Time and resources can be in short supply when you need to get content out quickly online. This session will offer a breakdown of best practices that can bring a whole new world of content creation to your social media communities. Learn how crowdsourcing and cross-promoting enabled Frostburg State University to travel on the go in Peru, and inspire a campus community to add their voices and imagery to the University's marketing and branding. Discover tricks for finding and curating content to your best advantage, ensuring constituents are ambassadors and storytellers. PRESENTERS: Becca Ramspott, Communications Specialist, Frostburg State University, and Kyle Gunnels, Senior Project Director, TVP Communications CASE District II Annual Conference, Baltimore, MD Feb. 10, 2014

1. Come
Together,
Right Now
Cross-promoting
and Crowdsourcing
Great Social Media Content
That Inspires People to Care
about Your Institution
CASE DISTRICT II CONFERENCE
February 10, 2014
#CASE2Bmore
* #instaFrostburg by Instagram’s @hnoreddine

2. A Little About Us
Becca Ramspott
Kyle Gunnels
@beccaramspott
@kgunnels
Communications Specialist
Frostburg State University
Senior Project Director
TVP Communications

3. What We’re Here to Talk about:
•
•
•
•
•
•
Social Media: A Shifting Paradigm
Why Crowdsource and Cross-promote?
Things to Remember
Case Study: Ithaca College
Case Study: Frostburg State University
Questions/Comments

4. Social Media:
A Shifting Paradigm
• Social media is not an “add on”
• More than just PR…community building
• No longer limited by need for superpolished content…spontaneous,
authentic, personal, shared creativity
• No longer one-way pushing out of press
releases and announcements…it’s a
conversation

5. Social Media:
A Shifting Paradigm
• Not just all Facebook all the time,
but an ever-changing digital
landscape, where users move
from one social media site to
another
• Not just text … pictures, pictures,
pictures—the need to see and be
seen
• Content is voluntarily shared in the
* public sphere Instagram user @ohmymander
#instaFrostburg selfie by

6. Social Media:
A Shifting Paradigm
• Do not get overwhelmed…you don’t
have to ‘sample’ everything, in fact,
you shouldn’t!

7. Social Media Part of Bigger
Picture in How Higher Education
is Changing
• We need to remain nimble with constant changes,
but never lose sight of our institutional goals
• Be relevant to what your constituents need and
want—be willing to evolve strategically
• Our students, faculty, staff, donors, parents and
friends are the backbone of our universities’ futures;
we need to create a collective sense of ownership

8. Why Crowdsource
and Cross-promote?
• Many of us are short on time, staff
and resources
• Old school versus new school
• Change is the only constant in social
media: We have to be nimble!
• Digital engagement is about creating
conversations between different
groups of people

9. Why Crowdsource
and Cross-promote?
• Build relationships across campus
• Engage prospective students, current
students, alumni, media and more
• Establish sense of good will with your
audiences
• Create content to use for different
purposes

10. Use crowdsourced content and
strategically cross-promote content
between different communities!
• Help people feel emotionally invested in how your
institution is telling its story by acknowledging their
creativity, taking advantage of their talent
• Renewed sense of discovery, visual storytelling, digital
engagement among different campus constituents
• Convenient content sharing among different
constituents

11. Build a team of campus-wide
constituents to spearhead social
media best practices
• Fosters sense of campus-wide awareness and
support for social media, conveys buy-in
• Provides campus with educational outreach
opportunities (workshops, webinars, resources)
• Teaching, mentoring and learning from students

12. Tips for Curating Content,
Conversations
• LISTEN to what’s out there—what people are
saying about your brand and where they’re
saying it
– Socialmention.com (<<< FREE!)
– Statigram
– Hootsuite/Tweetdeck “Mentions” feature
– Brand monitoring/listening tools like Radian6

13. Tips for Curating Content,
Conversations
• Have a strategy, but STAY NIMBLE and BE
CREATIVE
– Think smart, simple, creative and shareable—
ensure potential reward is worth the effort
– Be willing to let go of projects that aren’t working
or no longer serve your institution’s goals
– Make sure whatever content you’re curating
and creating supports institutional goals

14. Integrated Marketing
• Remember to promote social via traditional
– Add links to social media in email signatures
– Highlight social media on related print materials

15. Ithaca College

16. Life at Ithaca College: #IClife
• “Ten disposable cameras. Five locations. One
authentic view of a day at Ithaca College.”

17. Life at Ithaca College: #IClife
@ithacacollege

18. Frostburg State University

19. Frostburg State University
• VERY small shop
• Limited resources: no full-time videographer or
photographer on our staff
• No budget for specific campaign projects: Yay,
grants! : )
• Support from senior leadership to take risks, try
new ideas
>>> Creative problem solving
>>> Less red tape
>>> Close-knit campus community =
familiarity with available resources

20. Frostburg’s Foray Into Social Media

21. #instaFrostburg

22. #instaFrostburg

23. #instaFrostburg

24. #instaFrostburg

25. Crowdsourcing and Crosspromotion in Peru
#fsucobperu

26. Meet a Bobcat: Multi-platform
Enrollment Communications, Outreach

27. Using Meet a Bobcat to Encourage
Conversations, Discovery All Over Web

28. Cross-promote content across
Web for a collective, mobile
conversation

29. Cross-promote content across
Web for a collective, mobile
conversation

30. Crowdsourcing as shorthand for
campus leadership/buy-in
• Frostburg’s Social Media Group not just limited to
marketing people—includes representatives from
admissions, athletics, faculty who teach with
social media
• Shared vision of digital engagement > Being on
the same page by setting priorities and sharing
resources, cross-promoting key events

31. Create resources to educate
and empower your campus …
• eFrostburg Community (downloadable marketing
guide, guidelines on personal versus professional
use, etc.)
• Frostburg SAID for students
• Everyone is an ambassador of your institution
online and off

32. Questions? Comments?

33. Keep the Conversation Going
Becca Ramspott
Kyle Gunnels
reramspott@frostburg.edu
@beccaramspott
kyle@tvpcommunications.com
@kgunnels
www.linkedin.com/in/kgunnels
www.linkedin.com/in/beccaramspott
“Higher Ed Reads” on Pinterest

34. Resources
eFrostburg Community: www.frostburg.edu/socialmedia
Frostburg SAID: http://frostburgsaid.tumblr.com/
“Studying Abroad with Social Media” (by Becca Ramspott)
http://tvpcommunications.com/studying-abroad-with-social-media/
“Teaching Digital Identity” (by Becca Ramspott)
http://www.insidehighered.com/views/2014/02/10/essay-need-colleges-engage-studentstheir-digital-identities
“Creating a Student Social Media Army at Ithaca College”
http://meetcontent.com/blog/creating-a-student-social-media-army-at-ithaca-college/
Higher Ed Live: “Social Media Student Teams”
http://higheredlive.com/social-media-student-teams/