Social Media Marketing Assistant. Donor and Alumni Communications. Philanthropy and Alumni Engagement. Director of Digital Communications

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1 Employer/Funding Source: Title of Position: Department: Division: Supervisor of Position: State UUP Social Media Marketing Assistant Donor and Alumni Communications Philanthropy and Alumni Engagement Director of Digital Communications Date: September 2017 University Overview UB is a premier, research-intensive public university known for academic excellence. Driven by our vision UB 2020 to be counted among the nation s leading and most distinctive public research universities, a new University at Buffalo is emerging. Building strong connections with our alumni and donors worldwide is critical to our success; the Division of Philanthropy and Alumni Engagement is leading the effort. We are creating a new UB environment that broadens opportunities for alumni engagement, capitalizes on positive student experiences and builds philanthropic support for the university. Position Summary The Social Media Marketing Assistant, a member in the Office of Donor and Alumni Communications team, is primarily responsible for developing and managing an engaging social media presence for alumni and donor audiences of the University at Buffalo that deepens relationships and fosters opportunities for these audiences to share their pride. The Assistant also will be responsible for deploying mass communications to these and other key audiences as part of a broader marketing mix. Working closely with university and divisional colleagues, the Assistant will create engaging digital content designed to inspire our audiences, and achieve the strategic goals of the division and university, specifically increased engagement and philanthropic support. The Assistant will analyze and evangelize the use of existing and emerging digital channels and strategies to meet the goals of the Philanthropy and Alumni Engagement division, while also collaborating with university partners on broader social strategies and initiatives. An ideal candidate is dedicated to uncovering new ways to make content work smarter and be more personally relatable for our key constituents, has a passion and facility for communicating online, and be ready to take the reins of a highly visible and important online presence at the university. They must be creative, organized, detail oriented, level headed, calm demeanor, possess a customer service attitude, sound judgement, willingness to learn, and be able to work independently in a demanding, fast-paced

2 office setting. Strong interpersonal and communications skills are a must, as the incumbent will be working closely with alumni, administrators, faculty, students, and staff. Duties and responsibilities Develops, maintains and monitors official division social channels (75%) Coordinating online communications (30%): o Strengthen and deepen target audience affinity to UB through engaging and reputationenhancing communications o Create appealing written, visual, and multimedia social content that increases and drives engagement throughout the student-alumni-donor lifecycle o Develop and identify, plan and post shared and original social content across social channels o Assist in developing and implementing individual channel strategies with coworkers in donor and alumni communications o Collaborate and advise on creating and executing social engagement opportunities such as activities, campaigns and events o Manage and administer social media advertising budget, working closely with division partners to provide best value on each spend o Support official executive social accounts (e.g. Alumni board president twitter account) o Provide research assistance to alumni and donor related inquires on social media from campus partners o Regularly meet with divisional partners to understand business requirements for their programs and campaign, and to create social strategies and tactics that help them achieve their individual as well as broader unit goals. o Manage social media calendar, and set up realistic production and programming schedules for assigned projects and partners Listening, responding to and assisting constituents (30%) o Monitor and respond to social posts and comments in a timely and professional manner to strengthen connection to audiences o Report on keywords, trends, and other aspects from social listening tools in order to better understand key audiences needs and affiliations toward the university o Assist in identifying new audience segments (e.g. affinity; geography; interest etc.) and supporting key initiatives to develop those segments with colleagues o Identifying, addressing, and escalating opportunities or threats from user-generated content o Coordinate and collaborate with identified team members in crisis communication initiatives Analyzing online performance (15%) o Assess and regularly communicate channel and post-performance, as well as data for mass communication tactics (e.g. ) to evaluate effectiveness and make data-driven or best practice recommendations for changes or adjustments to strategies and tactics

3 o Prepare and automate regular reports for all levels (executive, department heads, subject matter experts, etc.) to review and identify opportunities Assist in fostering mature digital operations within the division (25%) Collaborating and evangelizing with colleagues, alumni, and donors (15%) o Develop resources, such as tip sheets and presentations promoting best practices relating to outcomes and objectives o Act as a social media evangelist to internal divisional staff, volunteers, alumni board members, and other key online ambassadors o Participate in the Social Media Inner Circle, and other campus social media groups as divisional representative Communication team functions (10%) o Understand strategic communications and marketing initiatives intended to increase alumni and donor engagement with the university o Contribute to editorial, creative, web, social media, media relations, public relations, marketing, , direct mail, print publications, video and multimedia strategies to advance the university s goals o Monitor emerging online communications trends and strategies, experimenting with and advising on adoption or integration as appropriate and effective o Provide backup support to communication program and other online communication channels Most complex or difficult duties Determining the most effective and appropriate way to position content to be strategic, accurate, engaging, and sharable Fostering trust and mutually beneficial relationships within the division and with social media practitioners across the university, while maintaining top-level digital standards Developing a strong active social media community across multiple social channels that consistently promotes the university and division interests, while demonstrating an understanding of the audience s needs and expectations Illuminating new opportunities and demonstrating results of effective campaigns, activities, events on social channels that relate directly to internal constituents (e.g. gift officers) goals Regularly monitoring and professionally responding to posts and comments Understanding how to identify and when to escalate opportunities or threats posted by users Flexibility to manage multiple and quickly evolving projects with tact and accuracy Supervision The Social Media Marketing Assistant reports to and is supervised by the Director of Digital Communications. They, in turn, work within a team environment to implement the goals and objectives of the Office of Donor and Alumni Communications and its services. The incumbent must be a selfmotivated individual who functions independently, and collaborates with members of the Donor and Alumni Communications team and other division partners in executing solutions.

4 Most serious consequences Inaccuracy or breach of confidentiality could result in serious consequences (e.g. alumnus no longer supports UB as a volunteer or donor as a result) Failing to exhibit a high level of professionalism when interacting with members of the public will result in diminished relationships with our publics and could adversely affect the university brand Poor judgement could negatively impact the reputation of the university, the president, the vice president for philanthropy and alumni engagement, individual deans and philanthropy officers Failing to meet expectations of cooperation, collaboration and professionalism when working on important group projects will prevent the achievement of important communications goals and reduce confidence in the Office of Donor and Alumni Communications. Sensitive or confidential data The Social Media Marketing Assistant handles confidential and sensitive personal and financial information related to the university s highest level donors and prospects. The assistant has access to a wide range of data not known by most employees of the university. They must be trusted to keep this information in confidence when interacting with members of the university at large and the public. Breach of confidentiality could result in serious damage to the institution, in the form of legal issues, failed relationships, and significant lost revenue. Minimum education Bachelor s degree or equivalent combination of education and professional experience is required. Preferably holds a degree in multimedia development, journalism, English, communications, public relations, media study, graphic design or similar field. Experience Required: One to two years of experience working in a professional setting with at least one year of experience developing digital content (written, multimedia, visual) and/or managing social media activity for an organization or corporation Experience in and enthusiasm for working with digital communications, especially social media In-depth knowledge and understanding of platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube, Snapchat and other emerging platforms Experience with channel performance assessment and analytics (e.g. Google Analytics, Facebook Insights et al) Knowledge and understanding of digital technology, trends and best practices in social media engagement, content marketing and innovation Excellent oral communication skills Excellent writing and visual skills Strong interpersonal communication skills

5 Familiarity with or proficiency in digital content production technologies (e.g. CSS, Adobe Photoshop and Premiere) Flexibility in working evenings and weekends, monitoring and responding to social media activity Preferred: Experience in listening to and engaging with the online community Experience in planning for and positioning content in multiple social distribution channels Knowledge of or experience with marketing platform (e.g. Mail Chimp, imodules, etc.) Familiarity with content marketing best practices Ability to work independently in a demanding, fast-paced office setting Experience in identifying, learning and testing new technologies Demonstrated experience working collaboratively with a variety of team members Salary Range: $40,000-50,000 University at Buffalo is an affirmative action/equal opportunity employer and, in keeping with our commitment, welcomes all to apply including veterans and individuals with disabilities. The University is dedicated to the goal of building a culturally diverse and pluralistic University community committed to teaching and working in a multicultural environment. UB offers highly competitive salary and benefit packages for its philanthropy staff. For more job information and directions on how to apply, please visit our website at: Only applications received through UB Jobs will be considered. Posting # U Quick link to apply: