Using Social Media to Promote Events

I went to a new Extension Faculty training earlier this week and heard tidbits of ideas for programs and events that they want to take back to their county residents. They all seemed so passionate about their specializations and the impact they can make on their communities. So naturally, to kill their morale, I came in with the question, "How will you get people to show up?"

Aaaaaand crickets.

They just didn't know. So I came up with a quick list of how they could promote their programs and events using social media. Here's the list I shared with them:

1. Create a Facebook Event - You can share posts, upload photos, invite guests and edit event details. Select the people you want to invite for that event and ask them to share it on their pages. Add a cover photo to make the Event page look more colorful and visually appealing. And finally, pin the event to the top of your Facebook Page!

2. Choose a Hashtag - Do your research to make sure it isn’t used for anything else with hashtags.org. *Keep it simple and consistent* and use across your social networks - refer to it on printed materials!
Use related hashtags for market/industry, but don’t use too many hashtags each post.

3. Go Visual - Generate buzz by hinting at the headline act with a video, featuring the keynote or demonstrating a new product (people love Vine and Instagram videos!). Create event-specific Pinterest boards that tell exciting, visual stories about past events and what attendees can look forward to seeing at the next one.

4. Hold a Contest - Contests help boost exposure and get the buzz going, as well as establishes the event hashtag for everyone to follow. You can promote the campaign to your newsletter/email list and create a sense of urgency with the announcement of the tickets going on sale (or prices going up). You can post it on your social feeds, or cover it in your blog. If you have some influencers and champions (read: colleagues and sponsors) helping you promote the event through their social channels, offer them a giveaway or have them promote your giveaway.

5. Offer a Sneak Peek - I love sneak peeks! Give potential attendees real-time access to keynote speakers, panelists and other experts who will be at the event. If you have resources to spare, host a Google hangout or a Twitter chat (or a whole series of them) to give attendees an idea of who will be at the event and what they’ll learn!

6. Do a Countdown - This isn’t a simple ‘Five days until the event’ status on Facebook. You HAVE to make it visual and graphically appealing. But don’t overdo it – start a couple weeks out, then every few days, then every other day until five days out and then every day. Why? It gets massive involvement and keeps the event at the front of people’s minds without spamming them with the same event details!

7. Encourage Check-ins - Tell people to share your event on their social networks by “checking in” (Facebook, Foursquare).

8. Thank people Socially - Thank sponsors, people on your networks and email lists for attending. This adds an intangible touch that adds to their overall experience!

The biggest takeaway here is that there will never be a "One Size Fits All" for marketing events/programs on social media. These suggestions may not be applicable to your event due to size, timing, platforms you're using, etc. But! You can still be a rockstar... you just have to be strategic about it!

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The Perfect Post

When your audience reads and listens to the content you produce, they’re not only hearing your message, they’re hearing the voice of your company—your tone, language and delivery (i.e., formal vs. conversational).

So each time they hear your brand voice, they subconsciously size you up, deciding whether you’re a company they can rely on, and more importantly, do business with. In this post, I provide the four things that make up a brand's voice and how you can achieve this within a post. Enjoy! 

UF/IFAS Voice - Friendly, relevant and educational

Character/Persona (Objective, Trustworthy, Caring)

·         Like This: Although the Deepwater Horizon oil spill occurred five years ago, the effects are still present. A community event will focus on utilizing our experience to better prepare Gulf coast communities for future disasters. Visit http://healthygulfcoast.org/ for more information.

·         Not This: Don’t miss the Gulf coast community event, unless, of course, you don’t love your community!

Tone (Personal, Honest, Humble)

·         Like This:  More than 750 UF College of Agricultural and Life Sciences bachelor’s degrees will be awarded this weekend! Are you going to receive one of them?

·         Not This: CALS students are graduating this weekend! Share this or miss out.

Language (Simple, Fun, Savvy)

·         Like This: Whoa! Several statewide meetings have been scheduled for Florida growers interested in planting new, promising citrus varieties.

·         Not This: There are lots of fab stuff scheduled for Florida citrus growers.

Purpose (Engage, Delight, Educate)

·         Like This: #‎DYK Fireweed is notorious for causing a burning sensation when it makes contact with bare skin? The good news: this weed can be controlled rather easily with the right herbicide.

·         Not This: Fire weed is bad. Send us a pic.

The most important takeaway is to establish an online company voice that reflects your business values and matches your customers’ expectations. This will help your business build overall trust. 

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#UFBugs Campaign Re-Cap

We had an unbe-weevil-able (#punny) time celebrating all things that creep, crawl and fly! Now that we've finally wrapped up with Bug Week 2015, I put together a comprehensive report of our campaign results. To share some of the highlights, here's an executive summary and analysis: 

From 2014 –

·         194.43% increase in Impressions

·         85.45% increase in Unique Users

·         70% increase in Interactions

Twitter -

·         We shared more content and engaged in less conversation (follow up questions, etc.)

o   We garnered less link clicks. Reasons for this include: In 2014, we posted the Better Bed Bug Trap, which was retweeted by Science Friday with 580K followers; People will Retweet without clicking on links; UF/IFAS sent out content with less link variation (i.e., Bug of the Day and #BugWOTD linked to bugs.ufl.edu)

Facebook -

·         We sent 8 posts per day and gained MORE fans! This is significant because we see an increase in Page Unlikes when UF/IFAS sends 4+ posts a day. I'm most proud of the fact that we nearly doubled the number of individuals sharing/talking about our content!

Overall, the campaign ran very smoothly. We finally have a uniformed voice shining through - one that is friendly, relevant and educational. We created and shared lots of great photos - some of the best were of our UF/IFAS leadership with bugs and educational bug posters from the IFAS Extension Bookstore. We received more than 30 photo submissions on Facebook which we were then able to spotlight on Instagram. The best part was hearing feedback from our audience members (from California and Germany) who wanted to participate and learn because bugs were their passions!

To see our best posts, overall performance of #UFBugs campaign and reasons for bumps/spikes along the way, you can see the whole presentation here.

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My First Webinar!

Hi everyone,

It's been a while since I've posted! But I wanted to share my webinar on "Establishing a Consistent Social Media Presence."

It was for a UF/IFAS audience, so you'll hear me talk about our guidelines, policies and branding standards for a part of it. Once you get into the steps to creating a strategy, I promise there are some gems that you can walk away with (and examples)!

Feel free to email me or leave a comment below with any questions, comments or concerns after watching.

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The Ethical Dilemmas of the Boston Bombings

Gone are the days of traditional mediums like radio, television, and newspapers relaying news of world events. At least, such is the case for Millennials who use Twitter and Facebook as their news outlets.

They use these platforms to make sense of their world -- getting quick, uncensored, up-to-the-minute updates as emergencies, such as the Boston Bombings, unfold. Social media is a great way to find out information from news organizations and citizen journalists alike, but at what point are uncensored images too graphic for public consumption?

I remember sitting in my office one afternoon when I saw my Twitter timeline go from generally happy conversations of daily activities and Taylor Swift dancing vines to "My prayers go out to Boston." Within an hour, my timeline had become inundated with information about the bombings, the suspects, and graphic photos with few warnings of explicit content.

I clicked through post after post to see if there was someone I recognized, and simultaneously prayed that I didn't. One photo in particular is ingrained to memory. One of a man being pushed in a wheelchair with one leg missing, and the other blown away with the remaining bone exposed. One that I won't post because it can't be unseen.

It's sad. It's gruesome. And it could have gone without posting.

It was one thing to read of screaming, crying, running footsteps, and first responders' vehicles arriving to the scene. Boston was in a state of emergency and the attack created utter chaos. But this photo in particular was not needed to illustrate the realities of the event. It takes storytelling to another level - it haunts me.

I had ethical issues with viewing this photo because traumatic imagery can cause viewers to experience distress, anxiety, and helplessness as I did. Especially for minors, or anyone with a personal connection to the victim or event - posting this photo involves injury by exposure. A photo like this is simply too grisly and too graphic for public consumption.

More importantly, I had ethical issues for the man in the image. His consent for the photo was not given, his face was not blacked out, and his privacy was blatantly obstructed. The image was shared beyond measure and any time that he searches his name thereafter, he will be reminded back to this horrific time and place. For him, this will never go away.

I understand images are essential to storytelling, but I refuse to believe that we have become numb to graphic, traumatic images such as these. I think emergencies such as the Boston Bombings could use more sensitivity. And I believe that news organizations and people should aim to be humane and decent when using social media, not always for shock value.

Leave me with your thoughts below!

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Ad-Free Ello - Too Good to Be True?

This week we discussed the ins and outs of data mining. I learned it's a thriving industry. At its core, data mining creates a win-win scenario for both businesses and consumers. According to the McKinsey Global Institute, big data can increase profits in the retail sector by 60%. By providing personal data, consumers benefit from greater business efficiencies and new products. This is a result of the consumer making contact with some well-placed ad in a targeted mailer, email, search engine, or promoted post on a given network. So what happens when the ads don't exist?

You get Ello.

Ello is the social network that prides itself on providing an 'ethical' ad-free experience. This article details how they've gone so far as to become a Public Benefits Corporation, legally binding itself to never data mine, make money from selling ads or sell user data. It's all a commitment to "benefit society as a whole, not just make money from its investors." This 'society' it claims to benefit, however, is limited since users can't join without an invite.  (Links to an external site.)

After a year of operation, Ello is still in beta testing. Just last month they were putting final touches on sharing video and audio media (Vimeo, Soundcloud, Dailymotion, etc.) into their posts. Ironically enough, Ello's cannot entirely eradicate ads from their platform... specifically those embedded within YouTube videos. Ello polled their users to find out what their opinions were on the matter. 

You know what they found out? Their users didn't care about the occasional ad - they just wanted to share the content with their friends. I'll admit, I was surprised to read that since this blatantly goes against their no-ads policy (isn't that why the users are there in the first place?!). I just imagine social networks like Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram sticking their noses up and saying "I told you so" to Ello for thinking they could truly rid themselves of ads on their site. And who is to say that these other video and audio mediums will not also incorporate embedded ads somewhere down the line? 

Ello was thoughtful enough to further compromise by allowing users to manage their settings - providing the option to toggle off from embedded media - to protect themselves from even accidentally seeing an ad. Perhaps social giants can take a page out of Ello's book and add some of these settings to their own platforms, cutting down on the "noise" that bombards users' timelines. 

My thoughts on Ello's future? It may not be the next Facebook, but it'll work for those who use the platform as well as any other. Robert Wringham says, "(Ello is) superior to its competitor but failing to win popular traction...[but] a social network doesn't need approval from everyone to work." I certainly agree with that. 

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Moderation on Social Media

As social media managers, we know the benefits of engaging with consumers. This engagement, however, may carry a potential risk if it contains defamatory or libelous material, a copyright breach, obscene or intimidating content, or off-topic comments. Therefore, reviewing, approving, and overall moderating of user-generated content is important for brand protection and a better user experience.

Moderation doesn't only mean potentially "unpublishing" offensive content, but explicitly guiding and managing user expectations with community guidelines. It means understanding what the community is saying and knowing how to quickly cope with any situation. I'll be exploring how to moderate the following audience/customer comments if left on my organization's Facebook page. 

To a hotel: “I am disgusted about the state of your restaurant on 1467 Justin Kings Way. Empty tables weren’t cleared and full of remains of meals. It makes me wonder what the state of your kitchen is?!!! Gross.”

My reply: "Hi, [insert name here]. I'm terribly sorry to hear about your dining experience at 1467 Justin Kings Way. Please know that the issue has been brought to the attention of our manager and hospitality staff to ensure that this does not happen again. Should you dine again with us in the future, I would love the opportunity to make this up to you. Feel free to ask for Tiffani to discuss this further. We look forward to seeing you soon!"

To a mainstream news network: “Your reporting on the Middle East is biased in the extreme. You gave almost all your air time to spokespeople for the Israelis last night and there was no right to reply for the Palestinians. The conflict upsets me so much and your reporting of it, saddens me even more and makes me f**king furious.” (Let us assume the reporting was balanced, with equal time to both sides.)

My reply: "Hi, [insert name here]. Thank you for your feedback. As a news organization, our mission is to maintain objectivity and cover events impartially, so we apologize for seeming biased in our reporting. Your viewership is important to us, and as such we've forwarded your message to our team manager to avoid this in the future. If you have any further questions or concerns, feel free to reach us at socialmedia@newsnetwork.com."

In both instances, I kept a cool, calm and collected tone. Thanking these users for their feedback, addressing their issues and apologizing for their unsatisfactory experience is critical for the user to feel understood. The best way to handle these types of events is to take the conversation away from the site. Not only is this good customer service, but it shows other customers that you are actively and effectively correcting these issues. 

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The Home Depot Doesn't Monkey Around with its Reputation

We learned that a business’ reputation is essential to survival this week. The use of social media leaves businesses at the mercy of their consumers since anything posted can go viral.
The Home Depot had their reputation put at risk in November 2013, after an outside agency posted from their official Twitter account for ESPN show “College Game Day” (which Home Depot sponsors). The rogue tweet featured a photo of two African-American men and a man in a gorilla costume playing the drums and read, “Which drummer is not like the others?”

 Yikes.

The post was reported immediately, but not before screen shots of it circulated on social media, in addition to being picked up by NBC and CNBC. Virality at its finest.

Thankfully, Home Depot acted swiftly to remove the post and issue a public apology:

Understandably, they fired the person and severed ties with the Landor Associates branding firm that produced the picture. I was most impressed with Home Depot’s initiative to reply to individual tweets:

I found this especially commendable – they could have left it alone after issuing the public apology. This course of action helped followers and customers feel confident again. Home Depot obviously cares about their public image and understands the importance of maintaining goodwill with them.

Home Depot’s spokesman, Stephen Holmes, made a statement that the company is closely reviewing its social media procedures to determine “how this could have happened, and how to ensure it never happens again.” This mishap now serves as a case study of what NOT to do on social media. It’s unfortunate, but social media is really a trial by fire.

I think the way in which Home Depot handled the event went well and I would have reacted the same way. They were responsive and resolved the mistake. I'd work to establish a 1-to-1 communication with users who were offended by the tweet just as they had. I wouldn't hide from criticism and publicly address/apologize for the mishap. But this crisis is the perfect example why companies cannot afford to treat social media as an afterthought. People need to think before they tweet. Their reputation and profitability depends on it.

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Marcus Engel: Writer, Speaker, Trust Agent

This week we discussed trust in the social sphere. And just like relationships in real life, trust and credibility are two critical components of a successful relationship online. The question is: how does one build trust with their current and potential audience?

Social Media Today explains that sharing high value content, ensuring transparency, and having a consistent voice and personality are ways that trust can be garnered on a social platform. It's for these reasons that I trust and follow best-selling author and speaker, Marcus Engel on Twitter. Whether he is off- or on-line, his messages honor health care professionals, include his story of overcoming adversity and encourage others' commitment to higher goals.

As a college freshman, Marcus was blinded and nearly killed after being struck by a drunk driver. His two years of rehab, over 300 hours of reconstructive facial surgery and adaptation through a multitude of life changes are the basis of the keynotes given to major healthcare institutions, corporations, faith based organizations and many of the country's universities and colleges. I trust Marcus because he uses a consistent voice and personality in his keynotes, as well as online. The clip below shows he is friendly, inspiring and influential.

Marcus is respected as a communicator and shares content generously from other industry experts (as seen below). Even though this post in particular did not pertain to me, he lets his followers know that there are others who are working to inspire students and healthcare professionals about keeping the patients at the heart of patient care.

Furthermore, Marcus uses his platform as an opportunity to be open and honest with his followers. Rather than using social media to brag about his writing skills, he becomes relatable and human in admitting his nervousness about his upcoming book, as seen in the tweet below. It's clear that he doesn't take his work lightly and he wants to portray healthcare settings in the best light.

From gaining my trust, Marcus gains an advocate. I promote him to my peers via word of mouth, raving about his books and his motivational messages. I build their curiosity and provide resources, like his Twitter account, so they can take advantage of his daily "Task for Today" tips. He benefits from having the trust of his followers to continue to expand his reach and make an impact on healthcare professionals everywhere!

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The T's and C's of Whisper

Whisper, formerly known as WhisperText, is an application that launched in March 2012, claiming to be “the first completely anonymous social media network.” The features of the app include the capability to post anonymous messages or “whispers” in the form of text overlaid on a picture. 

Users have the option to respond to an anonymous post publicly or to private pseudonymous chats, but don’t have a public identity in the app. Developers claimed this would counter cyberbullying and the usual self-promotion found on Facebook since users had the opportunity to over share without repercussion. 

In October 2014, The Guardian planned to write a story about Whisper’s internal practices that breached the agreement made with its users, specifically in terms to privacy. 

Prior to the Guardian’s allegations, Whisper explicitly stated their commitment “to protecting [a user’s] privacy and the security of personally identifying information.” The ethical implications of these terms and conditions for Whisper are to act in a way that upholds the anonymity of their users. The references below illustrate just a couple of their underhanded tactics and the safeguards they put in place to address these issues:

• Every post is retained in a central database and users who expressly opted out of geolocation are tracked via IP data
• Previous terms of service said a user’s “permission to our access to and tracking of your location based information is purely voluntary.” Terms now tell users to bear in mind that even if location services are disabled, Whisper “may still determine your city, state, and country location based on your IP address.” 
• User information and posts that pose are shared with the Department of Defense, FBI, and M15
• Whisper’s new terms of service state they “may monitor User Content…[and] take proactive steps, including without limitation notification to appropriate authorities…[users] hereby expressly acknowledge and agree to such monitoring and that [they] may disclose information and data that might lead to your identification if, at [their] sole discretion, deem it appropriate to protect you or others from serious harm.”

The fact that their terms and conditions had to be rewritten to make their actions permissible is frightening. Truly, this app doesn't deserve their audience if they can be so dishonest in the way they conduct their network. In addition to now warning users of turning on geolocation services, their terms warn users to not include personal information that may “allow others, over time, to make a determination as to [their] identity based on the content of whispers as well as general location” in order to preserve anonymity.

Even with the detailed instructions in place for law enforcement agencies to obtain user data, I still question Whisper's legal threshold for providing private information. Whisper claims the measures taken to protect their users’ identities are “extremely secure,” but if The Guardian found these loopholes, how could they possibly expect their users to trust them on the promise of anonymity when they blatantly disregard their sole interest in using the site? 

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MMC 6936 Introduction

I brought the Gator Nation to the Grand Canyon!

Hi, I'm Tiffani Stephenson! This is my second semester in the MASM program (I took a break during the fall). I grew up in New Jersey and moved to Orlando when I was 13. I graduated from UF in 2012 with my bachelor's in recreation and event management. In addition to being a full-time student, I worked full-time as resident director for a local student apartment community. It's in this role that I got my first taste of social media as a business tool. It's also in this role I found a passion for marketing.

After graduation, I began working for UF -- first in development and then in facility operations. Before I knew it, my department became the topic for almost all of my summer projects. I realized there was a major opportunity for them to market socially. I did the research, identified goals, and provided tactics to successfully engage, entertain and educate our audience only to be roadblocked by a number of my colleagues who shied away from experimenting online. In my frustration (and entirely on a whim), I applied to a social media position for UF/IFAS Communications Services (ICS), submitted my proposal, and landed the job!

I've been with ICS since October, managing the main UF/IFAS social media presence and helping oversee the more than 300 UF/IFAS social media accounts across the state of Florida. Some of my responsibilities include strategy, content, analytics and measurement, site approvals and training.  I have really enjoyed applying what I learned in class to real-world scenarios and I know Ethics will be no different. There's a thrill that comes from working in such a fast-paced environment and learning about how to manage reputation, moderation, and privacy will truly keep me on my toes!

I juggle work, school, and owning a rambunctious puppy daily. In my down time, I enjoy traveling, listening to live music, practicing yoga, and binge-watching TV. I'm excited for this semester and can't wait to learn from all of you!

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