Creating a Social Media Program – Lessons Learned
Earlier this year, I had the pleasure of working with Pierce Education Properties to launch a comprehensive social media program for three off-campus housing properties at Michigan State University. The goal of the program was to reach the college student residents in a way that would resonate, while also increasing the company’s SEO and showing off the Chandler Crossings properties’ unique personalities. We created a blog, Facebook fan page, Myspace, Flickr and YouTube, and worked extensively with the team on best practices, resources and guidelines for each.
The program was a huge success. All of the initiatives worked together to raise awareness about the property and in conjunction with the new advertising, helped to brand Chandler Crossings as a cool place to live. While every aspect played a role in the success of the program, the two stand-outs were the blog and the Facebook fan page. The Lounge blog is unlike anything already existing in East Lansing. It’s full of great content geared at MSU students, including: MSU sports, events around town, great recipes for cheap, studying tips and tips about apartment living. The bloggers are student age employees who are able to speak on these topics with ease and by using a fun and casual tone. Best of all, they have utilized our search engine optimization tips, and the blog now ranks on the first page of google for the search term MSU apartments. (A feat that no other apartment complex in the area has been able to accomplish due to the plethora of apartment review sites.)
The Chandler Crossings Facebook fan page now has 702 fans and a fantastic amount of engagement. Some may question, why would anyone want to become a fan of an apartment complex? Well, we asked ourselves that exact question and came up with some answers that we thought might just be effective. It appears that more than 700 people agree with us.
Along the way, while we created and implemented this social media program, we learned some great lessons, which we’ve have already incorporated with new clients. Here are a few of my favorites:
1. Plans change - especially in social media. Everything’s moving fast, new tools are coming out all the time and some initiatives are just more effective than others. Because of this, make a plan but make sure you’ve made room for adjustments.
2. When training, go slow and use pictures. Could be true for most anything, but especially when you are dealing with a social media program. It’s easy to slip into social media jargon or assume people know what you mean when you are referring to a certain site, but I have found that everyone feels much more comfortable if they have something visual to look at.
3. Not every aspect of your social media program is going to be a home run. For Pierce, Myspace was not such a hit. At first, we weren’t going to do anything with Myspace at all, but then the team decided to create a profile after hearing from the client that many of their residents still use Myspace. While this may be true, we struggled at reaching those residents with our profile, especially as more and more people abandon Myspace for Facebook. That being said, if the 72 friends that Chandler Crossings has on Myspace are looking for a way to connect, why shouldn’t we be there? (Quick poll, who here still actively uses their Myspace profile? If so, why?)
4. Measurement is best done starting from the beginning. It’s easy to overlook measurement when you are just starting out because there is so much to do, and not a lot to measure right away. However a definitive reporting system will help you in the long term to see exactly where you stand as far as engagement, SEO and consistency.
and 5. You are going to need a team. It’s virtually impossible to launch a comprehensive social media program if your client only has one person to implement it. One of the reasons Pierce’s blog has been so successful is that we have utilized and trained many of their employees to be bloggers. This way there are always enough people to keep blog content fresh, while others run Facebook, Myspace, YouTube, and Flickr.
How about you? All you social media marketers – any other good lessons you’ve learned along the way?
Hey Nice blog here I’m adding it to my rss feeder, hope you update often!
Great post, guys.
And to respond to your poll, I only ever use Myspace to check out new bands (especially lesser known ones) and comedians. I don’t think many people use their Myspace profile beyond that these days.
Hi Ressel – Glad you liked it! Thanks
And LIz – thanks for answering the poll! That’s the only time I use Myspace as well.
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