Social Media Q&A with…Kirstin Alvanitakis, Online Communications Specialist, APSCUF

1. Sacunas News: Social Media Q&A with…Kirstin Alvanitakis http://www.sacunas.net/news/articles.php?article=2012-01-10
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ARTICLES Online Communications Specialist, APSCUF Time for a Rebrand?
Ar ti c les 01.10.2012 We at Sacunas look forward to 2012 with
anticipation of continued growth and success
for our clients. We envision 2012 as a year
Pr ess Releases Recently, we had a chance to catch up with Kirstin Alvanitakis, Online Communications of re-branding and re-positioning for many
Specialist for the Association of Pennsylvania State College & University Faculties businesses. Few companies...
W hi te Paper s (APSCUF), for a question and answer session on how Social Media is working for them. Read More
News Br i ef s Q: When did APSCUF start using social media and what were the original goals for
its use?
APSCUF first steps towards getting social was updating their WordPress blog and using BUZZ
Twitter. However, it wasn't until Sacunas came on board that our social media efforts really
01.10.2012
took off. Sacunas helped to create an overall public relations and marketing campaign Social Media Q&A with…Kirstin Alvanitakis
designed to solidify and strengthen APSCUF's brand with target audiences, to position Read More
APSCUF as a trusted authority on the issue of higher education in Pennsylvania and to 11.08.11
engage our membership and elicit trust in APSCUF. As a piece of that larger campaign, our 7 SEO Basics Every Executive Should Know
social media plan has focused on building a following with our members, policymakers, Read More
members of the news media, students and other stakeholders. 10.18.11
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Q: What outlets do you use and why? Read More
APSCUF has a presence on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, as well as LinkedIn. In addition,
APSCUF maintains its blog on WordPress.
We are most active on our blog, Facebook and Twitter. Our blog is a great way to eNEWS
communicate with our members and build our reputation as the voice of public higher
education in Pennsylvania. Facebook is another great way to reach our members, as well ENTER EMAIL ADDRESS
as students, and Twitter has been effective in targeting members of the news media, as
well as lawmakers.
Q: Have you met your original social media program goals? If yes, how long did it
take and what challenges did you have to overcome? If no, did you redefine your
goals, change your plan?
We have most certainly grown our social media following and fan base amongst our
members, as well as key legislators and journalists. From August to October, APSCUF had
the largest growth in Facebook fan numbers of any Pennsylvania association. We've also
seen more engagement, more reTweets and @ mentions on Twitter and more "likes" and
comments on Facebook. However, it's a slow process. Every day I'm thinking of new and
engaging content that our fans and followers will enjoy and, more importantly, share.
Q: How much time do you spend on average per week posting to social media
sites?
I create a monthly editorial calendar for all of our social media sites, and I'm constantly
updating it with suggestions from my colleagues. Creating content – in particular, blog
posts and Web videos – is a time-consuming process. In addition, monitoring all of these
sites for comments and questions is a 24-7 gig. People really appreciate when you
respond to them as soon as possible.
We try to post a new blog update at least once a week, on Facebook three to five times
each week and several times a day on Twitter.
Q: Do you feel your organization's involvement in social media has positively
affected your brand?
Social media has played an important role in our overall public relations and marketing
campaign, but it's just a piece of the puzzle. An organization's brand is so much more than
its online presence – it's conveyed in each news story that mentions our organization, in
each meeting our members have with legislators, in each conversation our staff have with
our membership.
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