UM-Flint Social Media Strategy: Goal-Setting

As we convened for our official Social Media Goal-Setting Meeting in University Relations last week, I explained my past dilemma to my colleagues. I’d been producing monthly social media reports for nearly two years, all the while struggling to answer the question, “So what?” Because we didn’t begin our social media journey with measurable goals in mind, I had no way to know when we were successful or failing.

And so it began–the examination of what we’d really like the online social spaces for the University of Michigan-Flint to be and do.

We’ve long looked at our social networks as a place to share brand-related content and influence the perception of our brand. But we decided there’s more. We want UM-Flint’s social networks to be online communities, where not only the content–but the experience itself–reinforces our brand.

At the University of Michigan-Flint, everyone matters. 

How does this translate into measurable goals? To begin, we will aim to:

1. Grow UM-Flint’s online communities within in-use and new networks.

2. Increase engagement/participation within communities.

3. Capture “success stories.”

In my last post about social media strategy, I identified five steps: goal-setting, choosing social media channels, messaging and communication, evaluation, and adaptation. I want to be careful to move through these individually and in order. I must admit that we had great conversations about how we could achieve our newly articulated goals across the web and what measurement might look like. I’ll dive into some of our plans in my next posts.

Alaina Wiens
New Media Communication Specialist