arabiandreamer1982

[arabiandreamer1982]

WRIT240: Assessment of an Organization’s use of Social Media

The following report outlines and analyzes the strengths and weaknesses of the social media methods and strategies used by Queen's University (QU). The effectiveness of QU’s social media presence will be evaluated, along with deficiencies and strategies for improvement. The focus of this report is on QU’s targeted audience or lack thereof, the portrayal of QU as a result of its online presence and ways to increase the presence and reputation of the university utilizing social media.

Analysis of Current Social Media Strategy:

When used the right way, social media can enhance a student’s learning journey, also making it much easier for pupils and educators to connect (Segaren, “The Important Role of Social Media in Higher Education”). QU is active on all major social platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. The QU Instagram account is filled with beautiful photos of QU as well as the City of Kingston. QU does not use Instagram to share valuable information with current or future students; however, as Instagram is mainly image driven, the photos of old buildings and nature may be used to attract future students and staff and also increase the connection students have with their university and city.

QU has a higher level of activity on Twitter and Facebook, where, unlike their Instagram account, they use the same logo and background picture on both platforms. On both networks, QU is mostly tweeting, posting and sharing random, inconsistent messages and is not creating a consistent conversation with their followers, that allows them to connect and interact with them on a daily basis. Research has proven that the number of tweets is not a predictor of performance, instead it is the types of tweets that are sent out that determine success with social media (Rutter, “Social media interaction, the university brand and recruitment performance”). QU needs to focus on the message it is trying to portray, and to which target audience, and cultivate quality content based on this.

Targeted Messaging:

In order to increase awareness and interaction between the university and its followers, QU should identify any marketing issues or objectives they have, audit their current social media presence, and begin to curate quality content based on their established goals and social media strategy.  

It is important that QU share more information surrounding the major developments and accomplishments of all departments within the university structure. In order to keep up with the current developments and accomplishments across the large organization, the central team responsible for social media should collaborate with the distributed communication coordinators across all departments within the university. Each department should be responsible for providing valuable information for future and current students and staff, including topics such as current issues, current news, accomplishments and resources. One excellent example that was shared on April 1st by QU on their main twitter account was the opening of Mitchell Hall, which implies that QU is modernizing and innovating the campus infrastructure.

Another example is the retweet of a tweet posted on March 31stby the Queens Engineering Department regarding the Engineering Excellence Awards, which is an example of one of the many departments within the university being recognized on the main QU twitter account. Increasing the number of these important messages and decreasing clutter will attract high-quality students and staff as well as create a dialogue with current students and faculty.

Targeted Audience:

To recruit the best students and grow the loyalty of current students, QU should target this population. Currently, the message QU is sending on their networks is unclear and is not directed to any particular audience. Following the first recommendation to achieve a constant and clear message, QU would need to direct their attention towards their desired audience. Their target audience should include students (current and prospective), family members of students, and staff members (current and prospective).

It is difficult to market your brand on the social platforms if you do not know whom you want to have interaction with (Moore, "Social Media for Business: You Must Know Your Audience"). To get closer to their audience QU could create content that sparks emotions and brings their audience closer to their brand. Asking questions and starting conversations could also create a deeper relationship between QU and their students (Secrist,  "4 Ways to Humanize Your Social Media Updates").

Engagement and Monitoring:

It is also very important that QU monitors what their social networks audience is saying. That is the best and possibly only way to understand what social media strategies are going well and where improvement is necessary (Secrist, “4 Ways to Humanize Your Social Media Updates"). Monitoring online discussions will also allow QU to be vocal and interact with their followers, improving their online relationships.

Finally, to increase their brand awareness QU should incorporate hashtags. Hashtags would make QU’s tweets and posts more searchable (Barnhart, “12 Ways to Boost Brand Awareness on Social Media"). A hashtag is easily created and searchable, and has become an excellent marketing tool for businesses and organizations using social media. Hashtags allow you to follow and engage with a specific audience and are easily searchable allowing you to stay up to date on current topics. Hashtags can also help create online communities and meaningful conversations centered around local events, breaking news, and trending topics. (FirstPage Marketing, “Are Hashtags Still Relevant on Social Media in 2018”). If QU incorporated hashtags within their tweets it would attract a broader audience making the content they are posting more accessible. Frequent and relative content for niche audiences would further strengthen the relationship with the online community and increase the popularity and reputation of the university.

Works Cited

Barnhart, Brent. "12 Ways to Boost Brand Awareness on Social Media." Sprout Social, sproutsocial.com/insights/brand-awareness/. Accessed 4 Apr. 2019.

Moore, Pam. "Social Media for Business: You Must Know Your Audience." Pam Marketing Nut, www.pammarketingnut.com/2013/05/social-media-for-business-you-must-know-your-audience/. Accessed 4 Apr. 2019.

Secrist, Matt. "4 Ways to Humanize Your Social Media Updates." Social Media Examiner, 19 July 2016, www.socialmediaexaminer.com/4-ways-to-humanize-your-social-media-updates/. Accessed 4 Apr. 2019.

FirstPage Marketing. “Are Hashtags Still Relevant on Social Media in 2018.” 18 May 2018, https://www.firstpagemarketing.com/blog/social-media-hashtags-2018/. Accessed 4 Apr. 2019.

Segaren, Sharuna. “The Important Role of Social Media in Higher Education.” SI News, 1 Feb. 2019, https://www.studyinternational.com/news/the-important-role-of-social-media-in-higher-education/. Accessed 4 Apr. 2019.

Rutter, Richard, Roper, Stuart, Lettice,Fiona. “Social media interaction, the university brand and recruitment performance.” Journal of Business Research,1 Feb 2016. https://journals-scholarsportal-info.proxy.queensu.ca/pdf/01482963/v69i0008/3096_smitubarp.xml Accessed 5 Apr. 2019.

[arabiandreamer1982]

Twitter Essay #SEO

Check out my first Twitter Essay!

[arabiandreamer1982]

[arabiandreamer1982]

10 Books to (Hopefully) Read in 2019

Thank you for tagging me @bookwormontherange!

I’m really trying to read the books I already own before buying new ones, so, in order of how long they’ve been on my TBR, here’s ten books I really want to read this year:

1. Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman (added to TBR June 2016) 2. The Romanovs by Simon Sebag Montefiore (August 2016) 3. La Belle Sauvage by Philip Pullman (Feb 2017) 4. Bleaker House by Nell Stevens (May 2017) 5. Dark Pines by Will Dean (July 2017) 6. Fruit of the Drunken Tree by Ingrid Rojas Contreras (December 2017) 7. The Beauty Myth by Naomi Wolf (April 2018) 8. If We Were Villains by M. L. Rio (May 2018) 9. The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah (July 2018) 10. The Binding by Bridget Collins (November 2018)

My reading goal for this year is 80 and I have 56 unread books so in theory I should read them all but uhhh… lol we’ll see. 

Tagging anyone that hasn’t done this yet - I know, I’m lazy, but I’m not sure who has and who hasn’t done this??? So pls tag me in your lists bc I love book recs x

[arabiandreamer1982]

[arabiandreamer1982]

Emirates

[arabiandreamer1982]

1.08.19

I’ve finished A Darker Shade of Magic, and wow. This book was amazing. Schwab writes with such vividness that it’s easy to picture the worlds she’s created, and she has made some complex and interesting characters. Lila and Kell were so different, but they worked well together and I loved their dynamic. I thoroughly enjoyed this book (top 10 favorite) and I am highly looking forward to the next book in this series and her other books!

[arabiandreamer1982]

I filmed a video showing every book I read in 2018 and what I rated them. What was your favorite read of 2018?

[arabiandreamer1982]

What a great idea!

surprises & adventures 📖

[arabiandreamer1982]

[arabiandreamer1982]

THE SUFFRAGETTES REVIEW

Genre: Non-Fiction Rating: 4 / 5 Stars

This Little Black Classic from Penguin compiles letters, pamphlets, articles and more, all related to the British Suffragette movement. The book is divided into three sections: for, against, and victory. I’d come across some of the ‘for’ documents before, but I’d hardly seen anything from the opposition so that was really interesting, and a little scary that the rhetoric used isn’t far off things we hear said even now. Obviously being such a small book it’s not hugely informative of the complexity of the movement, but it’s definitely a great starting point if you’re interesting in the history of the Suffragettes, or if you simply want to add one more Little Black Classic to your collection.

[arabiandreamer1982]

“Thou call’dst me dog before thou hadst a cause,

But, since I am a dog, beware my fangs.”

— Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice

[arabiandreamer1982]

You carved the tree,

Hoping the words

Would stay forever.

You wrote your childhood

Into the wood,

Thinking the oak could hear

Better than nothing else.

[arabiandreamer1982]

Day 4 - A First Book

If We Were Villains by M.L Rio @m-l-rio

This debut was also a great contender for Day 20 - A Good Villain, but honestly, it’s hard to pin which character in here is really a villain – or perhaps they all are, a bit – (or, there is one obvious one but he’s… not the good villain). But they are all amazing characters. It’s the nuances that mean I can’t really label any of them The Villain that plays a good part in why I love this book.

The story centers around a group of students who attend a Conservatory focused on reading, understanding, and performing Shakespeare – a glorious goal that could drive anyone to Hamlet-style insanity – and indeed it seems to. The blend of Boarding School story, Shakespearean themes – both overt and more subtle – make for an addicting read. A read that makes me want to go back and re-read the book and pick up all the things I missed the first time, when I didn’t know the answer to who-done-it.

The band of friends has their friendship and loyalty tested in both mundane school-boy jealousies, and also much deeper, life or death (or, love or betrayal?) series of actions and decisions.

(Side-track!) When I was in undergrad my favorite course was taught by Geraldine, the sweetest lil ol lady who made sure I understood exactly when Shakespeare was being a raunchy bastard, and when he was asking us to think deeply. It was the first class I took that made Shakespeare OR essay-writing make any sense to me, and hoo boy, it made me love writing essays about Shakespeare (I didn’t know I had that kind of scholarly love in me). In conclusion: this side-track was brought to you by my deep desire to re-read If We Were Villains and write an entire dissertation on how it brings Shakespeare’s works, themes, and plays to life in a modern day literary murder mystery cum romance (which is such a simplification of the plot twists and subtleties in this novel).

If you like a book that leaves you guessing, is peppered with Shakespeare references that come across as distinctly malicious, and will twist the knife in your gut with almost every page, please read this.