Independent Study

Fall 2013

Social Media
Strategy and
Action Plan for
IU Southeast

Lyndsey Cooper

lynncoop@ius.edu

Independent Study

I.

Fall 2013

Executive Summary
IU Southeasts communication department has a need to create a new strategy for their approach to
social media. They want to make their presence more recognizable. This would be a clear advantage for
current students, future students, and alumni as well. I will evaluate the advantages to using Facebook,
Twitter, LinkedIn and other forms to their full advantage.

II.

Strategic Initiatives
A. Situation Analysis
The issue at hand is that the department is not utilizing their presence on social media sites as well as
they should. Social media is an excellent and free marketing opportunity for them to reach future
students, keep current students up to date on what is happening on campus, as well as stay in contact
with alumni. The impact that can be made through the development of a solid online presence can be a
huge factor in campus organization and professional reputations. Social media is an increasingly
beneficial way of communicating information and news. Other universities have already begun highly
effective social media campaigns and to fall behind now would be a serious threat to the universitys
future and growth.
Social media guidelines have been created and set fourth for all university departments. Currently, the
IU wide system does not play a role in the IU Southeast campus social media appearance. Indiana
University has however set forth a set of rules and guidelines that each campus is to abide by. The
University Communications Department manages the IU Southeast Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn,
Youtube, Flickr, Instagram, Pinterest, and Google+ sites. In the case of an employee leaving the
majority of the Facebook pages are linked so that the department can still maintain access while
allowing each individual department to maintain their respective pages.
This will also be a good time to evaluate the benefits or disadvantages of using some platforms over the
other as well as platforms that are increasingly more popular.
B. Research Analysis
Recent studies suggest that Twitter followers are up while Facebook users are down. Google+ is also
increasing its membership and has become number two, second to Facebook. This suggest that there
may be significant payoffs to jumping ahead of the crowd and using Google+ as a primary means of
social media communication. Research also suggests that video marketing is trending more and more.
Apps such as Instagram, Vine, and Snapchat offer videos up to 15 seconds long allowing users to obtain
more information at a much faster rate.
According to the Facebook analysis already conducted by the Communications Department their top
Facebook posts are generally photos or video. They have increased in popularity and demonstrated
steady growth in the amount of likes received. The most recent post to engage followers during the
last quarter was of the Induction Ceremony. Youtube analysis shows that Subscribers were up however
views and estimated minutes watched were down. YouTube engagement statistics demonstrate a decline
in all areas of likes, comments, shares, favorites added, and favorites removed while dislikes were up.
The top ten videos most often watched were HR Management videos.
Twitter statistics demonstrate that the Universitys tweeting behavior is up by 95% in the last quarter
however the conversation/engagement is very low. The university has remained fairly stable in terms of

Lyndsey Cooper

lynncoop@ius.edu

Independent Study

Fall 2013

new and existing followers. 54% of followers are female with 46% male. However there has been very
few mentions or retweets from existing followers.
C.

Target Audience
The target audience of the universitys social media presence would include potential, non-traditional,
current, transfer, and visiting students. As well as potential candidates for open positions.
Potential students would include anyone in the Southern Indiana or surrounding Louisville areas. These
residents would be high school students and their parents. According to various college statistic websites
IU Southeast admits close to 80% of applicants, most of which are unmarried women.
The US Census states that New Albany has an approximate estimate of 36,462 residents in 2012. 85% of
residents are white. 83.3% of people aged 25 or older are a high school graduate or higher. Their median
household income is $38,640.
The louisvilleky.gov website shows that the median household income of Louisville residents is $53,354
and the average age is 38. Women outweigh the men in population at 52%. They are mostly Caucasian
(74.2%). 12.3% of residents make less than $15,000 per year. 78% of occupied homes do not have
children and 35.2% are single with 8.9 widowed, 14.3 divorced, and 41.6% married.

D. Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats

Strengths
Strengths of the universitys social media usage include they have already begun to implantation of
social media as well as using the booster on Facebook. The booster allows your Facebook post to be
reached by more users. Social media is a fantastic way of creating communication opportunities for the
campus community. This gives students a place to voice opinions, and show what they like and dislike
about the campus, which in turn gives the university the feedback necessary to create a more positive
environment for the students through their involvement.
Social media also gives the campus the opportunity to be more active within itself; meaning that each
specific department holding an event can share this information with the Communications Department
and request that the information be shared. Examples would include financial aid, career development,
admissions, or student life department events. Event invitations could also be created and shared with
the IU Southeast followers.
Weaknesses
Weakness of the IU Southeast social media presence is that it is not being integrated as much as it
should be as a free marketing tool. There are several different outside platforms that can be utilized for
assisting in analyzing usage and presence that have not been explored. Tools such as these would be of
great assistance in targeting which areas need more work and which do not. Hootsuite offers a brandmentioning tool that would allow the university to see where they are being mentioned throughout social
media; this is an excellent tool that is not currently being utilized to the universitys advantage.
Non-traditional or commuter students are less likely to engage or become active on campus because they
may have full-time jobs and families to care for outside of their classroom experience. The possibility of
over posting is also a potential weakness as users can become annoyed by a bombardment of
information all at once. While there are many different platforms that serve as great marketing tools

Lyndsey Cooper

lynncoop@ius.edu

Independent Study

Fall 2013

studies have found that it is best to pick two or three and focus activity on those specific ones rather than
scattering information among many different platforms.
Another apparent weakness is that the Communications Department on campus currently does not have
enough employees on staff to maintain a strong social media presence. Currently the Communications
Department does not have a position dedicated to the oversight of their social media presence.
Opportunities
Due to the increase in social media usage there are several opportunities for the university. There are
numerous options for social media outlets, each one of them being free and available to everyone. The
accessibility aspect of social media leaves for no excuse of not properly implementing
This also provides the opportunity to focus on the positive aspects of our campus and the ability to share
it with the community. As part of IU Southeasts Core values, connectedness is an important part of the
IU Southeast environment. It is important that we show community members that we are focused on
more than what is happening on our campus. We also show concern for our local neighborhoods,
communities, and our city.
There are several websites that allow you to track your social media presence. The Communications
Department at IU Southeast has already begun using the Facebook Insights and boost tools as well as
Twitter stats and Youtube analytics. However, using tools such as Hootsuite which allows users to
manage multiple social media platforms, schedule post, as well as analyze traffic would be very
beneficial for tracking how connected users are with each platform.
Google, LinkedIn, and YouTube offer similar analytics to track social media presence that could be
beneficial for viewing activity through each platform. Hootsuite is a tool that allows the user to manage
Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Google+, and LinkedIn for free with YouTube, SurveyMonkey,
Wordpress, Blogger, Tumbler, and Flickr for small fees per application.
Threats
A continued threat would include the potential of bad publicity. It could also become a way for
stakeholders to express their opinions or thoughts by publicly posting on pages or tagging the university.
Not properly leveraging such a popular and free mass media outlet is a missed opportunity for the
university to quickly and effectively increase interest and participation in campus events, distribute vital
news, and raise overall awareness on issues that students are interest in.
Hackers could also become a potential threat to the social media sphere. With any account there is the
potential for someone to hack into the University accounts and post inappropriate messages. Using
proper computer security controls in a precise method to ensure access control will prevent this risk.
As stated previously the biggest threat to the department is that there are not enough people within the
Communications Department to properly maintain the campus social media. In order for all social media
platforms to be consistently updated and properly maintained it is recommended that one individual be
responsible for devoting his or her time to social media and its consistent updates.
E.

Key Objectives
Use Hootsuite as a means of application management.

Lyndsey Cooper

lynncoop@ius.edu

Independent Study

Fall 2013

A minimum of three posts per week on Facebook, Google+, Twitter, and LinkedIn.
Use Twitter as a means to connect with new or incoming students
Use LinkedIn to connect with recent graduates and Alumni
Use Facebook and Google+ to connect with all stakeholders (students, faculty, staff, alumni, and
the local community).
Profile stories once every month on both one professor, instructor, or faculty member and one
student.
Use social media as a means of communication to promote upcoming events on campus as well as
throughout the local community.
Provide students with information about the city and ways that they can become active in the local
community.

III. Creative Initiatives

A. Positioning Statement
The Indiana University official slogan Where you matter will be the primary focus of this
campaign, expanding it to focus on every potential stakeholder within the IU Southeast community.
Whether it be students, graduates, alumni, community members, or faculty/staff our Facebook page
and Google+ profiles will become an easily accessible portal of information about what is happening
on our campus.
LinkedIn will become the primary source of information for our Alumni who are in search of new
careers. Twitter and Instagram will primarily focus current and future students. Hashtags will be used
for photo campaigns to promote life as an IU Southeast student. As Google+ is still an up and coming
platform it will be a mirror image of the Facebook presence, where much of the news and information
will be distributed.
B.

Campaign Theme and Key messages

Campaign Theme: Community Matters
Key Messages: The key message of this campaign is that we are a community-oriented campus. We
are the small hometown college. We strive to keep our students involved in and outside of the
classroom. We encourage involvement within our neighborhoods and we encourage our students to
do volunteer work.

C.

Creative Execution Strategies, Tactics/Vehicles and Predicted Outcomes

Initiative: Alumni awareness and accomplishment recognition
Execution: Currently the IU Southeast Alumni following on LinkedIn is weak. The goal would be to
increase the number of people who are connected on the site to IU Southeast profile as well as
recognize them for their accomplishments. The department has a system in which they recognize
some former students for new employment in the IU Southeast Magazine however LinkedIn would
be a way to directly connect with them on a more personal level. By using LinkedIn we could

Lyndsey Cooper

lynncoop@ius.edu

Independent Study

Fall 2013

personally recognize them for their accomplishments, congratulate, and keep them informed of how
campus services, such as the Career Development Center, are still available to them.
Initiative: #IUSGRAD
Execution: The purpose of this would be to raise awareness via Twitter and Instagram. This would be
an opportunity for students as well as the department to post pictures with the hashtag #IUSGRAD
for graduation events and ceremonies.
Initiative: #IUSOUTHEAST
Execution: The purpose of this would also be to raise awareness via Twitter and Instagram. This
would be an opportunity for students as well as the campus and community to post pictures via
Twitter and Instagram with hashtag #IUSOUTHEAST. These pictures could be focused on any
campus activity or sporting events.
Initiative: Facebook Walking Tours
Execution: A walking tour is a good opportunity to show future students around campus with a
picture or video tour of the campus, campus buildings, library, Ogle center, and the lodges as well.
Initiative: New Communications Page Dashboard
Execution: The Harvard University Social Media Dashboard is an excellent example of what the new
page should look like. They have a menu with each platform option, as you select the platform you
find a submenu of all the departments that can be found within that platform. The new Dashboard
would be advertised on the IU Southeast homepage.
The department currently has a webpage within the main ius.edu website which breaks down each
department and what platform you can find their presence on. However, this page is not well known
by students and is hard to find within the site. The new dashboard would also be easily accessible by
phones and tablets.
Initiative: Campus Life and Student Connection
Execution: A stronger student-campus connection is important for social media. Students can now
submit events for organizations quite simply through the campus calendar. Currently what they
cannot do is send it to the department to be posted on social media in order to make other students
aware of events and activities through the campus social media outlets.
Included in the new Communications Page Dashboard would be a place for student organizations to
submit events they would like to promote through the campus platforms. In this case Hootsuite would
be incredibly beneficial as it offers a scheduling option where once a post is approved it can be
scheduled for a specific platform for at a certain date and time.
Initiative: Communication Connection Cards
Execution: Communication Connection Cards would be cards passed out during events such as Open
House and Induction day, and included in the Welcome Packets given to new students. They would
also be passed out during Week of Welcome, FYS classes, and sporadically placed throughout
campus. The cards would include a QR code, which would take the student to the Communications
dashboard where they could easily select the platform they want to follow.

Lyndsey Cooper

lynncoop@ius.edu

Independent Study

Fall 2013

IV. Evaluation Strategies

The evaluation will be executed over the course of one semester. After this time results could be assessed
by studying the before and after analytics from each platform. Surveys could also be distributed via email
with questions specified for each group: new, current, and alumni students. Paper surveys could also be
given to students in FYS classes. Prizes could also be awarded for participation.

V.

Conclusion
If the plan is effectively executed on all platforms mentioned, a great deal of change could result in how
the students and faculty receive their campus information. This is an excellent opportunity for the
department to reach out to students and the community using things they are already connected to daily.

Lyndsey Cooper

lynncoop@ius.edu

Independent Study

Fall 2013

Resources
"6 Successful Higher Ed Social Media Campaigns." Genius Recruiter RSS. Blog // Talkin' Student
Recruitment in the Digital Age, 20 July 2013. Web.
Baer, Jay. "Social Media Strategy in 8 Steps." Convince and Convert Social Media Strategy and Content
Marketing Strategy. N.p., n.d. Web.
"Indiana University-Southeast." Indiana University-southeast Admissions, Application, Demographics.
N.p., n.d. Web.
"Indiana University Southeast." Admissions Statistics and Chances. N.p., n.d. Web.
"Overview - Indiana University Southeast." Cappex.com. N.p., n.d. Web.
"Perceptions of Social Media: Schools and Students." Genius Recruiter RSS. Blog // Talkin' Student
Recruitment in the Digital Age, 5 May 2013. Web.
Sebastian, Jen. "20 Awesome College Social Campaigns from This School Year." Socialnomics. N.p., 4
Oct. 2012. Web.
Smith, Brad. "How 10 Savvy Colleges Are Using Social Media." RSS. Social Media Today, 11 July 2013.
Web.
"Social Media." Harvard University. N.p., n.d. Web.
Stelzner, Michael. "Social Strategy: How to Build a Sustainable Social Media Marketing Plan." Social
Media Examiner RSS. N.p., 27 Sept. 2013. Web.

Lyndsey Cooper

lynncoop@ius.edu