UCLA X469.21 FALL '21 - WEEK 3

Instructor:
Erik Deutsch (@erikdeutsch)
#SocMedUCLA
Best Practices in Social Media
for the
Communications Professional
UCLA X469.21 Fall 2021
Meeting 3 (October 5):
• A Few Words About Video
• Social Media Platform Convergence
• Facebook, Instagram & Twitter Basics
• Final Project Overview
• Guest speaker:
Serena Ehrlich(@Serena)
Director of Product Marketing
Business Wire

Platforms are copying features that
attract and engage users
• Disappearing photos/videos/
messages
• Visual filters/”lenses”
• Story (“Stories”) format
• Hashtags
e.g., Facebook/Instagram copying from
Snapchat – Twitter copying from all
Therefore, choose platforms based on
audience, not features or format

2015
2020

1. Personal Profiles
2. Groups
3. Brand Pages
- Local Business or Venue
- Company or Organization
- Brand or Product
- Artist or Public Figure
- Cause or Community
Also – FB Messenger Bots are
used increasingly for customer
service and one-on-one
engagement

Facebook “Customers” vs. “Users”
- Advertisers are the “Customers”
- Users are the “Product”
FB is a consumer data collection engine
and ad serving platform

• Organic vs. paid (sponsored posts)
• EdgeRank algorythm (affinity, weight and
recency) – replaced by AI/machine learning
that takes 100,000 factors into account
• Insights (native analytics)

Classic “bait & switch” – FB sold brands on investing in fans/likes, then changed
the algorithm to severely limit organic access to those fans/likes

Friends & Family First:
To better promote users’ “mental health”
• More interactions between friends
• Less public content like posts from businesses, brands, and media
Local News > National News:
Prioritize local news over national news so users see content that has a direct impact on
them and their community
THEREFORE, for Brands:
Reach, referral traffic and video watch times likely to decrease further – at least in the
short run.
So:
Know your audience. Use analytics to understand and refine what works. Incorporate
multimedia (video). Pay up to boost/expand reach.

• Quality over quantity.
• Shorter posts (to generate more engagement).
• Provide a link (and hashtag).
• Ask questions (to ignite a dialogue).
• Use photos, links and “native” video for higher
EdgegRank.
• Go live! FB Live video streaming
• Pay to expand reach

1.General Status Update
2.The Retweet (RT and MT)
3.The @Mention
4.The @Reply
5.Direct Messages (DM)
6.Hashtag Tweet (#)

Tweet Structure
- Headline or phrase
- Link
- Hashtag
It’s a micro blog post – tell a
story (with max 280 characters)

• Tweets with image and video links have 5 times the
engagement rate
• Tens of millions of fake Twitter users – plus 44 percent
of users have never sent a single tweet
• The cost of a 24-hour promoted trend costs
about $200K
• Katy Perry is the queen of Twitter with more than 107
million followers
• Ellen’s photo of celebs at the Oscars generated 3.4
million retweets within hours – recently surpassed by a
kid trying to get free chicken nuggets.

• Owned by Facebook (acquired with
valuation higher than the NY Times)
• More for improving brand visibility and
building community than driving
website traffic
• Photos, “Stories” and Videos (clips +
live streaming) – more recently IGTV
• Native analytics provide detailed
follower data (demographics, usage
info, etc.)

• Get Discovered:
o #HASHTAGS to classify images and aid discovery
o Insert hashtags into comments (keep photo
captions clean)
o Tag people and use geolocation
o Review “Search & Explore” for what’s trending
o Follow, like/comment and engage!
• Overcoming no live links in captions:
o Place URL in profile bio
o Try apps like linkinprofile.com (aggregates posts
in a duplicate Instragram-style feed, with links)
o Watermark images to stamp URL on photos
(try iWatermark app)
o Verified accounts (big brands that pay and
influences) can add links to posts and “Stories”

• Follow others (reciprocity)
• Complete your profile and look “legit” (photo, keywords and links)
• Engage!
• Leverage what’s trending (#hashtags/keywords)
• Post when/where your target followers hang out
• Attend events (online/offline; e.g., Twitter chats)
• Mention and tag other users in your posts (“ego bait”)
• Promote everywhere (email sig, website, marketing collateral, etc.)
• Buy them... literally (but don’t)

• YouTube - Video Sharing
• Pinterest – Scrapbooking
• LinkedIn – Pro Networking
• Snapchat – Messaging
• Tik Tok – Video Sharing
• Swarm – Geolocation
*Note: List subject to change every five
minutes.

… and many others.

Certification can help you distinguish yourself as a platform expert… and many of the
courses are free:
• Facebook Blueprint
Teaches you how to use different Facebook tools available to marketers.
www.facebook.com/blueprint/certification
• Twitter Flight School
www.twitterflightschool.com
• Hubspot’s Inbound and Email Marketing certifications
www.academy.hubspot.com/certification
• Google AdWords/Analytics (advertising and metrics tools) Certification
www.google.com/partners

1. Situation Analysis (a few paragraphs – no boilerplate)
2. Goals (bullet points – well defined)
3. Target Audiences (bullet points – demo/psycho)
4. Competitive Analysis (a few paragraphs)
5. Strategies (bullets)
6. Tactics (bullets)
7. Measurement (starting point + benchmarks)
The Final Project

Situation Analysis
- Briefly describe the company/organization/individual
- Analyze the social media “situation”
- Platforms used
- Performance
- reach (followers/likes)
- engagement (comments, RTs, etc.)
- Type of content posted
- Frequency
Also look at:
- Resources (e.g., size of team, budget, etc.)
- What’s the “culture” with respect to social media (pro/con/neutral)
- SEO/reputation mgmt. – what does a Google search reveal?
NOTE: Focus on the same type of info for your “Competitive Analysis”

• Ask yourself “why?” – then ask again
• Tied to core (bottom line) objectives
(expanding social media presence is not an underlying goal)
• Be specific
Vague Goals: Increase awareness, enhance image,
promote products/services
Specific Goals: Drive website traffic, engage with
existing/new customers and generate sales,
expand company’s leads database, position
company leaders as experts in their field

• Be specific:
• Think beyond “customers/donors”
and “the public at large”
• B2B and/or B2C
• Demographic, geographic,
psychographic, behavioristic, etc.
• Basic demographics include age, gender,
income, profession, education, family
size, homeowner, marital status, etc.
• Basic psychographics include personality,
value, attitudes and lifestyle

Strategy:
Plan of action for achieving a goal or solving a problem
(derived from the Greek word for leading an army).
Tactic:
Means by which a strategy is carried out – specific action
items (derived from the Greek word for arranging or ordering)

Strategy = General Plan of Action (what you’re going to do)
e.g., Divide & Conquer
Tactics = Specific Actions to Carry Out Strategy (how you’re
going to do it)
e.g., Gather intelligence, destroy enemy communications,
ground invasion, etc.
Put another way…
Strategies – the high-altitude view
Tactics – on-the-ground view

Goal: Turn the tide and increase sales of baking soda
Strategy: Introduce new uses for baking soda
Tactics: Toothpaste, laundry detergent, air fresheners, etc.
Marketing Tactics: Advertising, retail promotions, new
product launch PR, publicity stunts, contests, etc.
Quiz... Is "build a Facebook page" a strategy or a tactic?
Arm & Hammer Baking Soda (circa 1970s)

Goals, Strategies and Tactics
- Goals are clear and relate directly to the social media effort
- Strategies are your general plan of action to achieve your
goals
- Tactics are specific action items and tools for carrying out
your strategies

#SocMedUCLA Instructor: @ErikDeutsch
Meeting 3 (October 5):
Guest speaker:
Stephen Chavez(@Serena)
CEO, ChavezPR
Co-Founder, LatinoFoodie Blog

UCLA X469.21 FALL '21 - WEEK 3

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