Converge 2015 Recap: Is This Thing On? Listen and Measure Strategically on Social

Jason Harris, Senior Manager of Community & Evangelism at Sysomos, teamed up with Social and Print Media Specialist Alicia Brown of York University at Converge 2015 to present on the latest strategies and trends in social media measurement.

Here are my top 5 takeaways from their session:

Define your goals on social. Before diving into heavy analysis of your brand’s social media data, it’s vital to answer this simple question: why is your institution on social media? What do you want to get out of your social media presence? Do you want to use social media to recruit prospective students, engage current students, make your alumni feel appreciated… all of the above? Maybe you just want to know what is being said about your institution online. You must define your institutional goals if you want your social media presence to have purpose.

Social listening won’t cut it anymore. In the early years of social media (circa 2007), organizations monitored what was being said about their brands on social media. In today’s competitive social media environment, simply “listening” won’t cut it – your institution needs to be actively participating in and leading social conversations.

“Why” is more important than “what.” The first step to tapping into your social community is figuring out what is being said about your brand. However, the real challenge comes with understanding why a dialogue about your school is happening – and how you should respond to it. Take time to figure out what your audiences really care about, not just what they are saying.

Leverage social influence. With the right social measurement tool, you can learn the fabric of your audience, including the most influential players in your social community. If your objective is getting a message out to students or alumni, you may want to consider using highly influential members of your social community as a vehicle to communicate your message.

Use social intelligence to drive strategy. Perhaps the most important takeaway from this session is that social media measurement and analysis isn’t valuable unless it leads to action. Once you find out what your students and alumni care about, do something about it.

Ready for more great information on what’s new and next in higher education? Reserve your spot at Converge 2017 in Palm Springs and save with early bird pricing.