This document outlines a public relations plan to increase engagement on social media accounts belonging to President Cynthia Matson of Texas A&M University-San Antonio and the university overall. It begins with an analysis of the current social media presence and competitive landscape. Objectives are outlined to increase brand awareness, followers, and engagement with current students and alumni. Specific tactics are proposed, such as developing social media content, cross-promoting accounts, engaging prospective students at orientations, and highlighting alumni success stories. The plan aims to strengthen the university's social media presence through consistent, engaging content and community building efforts.

1. 1
Public Relations Plan
July 1, 2015
Submitted by:
Kendra Wilkerson, Michael Peters,
Emily Rodriguez, Courtney Kaiser

2. 2
Mission Statement
Texas A&M University- San Antonio’s President Matson is committed to
provide, present, and engage the public through social media. President Matson is
committed to developing both her brand personally as well as elevating the school’s
current social media sites. Texas A&M University – San Antonio is an institution that
takes pride in being located in the historical downtown San Antonio for a diversity of
audiences.
Vision
To increase the brand awareness of social media accounts that belong to Dr.
Matson, the president of Texas A&M University - San Antonio by building and
connecting current and prospective students to an active online community.
Table of Contents
Situation Analysis Pg. 3
SWOT Analysis Pg. 4
Target Audience Pg. 4
Field Research Pg. 5
Competitive Analysis Pgs. 6-8
Planning Pg. 8
Objectives, Strategies, & Tactics Pgs. 9-12
Timeline Pgs. 12-13
Evaluation Pg. 13

3. 3
Situation Analysis
Dr. Cynthia Matson, the second president of Texas A&M University - San
Antonio, is currently a user of Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. At her previous
institution, Fresno State University, she was actively engaging with students, faculty
and staff in an online community. When Dr. Matson began her new position at
TAMUSA on January 12, 2015, she discovered that previous president, Dr. Maria
Hernandez Ferrier, was not active on social media, and that the campus community
lacked a strong social media infrastructure.
In Figure 1, you will find the social media accounts of the president of
TAMUSA and the university’s official social media accounts. Although TAMUSA is
not our official client, it is included here because prior to Dr. Matson’s presidency
these accounts were the only social media accounts officially associated with the
university.
Figure 1. *Current as of June 29, 2015
Social Media Account Followers Following Posts
Twitter: @cmatson64 530 242 1,565
Twitter: TAMUSanAntonio 2,534 516 2,042
Instagram: @prezmatson 64 41 24
Instagram: TAMUSanAntonio 81 21 20

4. 4
SWOT Analysis
Strengths Weaknesses
• Connection- to students, staff, and
community
• Involvement- showcase philanthropy of
President Matson
• Texas A&M University- San Antonio is a
part of reputable TAMU family already
established on social media
• Visuals- Appealing and professional
photos throughout sites
• Completed biography
• Re-tweets indicate that she is viewing
and acknowledging student involvement
• Limited Human Resources to assist in
social media
• Lack of advertising to increase online
engagement
• Lack of university branding online
• Public Facebook account that is empty
• Narrow target audience
• Inconsistencies with use of hashtags
create a lack of grouping and unity to
university
Opportunities Threats
• Job opportunities/internships for a social
media position/team
• Rebranding – Creating cohesive handles
for all accounts
• Active Instagram
• Utilizing the 140 characters to create
stronger relationships and better
engagements
• Hashtag Dictionary – a dictionary of
preset hashtags used to group subjects
• Lack of diversity in applicants based
on current portrayal on social media
• Inconsistency- Gaps in interaction
could cause a loss in followers
• Negative feedback and commentary
• Area universities have social media
teams put in place to help control
communication and messages
Target Audience
Primary Audience
 New Students
o Incoming
o Prospective
Secondary Audience
 Current Students
Tertiary Audience
 Alumni

5. 5
Field Research
Meeting with President Matson regarding current situation and goals 6-15-2015
 Hopes to build a brand for herself on social media that will elevate the
university
 Currently has a Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook account (Facebook public
site empty / wants personal site separate)
 Would consider a change to create unity in her handles, but is opposed to a
new Twitter account
 Would like to see more of an incorporation of our mascot throughout branding
 No current social media team in place, hopes to control her pages on her own
as much as possible. Hire as time and situation permits.
 Uses Hootsuite to group social media accounts, does not want same
message throughout sites
 Not comfortable in using Instagram, may need additional training
 Likes the social media accounts that Arizona State University and Dillard
University have as well as Dr. Ono’s ability to interact and engage students
 Puts a focus on the Latino community and incorporates that into postings
(wants to be diverse, but not lose that special focus)
Informal interview with 6 prospective students on campus tour 06-24-2015
 Aged 13-15, live in surrounding area
 5/6 were on Instagram
 3/6 were on Twitter
 1/6 were on Facebook
 Location – Appealing for students who can’t afford to leave home
 Cost – Their parents told them it was cheaper and they could live at home
 Sports – How much longer until they will be on campus?
 Size – It doesn’t seem like “anybody comes here,” no visuals of student
involvement
 Activities – Are there plenty of groups to join and sorority/fraternities on
campus?
 Transportation – Are there any buses that are reserved for students going
back and forth?
 Technology – There are a lot of big computers and things in classrooms that
seem high-tech
Informal interview with 4 alumni students 06/28/2015
 Received decal for automobile stating “Alumni”
 No email from career services checking in on post-graduation job questions
 No alumni group information
 No contact information for anyone in an alumni position
 Haven’t been reached out about any type of donations
 Did receive a congratulatory email from graduation services
*Please see additional research completed to support strategies and tactics inserted
here.**

6. 6
Competitive Analysis *Current as of June 29, 2015
President Cynthia Teniente-Matson- Texas A&M University - San Antonio
Facebook: @prezmatson
- 0 Likes
- 0 Posts
Twitter: @cmatson64
- 530 Followers
- 1,565 Posts
- 475 Favorites
Instagram: @prezmatson
- 64 Followers
- 24 Posts
Of all the social media platforms that President Matson has a presence on,
Twitter is her strongest outreach strategy. Posting consistently a couple of times a
day, Matson frequently interacts with her followers through replies and retweets. Her
posts are a mix of university events, photos of student interactions and current
events regarding city leaders. Though her posts are friendly, Matson should strive to
post a photo or visual element with each of her Tweets and use appropriate
hashtags to expand her audience. Matson’s Instagram account is inconsistent, days
or weeks pass in between posted photos. The photos consist of Matson out in the
community or with university staff and students.
University of the Incarnate Word
Facebook: @uiwcardinals
- 13,496 likes
Twitter: @uiwcardinals
- 5,163 followers
- 7,738 posts
- 5,847 favorites
Instagram: @uiwcardinals
- 253 posts
- 2,223 followers
- Posts typically 1-3 times per week; occasionally goes one full week without
posting.
The University of the Incarnate Word social media profiles are largely similar
in what they post, with marginal differences among them. UIW remains fairly active
across all three of their accounts with Instagram being the most infrequent. While
Instagram is features the most infrequent amount of posting, it does feature a lot of
reposts of UIW students taking photos around campus. The UIW Twitter profile
focuses on campus scenery and opportunities available to students on campus. UIW
also appears to place a high priority on outreach to potential incoming students.
They are frequently seen interacting with students who have recently declared that

7. 7
they will attend UIW. UIW also has a uniform hashtag listed in its bio for students to
use, although UIW seems to use other school related hashtags more frequently.
President Tom Mengler­ St. Mary’s University
Facebook: N/A
- Mengler does not have a personal Facebook
- University Facebook page has more than 16,000 likes and 67,000 check-ins. -
They have 4.6 out of 5.0 stars in a total of 301 reviews
Twitter: @St.MUpres13
- 313 Followers
- 138 Tweets
- 55 Favorites
- #RattlerPride school hashtag
Instagram: N/A
President Mengler joined Twitter in August of 2013 for the sole purpose of
connecting with Rattlers and introduced school hashtag #RattlerPride in first tweet.
Mengler posts inconsistently; some days he posts several times a day throughout
the day, then skips days or weeks. Mengler’s account incorporates personal
moments with his family, and several pictures demonstrating his involvement in the
community. His past few tweets have covered a wide spectrum including foreign
exchange, sports, graduation, community fundraiser, scholarships, and a blog.
President Ricardo Romo- University of Texas at San Antonio
Facebook: - Public Figure Page
- 236 Likes
- Has not posted since March 1, 2013
Twitter: @UTSAPresOffice
- Run community manager and marketing department
-146 followers
- 62 Tweets
Instagram: @utsapresidentromo
- Run by Romo
- 1,682 followers
- 370 posts
After contacting presidents Romo’s office, it was learned that Romo does not
operate his this twitter account. The account is operated by an online community
manager on his office staff in conjunction with the university's marketing director. His
Twitter feed consists of tweets and retweets from other twitter accounts such as
members of the UTSA faculty, other UTSA offices and organizations. Romo’s
Instagram account consists of well done curated photos of university life, Romo’s
day-to-day activities and important guests of the university. His Facebook public
figure page is largely ignored.
Our Lady of the Lake University

8. 8
Facebook: @OurLadyoftheLakeUniversity
- 3,669 likes
- 463 check-ins
- 4.7 of 5 stars from 110 reviews
Twitter: @OLLUnivSATX
- 3,178 followers
- 2,628 tweets
- 49 favorites
Instagram: N/A
Outgoing President Jane Ann Slater does not have any social media profiles,
while incoming President Diane Melby has a private Facebook account and an
inactive Twitter profile (Melby’s last tweet was from September). Our Lady of the
Lake University’s Twitter account is fairly active. Their posts are mostly text based
and devoid of hashtag use. OLLU has posted only two photos and one video since
January. The layout of their profile is also weird because some of the links, words
and hashtags are a shade of gray which does not show up very well on the white
background. OLLU features very little interaction with other Twitter accounts.
Planning
Budget
 Printed Material $3,000
o Orientation booklet
 Posters
o 4-5 per campus with social media handles and hashtag dictionary
 Banners
o For booths during orientation
Social Media $2,000 (Extra for overflow)
 Social Media Student Worker $8.00 per/hr for 10 hours weekly = $1280.00
per full semester
 Photographer/Videographer Student Worker– 40 hours per semester at
$12.00
Merchandise
 Logo Merchandise for give-a-ways $500.00
 Bookstore Vouchers $150 x 4 = $600.00

9. 9
Objectives, Strategies, & Tactics
Strategy: Increase brand awareness of social media accounts.
Tactics:
 Create consistent social media handles
 Curate Instagram with visually engaging images
 Designate a community manager to operate social media pages. This person
would be responsible for ensuring that all of the images are up-to-date and
consistent from account to account.
 Create an official TAMUSA hashtag that will be stored in Dr. Matson’s bio.
Strategy: Increase followers on social media platforms 30% by becoming the go-to
source for campus related events for new and prospective students
Tactics:
 Record video orientation videos to be played on a loop around campus
promoting President Matson’s social media accounts and semester or yearly
goals.
o To advance her “digital open door policy,” Matson should partner with
university recruiting and enrollment services to film several short
orientation videos to be shown on a loop on televisions across each
campus. The videos will consist of a welcome from the president,
Matson’s plans for the year or semester, a notification of available
resources, promotion of her social media and promotion of her open door
policy.
 Create a living hashtag dictionary as a resource for students who wish to post
about the campus.
o As a cross between Urban Dictionary and Webster's Dictionary the
living hashtag dictionary, to be located on the school’s website, will serve
as a guide for students who wish to post about their time spent on
campus. Each hashtag will come with its own definition and a sample
social media post correctly implementing the tag and will be continuously
added to as events occur.
 Cross promote university affiliated social media accounts as relevant through
mentions, retweets or shares.
o While answering student or community questions as they arise through
social media, Matson should cross promote university affiliated social
media accounts as relevant through mentions, retweets or shares. Cross
promotion assists other university affiliated social media accounts to grow
while spreading awareness to students and the community of what
resources the campus has to offer.
 Add a section about university social media in any online/in-person student
orientation programs.

10. 10
o In addition to Matson’s videos, a small section about university social
media should be added to any online or in-person student orientation
programs. This allows for all newly enrolled students to be exposed to the
office of the president’s social media and any other relevant accounts from
the very beginning of their time as jaguars.
 Follow and use trending hashtags or challenges as appropriate regarding
university news or events.
o Everyday new trending hashtags or challenges make their way to the
forefront of social media. To stay relevant and appear in popular hashtags,
Matson should attempt to use popular hashtags in her posts or participate
in video challenges such as the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge whenever
possible.
Strategy: Increase President Matson’s social media presence with current students
by 15% through cyber events and mascot involvement.
Tactics:
 Develop a scavenger hunt with clues placed on President Matson’s social
media accounts to set-up a #WhereIsGeneral campaign lead by President
Matson
o Create clues that will be placed on President Matson’s social media
account. (Must follow on her social media accounts to enter)
o Place clues with designated hashtag every other Monday
o Place a box in a designated area on each campus for students to
place guesses by completing a small form with their information
o Put together 4 baskets with a bookstore voucher and school
memorabilia
o Select 4 winners, 2 per campus
o Release commercial showing General in the tower
 Develop videos to play in the lounges and student areas throughout university
featuring President Matson giving messages and showing her social media
information
 Create videos with mascot facts and study tips #FromTheGeneral
 Continue to develop one interactive President/mascot cyber event each Fall
and spring semester
#WhereIsGeneral
1. In the jungle the General would stalk his prey, but where he is now he can watch
it all day.
2. Though it’s not his natural habitat, the General has skills to get where he’s at.
3. In San Antonio it’s a famous site, but for General it’s where he sleeps each night.
4. Crimson Red is a beautiful sight, but to see General you are going to need a
spotlight.

11. 11
5. If you hear a low growl, and the scratch of a
paw I may be coming down to welcome you all.
6. Though there is more than one way to arrive,
pick the right one and you’re sure to pass by.
Strategy: Increase alumni engagement and
followers by 8% within a year of
implementation
Tactics:
 Obtain email list of alumni database and send links of each of President
Matson’s social media profiles to alumni. Encourage alumni to follow President
Matson and Texas A&M University-San Antonio’s social media profiles. Find out
what social media alumni are on and follow them to keep up with their
achievements.
 Tell the story of what Texas A&M University-San Antonio graduates have
achieved since leaving the University.
 The series of storytelling posts should have a unique hashtag, such as
#JagGradsNow. This connects the University with alumni while also
showing current and prospective students what Jaguar graduates are
capable of achieving.
 #ProudJagGad photo-sharing series
 Have Jaguar graduates from various locations post
photos of themselves doing the Jaguar claw at different
locations (could be anywhere). This idea is similar to
UT-Austin’s “Hook ‘Em” sign that has become popular
as a photo share on social media. This idea does not
have to be limited to alumni. President Santa Ono of
the University of Cincinnati
frequently retweets photos of
alumni and current students doing
the UC sign at various locations
around the nation and the globe.
 Make alumni database
available to current students
seeking networking opportunities.
Alumni databases should also
include an area where twitter
handles can be listed as this is where most young
people are found as being active.This would also add
some value and incentive for incoming students to
begin thinking about the importance of an alumni
organization and networking.

12. 12
 Engaging and connecting with alumni starts when they are still students.
 Developing an alumni base which features a strong connection with
the university starts with cultivating connectivity and school pride with
incoming students. Dr. Ono at the University of Cincinnati is an expert at
this tactic. He frequently roams campus taking photos with students and
often retweets the photo when students share them on his Twitter feed.
He establishes a connection with incoming and current students, which
carries on when those students transition into being alumni.
Timeline
JULY
27th-31st
 Film orientation video with President Matson
 Film video to run in lounges / student area feat. President Matson
AUGUST
3rd
-7th
 Sit down and finalize hashtag dictionary
 Put together new student orientation packet
24th
 First day of Class
24th
-28th
 Run orientation booths on both campuses
SEPTEMBER
7th
 Labor Day Holiday
14th
 First clue on #WhereIsGeneral campaign
16th
 Email blast to alumni
28th
 Second clue on #WhereIsGeneral campaign
OCTOBER
12th
 Third clue on #WhereIsGeneral campaign
26th
 Fourth clue on #WhereIsGeneral campaign
31st
 Halloween
NOVEMBER
9th
 Fifth clue on #WhereIsGeneral campaign
11th
 Veteran’s Day Holdiay
23rd
 Final clue on #WhereIsGeneral campaign
25th
-28th

13. 13
 Thanksgiving Holiday
DECEMBER
1st
 Select winners and release video of General in tower
5th
 Last Day of Class
 Fall Commencement
Evaluation
During a previous interview Dr. Matson indicated that she uses Hootsuite to
schedule her posts throughout the social media platforms she holds accounts to. To
ensure simplicity it is recommended that Matson use the analytics report tools on
Hootsuite to track total reach and demographics.
With the plan’s main focus being Twitter and Instagram, it is recommended
that Matson additionally use Topsy.com or Socialrank.com to continue to monitor
analytics to ensure that the target audiences are being reached and goals are met.
How success is determined:
 Did followers/likes on social media accounts increase by 30% for primary,
15% for secondary and 8% for tertiary audiences respectively?
 Was the Office of the President brand established through increased use of
Twitter and Instagram accounts?
 Did the General Jaguar mascot notoriety increase through scavenger hunt
based on number of entries in the activity?
 Were the “digital open door policy” and the president/student body
relationship strengthened through orientation videos as determined by an
increase of students using the S.H.A.R.E with the President function on the
university’s homepage?