holidays, only the season.”

I’m sure some of you out there can empathize with Amanda. Thankfully, her fellow listserv members came through with a ton of ideas, as well as lots of great examples of video and Flash e-cards. Here’s a sampling:

• Last year, the University of Hawaii Alumni Association sent a year-in-review gallery video featuring guitar music performed by a talented alum.
• Penn State’s 2010 greeting theme was “The Forecast for 2011.” Its Nittany Lion mascot interviewed students, staff and alumni around campus on what they predicted for the upcoming year.
• The University of Connecticut’s Neag School of Education sent a simple Flash card greeting in 2010—a step up, noted the contributor, from previous years’ attached PDF cards. (I’d be a bad alum if I didn’t also include the serene season’s greetings video I received from UConn.)
• Ohio Wesleyan University’s 2010 holiday video greeting featured a diverse array of students sending well wishes to their alumni.
• American University created a similar 2010 video greeting that coordinated well with its “Wonk” campaign.
• The University of Central Missouri sent a lovely Flash e-card in 2008 asking for a “holiday gift” donation at the end.
• The Boston Museum of Science sent a simple “stars are aligned for a new beginning” themed video for 2010, while the School of the Art Institute of Chicago had a classy Flash e-card for the holidays.

The listserv thread contributors, in sum, found success with generic holiday or winter themes—and an emphasis on the New Year might work especially well for institutions in places where seasons don’t do much greeting.

A few other takeaways:

• Tap into student and alumni talent. I saw quite a few e-cards that used campus bands, sports teams and a cappella groups, as well as alumni musicians. Speaking as an alumni association member, I can tell you most of us LOVE that stuff.
• Align your e-card with an institutional campaign to keep the message consistent. Having a simple, non-intrusive ask at the end of your video or Flash card is a smart idea, too.
• Keep it short and sweet. Videos should only be a couple of minutes, and there’s nothing wrong with a simple Flash e-card if it’s well-designed.
• Don’t worry if you have a small budget for holiday outreach. You can still make a beautiful holiday greeting your alumni, donors or students will appreciate.

As for Amanda? She hasn’t quite hammered out an online holiday communications strategy yet, but she was inspired by several of the examples on the thread for a print card. “I’m doing a photo shoot on campus of our dean with some students and a unique microscope we have [on campus],” she said. “Our dean has wanted to include real students in this piece for awhile, but it has never come together before this year. I’m hoping that this will be true to our college’s identity and still evoke the feelings that the holiday season brings without directly saying ‘Merry Christmas.’”

Karine Joly also has a great compilation of holiday e-cards from 2010 that highlighted greetings from the University of Maryland, the University of Washington, Carleton University and others.

What’s your institution doing to mark the end of 2011?