The Direct Marketing Educational Foundation (DMEF) aims to educate college students about careers in direct/interactive marketing. As a social media intern, the author faced challenges growing DMEF's small social media fan base. Using Viralheat, the author was able to track engaging content and double DMEF's followers on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn in two months. DMEF provides scholarships and career resources to attract students to the direct marketing industry.

1. CASE STUDY
Direct Marketing Educational Foundation (DMEF)
Mission Statement: To attract, educate, and place college students in direct/interactive
marketing careers. We are dedicated to engaging students in order to educate them about
the direct and interactive marketing industry in addition to providing them with invaluable
opportunities and funds to support their immersion in this industry.
OvErall gOals FOr sOcial MEDia UsE sOcial MEDia challEngEs
The high school/college generation is often I was brought in to DMEF as its first-ever social
considered the age group to be most “digital- media intern. Although DMEF was registered
ly savvy”— they know how to use social me- under various social media sites, the staff was so
dia and love doing it. Because the mission of busy that it was hard for them to keep up with
our organization is to predominately engage all of it that resulted in small fan bases on these
with college students in order to educate them sites. The greatest challenge I faced was starting
about the industry, we realize there is no bet- from the beginning, because we had such a small
ter place to do this than social communities. fan base and it was my responsibility to both gain
By using social media as a medium to commu- and engage followers. I couldn’t just put up any
nicate with this generation of future business article and have a significant number of people
leaders, it has been easier for them to access “like” it. I had to make sure that the content I
the information that is relevant to them, that was posting was interesting and relevant. It was
we want them to see and thus engage with us. very challenging to learn about who my audience
was and what it took (the types of questions
gOals FOr Using viralhEat and content to post) for them to engage.
I joined Viralheat based on the recommendation rEsUlts
of Rand Schulman, who used to serve on the
Viralheat board and is an incoming board Viralheat has been invaluable to the success of
member of DMEF. During an interview, he told me DMEF’s social media engagement these past two
Viralheat was a must-have for our organization. months. Through Viralheat, I was able to track
After looking through the website, I decided that what type of content was popular and unpopular
Viralheat was exactly what I was looking for — I among my recent posts (love the “sentiment
wanted a way that I could monitor what I was tool”), mostly through looking at the Twitter and
doing over the Web and across social media sites. real-time Web graphs and reports. I also found
I was using Facebook Insights, TweetDeck, etc. it very helpful in figuring out what content is
but I didn’t know what conversations popular in my industry. Along with creating a
were going on outside of Facebook profile for my company, I created profiles for
and Twitter, and Viralheat would other non-profits similar to ours that have a
be a much more effective and large social media presence. I used Viralheat
efficient way for me to monitor to track what type of content was successful
our social sites. This way I for them – then was able to mimic that on
could get more done in the our social media sites. I am proud to say that
day, instead of going through since the start of my internship, our fan base
1,000+ websites trying on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn has nearly
to track our presence! doubled in size across all three communities.
info@viralheat.com
www.viralheat.com

2. Direct Marketing Educational Foundation (DMEF)
thOUghts On thE FUtUrE OF thE CASE STUDY
sOcial WEb:
WhErE DO yOU sEE it gOing anD hOW FrOM DMEF...
Will it aFFEct yOUr OrganizatiOn?
“DMEF’s mission really resonated with me.
Social media is clearly the present and future Because I was so passionate about DMEF’s
of advertising/marketing. There is no easier and mission, I was determined to help the
more direct way for our organization, along with Foundation grow. Thanks largely to Viralheat,
all others, to connect with customers, followers I was able to accomplish that goal and nearly
and fans. The continued use of social media to double the size of DMEF’s social media fan
connect with our key constituents will help ex- base in the top three social communities.”
pand the size of our organization, thus helping
to share its mission. With our organization’s con- “It was definitely a challenge in the beginning,
tinued expansion, hopefully we will be able to starting with such a small fan base. However,
connect with more college students that are in- Viralheat made it easy for me to track what
terested in the marketing industry and set them content was and was not working, making it easier
on a path to achieving all their career goals. for me to engage with and increase followers.”
MOrE inFOrMatiOn abOUt DMEF (http://www.directworks.org/)
Established in 1966 by members of the Direct Marketing Association who wanted to give something back to the commu-
nity, the DMEF is a non-profit educational foundation supported by tax-deductible contributions. It’s the only national
foundation of its kind solely committed to introducing – and in fact, engaging – academics and college students in the
thriving business of direct/interactive marketing. The DMEF’s programs are designed to encourage participation, equip
professors with the most up-to-date educational resources and prepare students for successful careers in this rapidly
evolving field.
To bring direct/interactive marketing instruction to the college campus, attract new talent and help students learn
about career opportunities, the Foundation publishes teaching resources, career information and the academic
research journal, Journal of Interactive Marketing.
DMEF serves three key audiences through tailored programs to meet their specific needs. Here are just a few examples
of how we do it:
1. college students
• Financial support to meet the growing demands of college tuition is available through the DMEF Scholarship
Program. In 2011 more than $80,000 was granted to students at schools nationwide.
• A one-day event called the Student Career Forum gives students an introduction to direct/interactive marketing
and its diverse and rewarding career opportunities, as well as valuable job-seeking strategies.
2. academics
• A Research Summit brings academics and professionals together to discuss and glean knowledge from
leading research taking place at the academic level.
• A new program called the Professors Institute is a three-day boot camp to provide specialized
training to academics that have demonstrated an interest in teaching direct, interactive, digital
and new-media marketing. Content comes from leading practitioners presenting cutting-edge busi-
ness cases from the front lines of today’s marketplace.
3. corporations
• Ensuring the future of this field by supporting future generations of leaders as they enter the
marketplace is just one aspect that resonates among professionals in the field.
• Getting access to top talent for intern and entry–level positions through the DMEF’s
i-GoDirect job bank is yet another.
sUbMittED by:
Erin Jennings info@viralheat.com
Direct Marketing Educational Foundation
Summer Intern (2011) www.viralheat.com