i) receive an update on the Association s current approach to Social Media

Transcription

1 CEC 01/18/7 OPEN UNIVERSITY STUDENTS ASSOCIATION Central Executive Committee (CEC) January 2018 THE ASSOCIATION S CURRENT APPROACH TO SOCIAL MEDIA The CEC is asked to:- i) receive an update on the Association s current approach to Social Media 1 Background 1.1 The purpose of this paper is to share information with the Central Executive Committee on how the Digital Communications team are currently approaching the Association s Social Media. In the absence of a Vice President Communications who can report back, we wanted to take his opportunity to be transparent about how we plan and post content. 1.2 This paper aims to address some of the key considerations when posting on Social Media as the Students Association (e.g the balance of types of content). It also introduces the trial of a new Student Voice Twitter account. 1.3 In addition, in January 2018 Mark Zuckerberg, indicated that Facebook would be putting a new emphasis on user engagement with posts which ties in well with our current approach. too often today, watching video, reading news or getting a page update is just a passive experience. Mark Zuckerberg, co-founder of Facebook. 2 How does Social Media differ from other platforms we use? 2.1 Although they are sometimes compared, the forums serve a different purpose to Social Media. The forums act as a safe place for in-depth discussion of various topics, while we treat Twitter and Facebook as more informal, social and public places. The number of our Social Media followers significantly outnumbers student users on the Student Community forums and Student Consultation forums, so they have become a more effective place for us to signpost new stories and campaigns in order to reach a wider audience. For the purpose of this paper followers on Twitter, as well as those who like and subscribe to the Association on Facebook will collectively be referred to as subscribers. At the time of writing we have 21K subscribers on Twitter and 27/28K on Facebook. These are our main Social Media channels. The 1

2 Association s use of Instagram is more infrequent and we do post regularly to YouTube. 2.2 The virtual student bar - As we know, Open University students have a distinct experience of HE study to campus-dwelling students of bricks and mortar universities, in that there is no physical place for these students to congregate and informally socialise. We can use the metaphor of a virtual student bar to describe how we d like to see activity on the Association s Social Media accounts. So long as there is a good conversation flowing and a chance to let your hair down, no-one minds if the union puts up a few posters on student issues which some students may choose to act upon. 2.3 Social Media is also a place where students can easily show their support for Association campaigns. For example, the recent anti-bullying campaign provided an opportunity for Student Association reps and other students to attach an anti-bullying badge to their profile picture. Social Media is vital in promoting the elections to a wider audience than the forums and in crucial in reaching a wide audience to vote and stand for positions. 2.4 We are also committed to ensuring that students who do not use Social Media are still able to access the same core services and content through oustudents.com. 2.5 An exceptional instance when students require Facebook to take part are Facebook chats, which tend to be held during the Freshers periods. Our initial Freshers welcome chat in particular attracts a good number of new students who are not yet familiar with what the Association offers or oustudents.com. The rationale is that we go to students on Facebook where they are frequently already based, so that we can signpost the Association s activities and services on oustudents.com. 3 Entertainment vs. promotional posts 3.1 When we consider the balance of entertainment posts and promotional posts, it could be said that we are considering the amount of give and take on our channels. Within the context of the Students Association that means striking a balance between posts that students can enjoy without making any considerable commitments (time/energy), with those which ask students whether they would like to sign up to attend an event or even volunteer their time for a role. To put it another way, promotional posts take while entertainment posts give. 3.2 David Hieatt (formerly of Saachi & Saatchi) lectures on branding and marketing. In the following quote he is actually discussing the content of free newsletters, but the principle could be applied just as well to our other communications channels, such as Social Media No one likes a dinner guest who only talks about himself And no-one invites them back. Sure they re doing interesting things Sure, the world needs to know they exist. But they get boring. (p.34, How a simple newsletter can transform your business, David Hieatt, 2017). 2

3 3.4 In the same way, if the Association only posted its own promotional messages without adding any entertainment value or an opportunity to take part in a community dialogue, we would quickly turn off a good proportion of our subscribers especially on a social platform. 3.5 Example of Give tweet 3.6 Example of Take tweet 3.7 Trying to get the balance right - It can t all be fun and games, so we need to consider how to strike the right balance between getting key promotional messages to students and ensuring room for entertainment posts. In Hieatt s work he refers to this balance as Give, give, give, take and suggested that what the majority of content should be fun and easily accessible, interspersed with less frequent appeals for action from the subscriber. 3.8 Neil Patel, considered one of the top ten marketers by Forbes, advocates an 80/20 split between social and promotional content. This split is not uncommon in Social Media guidance and is something to aim towards. 3.9 Facebook is based on interest, not intent. Not every update you send out on your Facebook page should be promotional. Rather, 80% of your updates should be social. Otherwise, users won t hesitate in clicking the unlike button on your page (it s just a click away). Neil Patel, 20 Secrets That will Boost Your Facebook Organic Reach, 4 Different types of posts 4.1 Now we ve defined the difference between promotional and entertainment posts, we can explore different types of posts. The kinds of posts the Association tends to distribute on Facebook and Twitter can be roughly divided into four categories, although of course some will fall into more than one type: a) Student community b) Fun posts c) Broadcast posts d) Innovation 3

4 4.2 Student community posts (Reciprocity and rapport) 4.3 This kind of post is not to be confused with the work of the Student Community team. What we re talking about here are simply posts which mention OU study experience and often invite students to comment, react or share. 4.4 It s just common sense that an OU students account needs to appeal to learners. In Hieatt s idea of give and take he also draws on the law of reciprocity, mentioning that we are hard-wired to help people who help us. (p.32) Users are more likely to interact with communicators who have provided them with enjoyable and valuable content. 4.5 In relation to the Association s content we are conscious of ensuring a good proportion of our posts are related to the OU study experience so that we can strike a chord with students and hopefully build a sense of trust and rapport with student subscribers. In our context this has had the added benefit of prompting conversation on studies between students and helping students meet one another. We often see great discussions between students on our platforms sharing their experiences. 4.6 Fun posts 4.7 Another type of post which are intended to raise a smile and stimulate conversation are our fun posts, which are crucial for raising our visibility on our users feeds as we ll touch upon later. 4.7 Broadcast posts 4.8 These posts involve putting a spotlight on what the Association does and how students can get involved. A particularly successful example of this are our 4

5 Facebook Live video interviews with students, which have generated engagement and have been accessed hundreds of times. 4.9 Innovation 4.10 This final category of posts is a bit of a catch-all for when students and the Digital Communications team try something new, such as promoting the OU Students Do campaign using a video. As the world of Social Media evolves quickly it s important we try new things to keep up the pace. 5. Visibility / Algorithm 5.1 The two main measures we use to analyse the relative success of our Social Media posts are reach (how many people have received a post which gives a indicator of the number of people who have accessed a post) and 5

6 engagement which shows how many subscribers took action on a post (either through sharing, liking or commenting on a post). Of the two, engagement is key as it strongly suggests that subscribers have actually read content and it has been relevant to them rather than reach which could indicate a post has appeared on a subscriber s feed, but could have easily been overlooked. 5.2 Our analytics on the performance of our Social Media posts certainly seems to suggest that on the whole posts which are easier to respond to and require less commitment are engaged with more frequently. 5.3 It is also important to bear in mind that accounts which have high levels of engagement currently experience increased visibility on the feeds of their followers. For example, Facebook does not show posts chronologically, but through an algorithm. Our previously cited, Social Media expert, Neil Patel mentions various factors affecting what order posts appear: What stories have been posted by your friends and publishers? Who posted this story? How likely are you to comment on this story? What is the relevance score? 5.4 And in addition to this: How recently the post was published. How frequently the publisher posts content. The number of likes, comments, and shares on the post. How often the user has interacted with the page posting the update. Past user interaction with the same post type. Negative feedback on the post. How useful the post is. ( 5.5 What s more, Facebook s recent blogpost on 11 January indicated that it will be placing a higher importance on community interaction and engagement with posts. Page posts that generate conversation between people will show higher in users Facebook news feeds. ( ) 5.6 According to Neil Patel there are 30 billion pieces of content uploaded to Facebook each month and posts from organisations and businesses have declined in reach recently, with Facebook prioritising content from friends and family. Therefore it is vital to follow advice such as the give, give, give, take approach and ensure we have regular high-performing posts which keep the account, and our content, high on users feeds. Similarly, Twitter also has an algorithm which will promote tweets to users feeds that have created engagement amongst their network. 6

7 5.7 It s also worth bearing in mind that the Association sometimes has the option to pay to promote some Facebook and Twitter posts. We use this occasionally for key messages and campaigns to ensure a wider reach, which can lead to a higher level of engagement. 6. Representation 6.1 In 2017 the Association received 44% positive responses in response to the following NSS question, highlighting the need to raise the profile of the good work the Association carries out in relation to representation. The students' union (association or guild) effectively represents students' academic interests. 6.2 Although our promotional/broadcast messages can vary widely between inviting students to volunteer, vote, come to campus and take an interest in student campaigns (e.g. elections anti-bullying) we have noticed that on the whole our posts regarding representation have not received a particularly high level of engagement in the most recent period. 6.3 Given the time-poor lifestyle of many OU students balancing study amongst other responsibilities, it could be argued that getting all of our student subscribers interested in how they are represented, be it on University committees or in the Central Executive Committee, can sometimes be a hard sell. However, these activities have a direct impact on students and are at the heart of what the Association is all about, so it is important that steps are made to raise the profile of these activities in line with the Association s strategy. 6.4 We also know that OU students are incredibly varied, and certainly come in a whole range of shapes, sizes and levels of interest in Association politics and representation activities. For those who are particularly interested in representation wouldn t it be useful if there was an account they could follow which focused on only representation topics? 6.5 In response to the perceived low engagement with representation posts, at the time of writing we are planning to trial the use of a Student Voice Twitter account, to allow us to innovate and explore how messages about representation can be communicated more effectively. Victoria Crawford is the student sponsor for this project. 6.6 The account would work to complement the existing Association Twitter account (@oustudents). It is not unusual for organisations to have niche Twitter accounts to build the profile of a particular service or product line or to provide customer support. 6.7 Of course this content would not disappear completely form the Association s core Twitter and Facebook accounts. As is often the case with complementary accounts we foresee that the original Twitter account will retweet appropriate messages from the new Student Voice account. This activity may also be supplemented with the development of new Student Voice hashtags. 7

8 6.8 An additional benefit of retweeting posts from the Student Voice Twitter account would be to signpost those followers who develop an interest in Representation to an account where they can find out more and fuel this interest. 6.9 We would like to explore whether the following topics can be reported on during the Student Voice Twitter trial: Recruitment and communication of Central Committee Reps and Learner Experience Representatives Student Voice research Reports from Senate Reference Group Student takeovers at training, inductions Student Voice Days Faculty Association Representative work Elections Other CEC rep news, videos and blogs OU Redesign National Student Survey OU Student Voice Website / Student Ideas Student Consultations Forum promotion for discussions 7. Management of Student Voice Twitter Account 7.1 In this trial period, beginning in January 2018 and running until April 2018 we plan to share management of the account between both the Student Voice team and the Digital Communications team. 7.2 During this trial period, the Digital Communications team will ensure that key tweets coming from the Student Voice Twitter account are retweeted 7.3 We propose that a review takes place in April 2017 to assess the progress of the account and whether it is worth continuing. We would hope to share what lessons have been learnt and what improvements could be made. Heather Bloomer, Paul Severn and Kate Dungate OU Students Association Digital Communications Team 8