In Users We Trust: Social Media Conversations

People are more powerful than brands. Social media gives universities the opportunity to socialize with their audiences - to wander, to listen, to respond, to converse. User-generated content is a powerful way to communicate a credible and genuine message about your school. Your responses and interactions with that content humanize your brand and position you as a more trustworthy, transparent, and friendly brand.

For a full transcript of my presentation, please visit my blog at http://www.sherilehman.com/social-media-conversations/. You can also tweet me with questions or comments at www.twitter.com/sherilehman.

Transcript

1. @SheriLehman Chapman University   IN USERS WE TRUST SOCIAL MEDIA CONVERSATIONS #heww6
2. Power of... ABRAHAM LINCOLN People Information Accessibility CC Image courtesy of Ninian Reid on Flickr.
3. “Electronic communications where users can create online communities to share information, ideas, personal messages.” “Social media is a platform for discussion of ideas, experiences, and knowledge-exchange.” - Bulmer & DiMauro CC Image courtesy of Jason Howie on Flickr.
4. *For speakerdeck: This is a YouTube video at http://bit.ly/Peanuts-Teacher. This is an example of one-way communication. “Wah, wah…”
6. •  Trust the user, shake their hand •  Respond and converse •  Be a contribution, add value •  Provide information, service CC Image courtesy of Of Corgis and Cocktails on Flickr.
7. •  Put yourself in touch with the people •  Understand their wants, interests, experiences, and values MANAGEMENT BY WANDERING AROUND
11. WANDERING IS LISTENING, LEARNING •  Wander… get a little lost •  Monitor •  Listen •  Engage KNOWING IS RELEVANCY “If you don’t like change, you’re going to like irrelevance even less.” – E. Shinseki
12. “Oral exchange of sentiments, opinions, ideas.” “An informal discussion.” “Engage in conversation, talk, chat, speak.” CONVERSATION
13. WHY SOCIAL? •  Users crave stories on social • They want to add value to it • They want to share it • Make it tangible, relevant CC Image courtesy of Tax Credits on Flickr.
14. “Users don’t aggregate around age, gender, and income. They aggregate around the things they love, the things they like. If you think about it, shared interests and values are a far more powerful aggregator of human beings than demographic categories.” - Johanna Blakley, TED CC Image courtesy of TEDxPhoenix on Flickr.
16. #CaptureCU
17. PEOPLE ARE WAITING… Social is “… Seeking or enjoying the companionship of others (friendly, sociable, gregarious).” “People are waiting to be connected.” - Seth Godin Let’s connect them to each other based on a mutual interest… us!
20. TRANSPARENCY •  Honestly is the best policy •  Timeliness and helpfulness is key •  Communicates trust in the user •  Humanizes our brand, university
21. “The Beatles did not invent teenagers. They just decided to lead them.” – Seth Godin We do not always need to invent content or stories. We can just take leadership of it. CC Image courtesy of Gauravonomivs on Flickr.
22. @SheriLehman Image by Snoopy on Facebook.