Communicating with your audiences in a 2.0 world

Melanie Moran

Vanderbilt University News Service

May 17, 2008

Today we’ll talk about

• How communications have changed

• Definitions of social media

• The importance of conversations

• Audience expectations

Then…

• Press releases (faxed)

• Newsletters (mailed)

• Magazines (print only)

• Mainstream media coverage

• Top down control

• One-way

Now…

• We still write press releases and publish magazines but…

• 24/7 news cycle

• Blogs

• Video

• Podcasts

• Two-way

What is social media / Web 2.0?

• Digital tools and services that allow content creation with little to no technical knowledge

• Consumer-created content

• Personal profiles

• Shared interests / online communities

• Mashing together peoples’ work for enhancement or entirely new purposes

Social networks

•Facebook

•MySpace

•YouTube

•Flickr

•Blogs

•LinkedIn

•Del.icio.us

•Twitter

•Friendster

•Wikis

•And on and on…

“Join the conversation”

• Dozens / hundreds / thousands of conversations taking place every day online about your organization

• Who is talking? Who is listening?

• What are they saying?

• What are you saying in response?

Why join the conversation?

• To correct misconceptions

• To provide less formal interaction with your organization

• To strengthen connection to your organization

• To continue sense of community

• To strengthen your brand

But before you start talking…• Listen

• Read

• Ask

• Plan

• Implement

• Listen / Monitor

• Regroup

• Revise

But I publish a magazine!

• Continued demand and need for printed news

• Opportunity to re-purpose magazine content

• Opportunity to lengthen life of content

• Imperative to make written content relate to and reference digital supplements

Okay, I want to play. Now what?

• Survey available tools

• Choose tools and strategies that fit your strengths

• Plan goals for campaign

• Implement

Vanderbilt & Podcasts

• History of online audio

• New “content” generated everyday

• Omnivore approach

• Partnered with the Big Brand

Vanderbilt & Video

• Identified growth area

• Corralled talent

• Again, leveraged partnershipswww.youtube.com/vanderbilt

• Video caveat - Remember, you’re not Spielberg, and you don’t have to be!

Measuring success

• Determine who you are reaching and how

• Measurement built into many social media tools

• Third party companies exist to help measure your campaign and also your “conversations”

Integration

Social media in a crisis

• Immediate information

• Opportunity for connection

• Rumor control

• Ongoing updates

• Portability

Social media is the crisis

• Juicy Campus

• Bad Jocks

• CollegeSnafu

Contact

• Melanie MoranAssistant Director, Vanderbilt News Service(615) 322-7970melanie.moran@vanderbilt.edublogvu.wordpress.comtwitter.com/melaniemoran