In this 3-question interview, Andrew tells us about the best content advice ever, content performance measurement and a favorite content tool.
1) What is the best advice you’ve ever been given when it comes to content?
The best advice I’ve ever been given when it comes to content is to make sure that each piece of content shared aligns with the overarching goals of your communications plan. Every communication plan should now include a social media component. When I’m in meetings about developing a plan I fight to make sure that social media is included in the discussion. Often the people creating the plan aren’t used to thinking about social. Keeping the institutional goals of the overarching communication plan in mind when creating, scheduling and curating content is essential. How does this cool picture of campus help recruit a student? How does this story from a PIO help with retention? How does this event help the community like us more? Keeping those goals in mind when sharing is essential.
2) How is the performance of your content measured/evaluated at your school?
Content I share is measured and evaluated by my direct supervisor. We had a series of meetings over a period of months to narrow down the exact data I should report. There is SO MUCH available that we decided it needed to be easy and quick to find across all platforms, should be reported every month, and should help measure our progress towards certain goals. For smaller platforms I simply report the number of followers. For Facebook and Twitter that expands to include impressions, clicks, and engagement. I enter these numbers into a shared spreadsheet. The most exciting part is to look at the numbers after a year and see how many million (!) impressions content has received.
3) What is your favorite content tool?
My favorite content tool is my imagination! I like to make and engage with GIFs so I try to make cool GIFs. I love to improve the lives of my audience so I try to imagine myself in their shoes as a user and create/curate content that would excite me to see it. Adobe products, online creation tools, all those things are only as useful as what starts out as an idea in my brain. After I have the idea I first see if I can make that idea fit in to the social communication strategy I’m working with. If it doesn’t – bye bye idea. But if it does… yay! Make more!!
A conference focusing on higher ed content?
The Higher Ed Content Conference is a must-attend event for higher ed content professionals and teams looking for new ideas and best practices.
Read below what a few of your higher ed colleagues who attended the past editions of the Higher Ed Content Conference say about the experience.