A social marketing presentation for the Wayne State Alumni Association done by me on June 3, 2009.

1. Wayne State University
Alumni Association
Social Media Strategy
BY JAMIE FAVREAU
JUNE 2009

2. Twitter and making it work for you
 Use Twitter Search
Find people who mention Wayne State
Wayne State Grad
 http://search.twitter.com

3. Twitter (Con’t)
 Follow people and comment to them
 Do NOT just talk about you
 Solve problems and let people know what is going on
with your Association
 Remember Twitter is another way to network
 Be more interested than interesting
 DO NOT just talk about you
 Automatic Direct Message
 ONLY follow certain people

4. Twitter (Con’t)
 Have everyone in your office participate
 Tweet about your new video content and new
content you may have
 Have a PICTURE
 People prefer to talk to people rather than brands
 Update content regularly even if it is just a few times
a day
 Keep your content fresh
 Share links which could help people and promote
you as well

5. Twitter (Con’t)
 Use Tweetdeck, Seesmic, or Twhirl if you are allowed
to download Adobe Air
 Twitter applications help make your life easier
 You can make groups
 Organize contacts
 Search for people who are relevant to your
organization

6. Blogs and why you should use them
 Easier way to keep content fresh
 Update and embed content from Youtube and other
networks
 Add to your Alumni Page if possible
 You can comment on other people’s blogs to get
some feedback on your Association
 http://blogsearch.google.com/
 More ways for you to talk about your organization on
a weekly basis before your magazine comes out

7. Blogs (Con’t)

8. Blogs (Con’t)
 Have multiple writers
 Let people know what is going on
 Example of what another University is doing
 http://ugadog.com/dawgblawg/
 Another way for Google to find you
 Always HYPER LINK (Links are always good for
Search Engine Optimization)
 Linking is the key to any social networking strategy

9. Social Bookmarking

10. Social Bookmarking Delicious
 Because this is a social bookmarking site, it means you can see what
other people have tagged as well. For example, if you’re interested in blogging,
tennis or digital photography, you can search any of those tags, and see what others
have bookmarked as their favorites for those particular topics.
 Colleagues or members of a project team could all agree to bookmark sites
using a specific tag that makes sense to them. Then when any member of the
team finds a useful resource, they can tag it and you’ll all be able to see it. That
avoids having to send out an email to everyone with the link.
 You can set up swhat others save using that tag. This enables you to stay
pretty current on a particular topic. You can view my subscriptions here.
 You can add other people with similar interest to your network (and they
can add you) and you’ll be able to easily see what they save. You have to know what
their name is on Del.icio.us before you can add them, but it’s not that hard to find
out, once you start watching for tags on a particular topic. Or better yet, you can ask
them. I’ve found out about some great articles that way.
 It’s a great site to just SURF – it’s interesting and easy to see how many other
people have saved a particular item.
 While the contents of your page can generally be viewed by anyone, you have the
option to mark something as private if you don’t want anyone else to see it.
 http://cindystephenson.wordpress.com/2008/07/07/six-reasons-to-use-delicious/

11. Social Bookmarking (Con’t)
 Del.ic.ous, StumbleUpon, Yahoo Buzz, Diggthis, and
Reddit
 Another way to get found
 You can bookmark University events, blog posts, and
whatever information you may have online
 Bookmark your Twitter account, news, and your
Youtube account

12. Facebook Groups
 Utilize Youtube by putting your video in these
various groups
 Link to your network so members can join
 Tell them the benefits by starting a discussion

13. News Releases
 Search Engine Optimization
 Viral communication
 Another form of communication
 To stay competitive in the digital age you have to be
 Findable
 Believable
 Credible
 Prove Value

14. Why News Releases are important
 24-7PressRelease.com - Free release distribution with ad-support
 1888PressRelease.com - Free distribution, paid services gives you better placement and permanent archiving.
 ClickPress.com - Distributs to sites like Google News and Topix.net, Gold level will also get you to sites like LexisNexis.
 EcommWire.com - Focuses on ecommerece and requires you include an image, 3 keywords and links.
 Express-Press-Release.com - Free distribution company with offices in 12 states.
 Free-Press-Release.com - Easy press release distribution for free, more features for paid accounts.
 Free-Press-Release-Center.info - Distributes your release, offers a web page with one keyword link to your site. Pro upgrade will
give you three links, permanent archiving and more.
 I-Newswire.com - Allows for free distribution to sites and search engines, premium membership differs only slightly in adding in
graphics.
 NewswireToday.com - All the usual free distribution tools, premium service includes logo, product picture and more.
 PR.com - Not only will they distribute your press releases, but you can also set up a full company profile.
 PR9.net - Ad supported press distribution site.
 PR-Inside.com - European-based free press release distribution site.
 PRBuzz.com - Completely free distribution to search engines, news sites, and blogs.
 PRCompass.com - Distribute your press release with a free or paid version, others can vote it up ala Digg () style.
 PRUrgent.com - Not only distributes your release, but attempts to teach you how to write one, and even offers downloadbale
samples for you to work with.
 Press-Base.com - Submit your release for free and get on their front page and the category of your choice.
 PressAbout.com - A free press release service formatted as a blog.
 PressMethod.com - Free press release distribution no matter what, but extra services based on the size of your contribution.
 PRLeap.com - Free distribution to search engines, newswires, and RSS feeds. Fee based bumps get you better placement.
 PRLog.org - Free distribution to Google News and other other search engines.
 TheOpenPress.com - Gives free distribution for plain formatted releases, fees for HTML-coded releases.

15. Event listing sites
 Used to attract more visitors to events and to get
your news out with out a press release
ZVENTS.com
About Zvents.com:
 911k visitors per month
 56% female
 28% aged 35-49
 31% make 60-100k per year
 29% make 100k+ per year
 60% have attended college or graduate school

16. Zvents.com (Event website)

17. Yelp.com (Event websites)

18. Events (Con’t)
 Yelp.com
 Restaurant and venue review community but has a spot
for local events plus they love to help Non Profits.
 About Yelp.com:
 17.7 million visitors per month
 53% female
 41% aged 18-34
 37% aged 35-49
 35% make more than 100k per year
 70% have attended college or grad school

19. Upcoming.yahoo.com (Event website)

20. Events (Con’t)
Upcoming.Yahoo.com:
 425k visitors per month
 56% female
 33% aged 18-34
 38% aged 35-49
 29% make 30-60k per year
 28% make 60-100k per year
 59% have attended college or grad school

21. Eventful.com (Event website)

22. Events (Con’t)
 Eventful.com
 About Eventful.com:
 587k visitors per month
 59% female
 27% make 30-60k per year
 14% of audience is African American
 57% have attended college or graduate school
 Recommended for charity, free promotional events
or even a booth promotion at large events.

23. Facebook Events

24. Facebook Events (Con’t)

25. Linked IN groups

26. Groups
 Let people know what you are doing
 Engage people by finding out their interests
 Help them
 Find out more about your alumni
 Inform them of things going on especially in today’s
society about workshops, how to find work, and why
your alumni association can work for you

27. http://events.linked in.com

28. Linked In Events (Con’t)

29. Power point Presentation Sites
http://www.authorstream.com
http://www.myplick.com
http://www.slideboom.com/
http://www.slideserve.com/
http://www.slideshare.net/

30. Presentations (Con’t)
 They can be added to your blog
 Shared amongst the community
 Another way to get your word out
 Some presentations can be turned into video and put
on your YouTube channel
 People can find you in another way who are looking
for you
 Just by using your content which you have already
produced

31. Your Online network
 Needs to be more user friendly
 Seems like a database
 Needs to really have a reason to be there
 You can post the link on Facebook, LinkedIn, and
Twitter
 See what happens
 Start conversations
 Be interesting

32. Conclusion
 Social Networking takes time and is a marathon NOT a sprint
 It is about building relationships
 Communicating in other ways and being searchable
 Create new events and ask the Alumni what they would like to see
Example: I asked on Twitter what she would like and she said,”Make it easier for
her to borrow a book from the library as an alumni, have casual events like local
plays, bands, and sporting events and a discount at the Bonstelle.”
 By creating a dialog you can find out what people want and how to make your
organization stronger
 I also talked to another alum who wouldn’t join because he thinks all you want is
money.
 So you can change the thoughts of people by informing them of what is going on and
making changes which they think you can benefit from.
 You can find other ALUMNI associations and ask them what they are doing and see
if you can collaborate or share stories
 Today’s economy it is VERY IMPORTANT to let people know how the Alumni
Association can work for you as far as getting a job.
 Programs and incentives need to be stressed and people need to know why it is
important to keep in touch with your Alumni Association.