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Developing a social media strategy to
enhance your research profile
1
Gilles Couzin
17th June 2015
xkcd.com/1239/ (CC BY-NC 2.5)
About this workshop
 Do I really need a social media ‘strategy’?
 Developing your strategy: asking (and
answering) the right questions
 Measuring and evaluating success
 5 suggestions for getting started
 Case study: PolicyBristol (Kat Wall)
 Q&A
2
3
18 June 2015
Photo by Mariano CC BY-SA 3.0
Show of hands…
How many people in this room are currently usingTwitter?
LinkedIn? Facebook? others?:
 For personal use?
 To support their research/professional activities?
4
Do I really need a social media ‘strategy’?
Photo by kdee64 (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)
5
 carefully consider what you will do before
investing time and resources;
 prioritise your effort;
 plan content and a schedule for releasing it;
 avoid the “shiny object syndrome”;
 identify who will do what, when and how
often, when in a group setting;
 assess what works and what doesn’t;
 manage expectations.
…well, it’s up to you, but having a plan will
help you…
Where you want to be?
6
Who are you and where you want to be?
7
JISC Developing Digital Literacies guide (http://www.jisc.ac.uk/guides/developing-digital-literacies)
Who are you and where you want to be?
8
Beetham and Sharpe ‘pyramid model’
of digital literacy development model (2010)
Listening
Participating
Creating
Leading
JISC Developing Digital Literacies guide (http://www.jisc.ac.uk/guides/developing-digital-literacies)
Activity 1
9
Photo by Guy Mayer (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)
In pairs: use these models to discuss a) where you
see yourself now in terms of your social media use,
and b) where you would like to be.
10
Developing your strategy: asking (and
answering) the right questions
Photo by Brian Koprowski (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)
Questions that need answers
 What do you want to achieve?
 Who do you want to reach?
 What conversation is already taking place?
 Where is it taking place?
 Who is involved?
 What tools will you use?
 What content do you want to share?
 How will you measure and evaluate success?
11
12
13
Consider if someone was looking
for the skills and expertise you have
as a researcher.
What search terms would they use to find YOU?
14
Activity 2
15
Photo by Guy Mayer (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)
In pairs:
1. Explain what you do and why it matters.
2. Listen to your partner explaining back to you
what your key skills are.
What do you want to achieve?
 Define your primary goals, e.g.:
 stay up to date
 build connections
 promote my work
 raise my profile
 find potential collaborators
 learn from others
 publish my ideas
 communicate research results
 attract job offers
 a mix of the above?
16
Who do you want to reach?
 Identifying your audiences will help you tailor
your content and also choose the right tool(s).
 List your primary audiences, e.g.:
 other researchers in your field
 potential employers
 journalists
 the general public
 funders
 etc…
17
Activity 3
18
Photo by Guy Mayer (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)
In pairs:
1) Discuss what you want to achieve through social
media and make a note of 1 to 3 goals.
2) Start profiling 1 or 2 target audiences.
What conversation is taking place?
 Identify the “thought leaders” in your field -
start with Twitter, Academia.edu or ResearchGate
 What are they talking about?
 Where are they saying it? What tools are they
using?
 Keep track (“follow”) the topics, people and
sites that are leading the conversation that is
relevant to you.
19
What tools will you use?
 To start with, pick 1 or 2 core tools (e.g.
LinkedIn, Twitter) and concentrate on doing
them well.
 Plan to add new tools as you grow in
confidence.
 Map out which tools you will use now and
which you will work towards using later.
20
What tools will you use?
21
Storytelling Resource
finding/sharing
Disseminating
research
Networking
Blogging   
Twitter    
LinkedIn   
Academia /
ResearchGate
  
Facebook    
Flickr  
Slideshare   
Pinterest  
YouTube   
What content will you share?
 Identify the content you already have to share,
as well as the content you plan to develop.
 Is it primarily news updates, research
developments, networking information,
opinion pieces? Images? Videos?
 List the content you are planning to share via
your social media outlets.
 Also think how often you will publish content.
22
Activity 4
23
Photo by Guy Mayer (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)
In pairs:
1) Discuss the social media tools that you think
may be most relevant to you.
2) Identify the content you already have.
24
Measuring and evaluating success
Photo by Tormod Ulsberg (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)
Possible measures of success
25
Web analytics
Mentions
Likes
Followers
Retweets
Comments Downloads
Shares
Bookmarks
However, remember that engagement is
more than just numbers!
Connections
Views
26
Useful tools for measuring success
“Klout is a website and mobile app that uses
social media analytics to rank its users
according to online social influence via the
"Klout Score", which is a numerical value
between 1 and 100.” Wikipedia
klout.com
27
Useful tools for measuring success
“Hootsuite is a social media management
tool that allows you to manage multiple
social profiles, schedule messages, track
brand mentions, analyze social media traffic
and more.”
hootsuite.com
Evaluate your activities
 Set a timeline for evaluating your social media
activities.
 As part of your evaluation, consider:
 What is working.
 What is not working.
 What changes you need to make.
 New tools you could be using.
 On-going evaluation should be part of your
strategy.
28
29
5 suggestions for getting started
Photo by rachaelvoorhees (CC BY 2.0)
1: Create a professional profile
30
 Use your own name
or choose a simple
and descriptive
name that clearly
identifies your
affiliation with the
University, research
project or
organisation.
 Write a short
biography (including
your skills and
expertise) of
yourself or your
group/project.
 Prepare a
professional looking
photo of yourself or
use a group/project
logo.
2: Join LinkedIn
31
1. Create a
LinkedIn profile
2. Consider your
skills and add
keywords
3. Add a photo to
your profile
4. Edit your public
URL and add it
to your email
signature
5. Join groups of
interest to you
6. Add projects to
your profile
7. Link SlideShare
to your profile
8. Add
publications to
your profile
9. Blog good
practice and
tips
10.Connect with
people!
3: Join Twitter
32
1. Read the LSE Twitter guide
(goo.gl/Sg6ST).
2. Create a Twitter profile.
3. Consider your skills and add
keywords.
4. Add a photo to your profile.
5. Find and follow some relevant
people.
6. Search (use twubs.com) for
relevant hashtags* and save
them.
7. Use Lists to organise people and
organisations you follow.
8. Use hootsuite.com to view and
manage your lists and saved
hashtags.
9. Re-tweet relevant tweets so
your followers can see them.
9 tips to develop your Twitter presence:
* Start with these hashtags: #phdchat, #ecrchat, #scitwittips,
#acadtwitter, #digitalacademic, #phdadvice, #research
4: Join an academic social network
33
researchgate.net
www.academia.edu
4: Join an academic social network
34
researchgate.net
www.academia.edu
www.piirus.com
5: Start blogging
35
1. Read other people’s blogs and
learn from them.
2. You don’t have to start your own
blog, you can be a guest
blogger - e.g. theconversation.com,
www.huffingtonpost.co.uk,
www.theguardian.com/science/blog
3. Use wordpress.com to set up
your own blog.
4. Limit yourself to a maximum of
500 words (at least to start
with).
5. Write regularly.
6. Monitor and reply to comments
when appropriate.
7. Decide what you are going to
blog about – e.g. research progress,
opinion piece, book review, test new
ideas, publications, etc.
8. Make use of your About page to
tell who you are and the
purpose of your blog.
9. Write in plain English.
10.Share writing with colleagues if
the blog is for a group.
10 tips for blogging:
5: Start blogging - examples
36
jonathansaha.wordpress.com
www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/professor-sarah-childs
Case study: PolicyBristol (Kat Wall)
37
38
Questions and answers
Photo by Clarkston SCAMP (CC BY 2.0)
Where to find more information
 List of resources: bundlr.com/b/developing-a-social-media-
strategy-for-researchers
 Connect with Bristol: www.bristol.ac.uk/connect/
 UoB Social media directory:
www.bristol.ac.uk/connect/directory/
 How to maintain social media channels at UoB:
www.bristol.ac.uk/style-guides/web/how/social/
 Research Information Network – Social Media: A guide
for researchers
rin.ac.uk/our-work/communicating-and-disseminating-
research/social-media-guide-researchers
39
Credits and licence
Some of the ideas in this presentation are based on the
work of others:
 “Who do you really think you are?” UCISA keynote, by Sue
Beckingham, Sheffield Hallam University (http://goo.gl/RCQc1S)
 “Social Media for Research” CAURA 2013, by Krista Jensen, KMb
Unit, York University (http://goo.gl/ORXqRW)
This presentation is licenced under the Creative Commons
Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-
NC-SA 4.0) licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-
sa/4.0/).
40

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Developing a social media strategy to enhance your research profile

  • 1. Developing a social media strategy to enhance your research profile 1 Gilles Couzin 17th June 2015 xkcd.com/1239/ (CC BY-NC 2.5)
  • 2. About this workshop  Do I really need a social media ‘strategy’?  Developing your strategy: asking (and answering) the right questions  Measuring and evaluating success  5 suggestions for getting started  Case study: PolicyBristol (Kat Wall)  Q&A 2
  • 3. 3 18 June 2015 Photo by Mariano CC BY-SA 3.0 Show of hands… How many people in this room are currently usingTwitter? LinkedIn? Facebook? others?:  For personal use?  To support their research/professional activities?
  • 4. 4 Do I really need a social media ‘strategy’? Photo by kdee64 (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)
  • 5. 5  carefully consider what you will do before investing time and resources;  prioritise your effort;  plan content and a schedule for releasing it;  avoid the “shiny object syndrome”;  identify who will do what, when and how often, when in a group setting;  assess what works and what doesn’t;  manage expectations. …well, it’s up to you, but having a plan will help you…
  • 6. Where you want to be? 6
  • 7. Who are you and where you want to be? 7 JISC Developing Digital Literacies guide (http://www.jisc.ac.uk/guides/developing-digital-literacies)
  • 8. Who are you and where you want to be? 8 Beetham and Sharpe ‘pyramid model’ of digital literacy development model (2010) Listening Participating Creating Leading JISC Developing Digital Literacies guide (http://www.jisc.ac.uk/guides/developing-digital-literacies)
  • 9. Activity 1 9 Photo by Guy Mayer (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0) In pairs: use these models to discuss a) where you see yourself now in terms of your social media use, and b) where you would like to be.
  • 10. 10 Developing your strategy: asking (and answering) the right questions Photo by Brian Koprowski (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)
  • 11. Questions that need answers  What do you want to achieve?  Who do you want to reach?  What conversation is already taking place?  Where is it taking place?  Who is involved?  What tools will you use?  What content do you want to share?  How will you measure and evaluate success? 11
  • 12. 12
  • 13. 13 Consider if someone was looking for the skills and expertise you have as a researcher. What search terms would they use to find YOU?
  • 14. 14
  • 15. Activity 2 15 Photo by Guy Mayer (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0) In pairs: 1. Explain what you do and why it matters. 2. Listen to your partner explaining back to you what your key skills are.
  • 16. What do you want to achieve?  Define your primary goals, e.g.:  stay up to date  build connections  promote my work  raise my profile  find potential collaborators  learn from others  publish my ideas  communicate research results  attract job offers  a mix of the above? 16
  • 17. Who do you want to reach?  Identifying your audiences will help you tailor your content and also choose the right tool(s).  List your primary audiences, e.g.:  other researchers in your field  potential employers  journalists  the general public  funders  etc… 17
  • 18. Activity 3 18 Photo by Guy Mayer (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0) In pairs: 1) Discuss what you want to achieve through social media and make a note of 1 to 3 goals. 2) Start profiling 1 or 2 target audiences.
  • 19. What conversation is taking place?  Identify the “thought leaders” in your field - start with Twitter, Academia.edu or ResearchGate  What are they talking about?  Where are they saying it? What tools are they using?  Keep track (“follow”) the topics, people and sites that are leading the conversation that is relevant to you. 19
  • 20. What tools will you use?  To start with, pick 1 or 2 core tools (e.g. LinkedIn, Twitter) and concentrate on doing them well.  Plan to add new tools as you grow in confidence.  Map out which tools you will use now and which you will work towards using later. 20
  • 21. What tools will you use? 21 Storytelling Resource finding/sharing Disseminating research Networking Blogging    Twitter     LinkedIn    Academia / ResearchGate    Facebook     Flickr   Slideshare    Pinterest   YouTube   
  • 22. What content will you share?  Identify the content you already have to share, as well as the content you plan to develop.  Is it primarily news updates, research developments, networking information, opinion pieces? Images? Videos?  List the content you are planning to share via your social media outlets.  Also think how often you will publish content. 22
  • 23. Activity 4 23 Photo by Guy Mayer (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0) In pairs: 1) Discuss the social media tools that you think may be most relevant to you. 2) Identify the content you already have.
  • 24. 24 Measuring and evaluating success Photo by Tormod Ulsberg (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)
  • 25. Possible measures of success 25 Web analytics Mentions Likes Followers Retweets Comments Downloads Shares Bookmarks However, remember that engagement is more than just numbers! Connections Views
  • 26. 26 Useful tools for measuring success “Klout is a website and mobile app that uses social media analytics to rank its users according to online social influence via the "Klout Score", which is a numerical value between 1 and 100.” Wikipedia klout.com
  • 27. 27 Useful tools for measuring success “Hootsuite is a social media management tool that allows you to manage multiple social profiles, schedule messages, track brand mentions, analyze social media traffic and more.” hootsuite.com
  • 28. Evaluate your activities  Set a timeline for evaluating your social media activities.  As part of your evaluation, consider:  What is working.  What is not working.  What changes you need to make.  New tools you could be using.  On-going evaluation should be part of your strategy. 28
  • 29. 29 5 suggestions for getting started Photo by rachaelvoorhees (CC BY 2.0)
  • 30. 1: Create a professional profile 30  Use your own name or choose a simple and descriptive name that clearly identifies your affiliation with the University, research project or organisation.  Write a short biography (including your skills and expertise) of yourself or your group/project.  Prepare a professional looking photo of yourself or use a group/project logo.
  • 31. 2: Join LinkedIn 31 1. Create a LinkedIn profile 2. Consider your skills and add keywords 3. Add a photo to your profile 4. Edit your public URL and add it to your email signature 5. Join groups of interest to you 6. Add projects to your profile 7. Link SlideShare to your profile 8. Add publications to your profile 9. Blog good practice and tips 10.Connect with people!
  • 32. 3: Join Twitter 32 1. Read the LSE Twitter guide (goo.gl/Sg6ST). 2. Create a Twitter profile. 3. Consider your skills and add keywords. 4. Add a photo to your profile. 5. Find and follow some relevant people. 6. Search (use twubs.com) for relevant hashtags* and save them. 7. Use Lists to organise people and organisations you follow. 8. Use hootsuite.com to view and manage your lists and saved hashtags. 9. Re-tweet relevant tweets so your followers can see them. 9 tips to develop your Twitter presence: * Start with these hashtags: #phdchat, #ecrchat, #scitwittips, #acadtwitter, #digitalacademic, #phdadvice, #research
  • 33. 4: Join an academic social network 33 researchgate.net www.academia.edu
  • 34. 4: Join an academic social network 34 researchgate.net www.academia.edu www.piirus.com
  • 35. 5: Start blogging 35 1. Read other people’s blogs and learn from them. 2. You don’t have to start your own blog, you can be a guest blogger - e.g. theconversation.com, www.huffingtonpost.co.uk, www.theguardian.com/science/blog 3. Use wordpress.com to set up your own blog. 4. Limit yourself to a maximum of 500 words (at least to start with). 5. Write regularly. 6. Monitor and reply to comments when appropriate. 7. Decide what you are going to blog about – e.g. research progress, opinion piece, book review, test new ideas, publications, etc. 8. Make use of your About page to tell who you are and the purpose of your blog. 9. Write in plain English. 10.Share writing with colleagues if the blog is for a group. 10 tips for blogging:
  • 36. 5: Start blogging - examples 36 jonathansaha.wordpress.com www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/professor-sarah-childs
  • 37. Case study: PolicyBristol (Kat Wall) 37
  • 38. 38 Questions and answers Photo by Clarkston SCAMP (CC BY 2.0)
  • 39. Where to find more information  List of resources: bundlr.com/b/developing-a-social-media- strategy-for-researchers  Connect with Bristol: www.bristol.ac.uk/connect/  UoB Social media directory: www.bristol.ac.uk/connect/directory/  How to maintain social media channels at UoB: www.bristol.ac.uk/style-guides/web/how/social/  Research Information Network – Social Media: A guide for researchers rin.ac.uk/our-work/communicating-and-disseminating- research/social-media-guide-researchers 39
  • 40. Credits and licence Some of the ideas in this presentation are based on the work of others:  “Who do you really think you are?” UCISA keynote, by Sue Beckingham, Sheffield Hallam University (http://goo.gl/RCQc1S)  “Social Media for Research” CAURA 2013, by Krista Jensen, KMb Unit, York University (http://goo.gl/ORXqRW) This presentation is licenced under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY- NC-SA 4.0) licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc- sa/4.0/). 40