Web Strategy and Development Blog

Improve your digital marketing strategies Feb. 23

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Join us for a free half-day session about best practices for websites, blogs and social media. We’ll offer tips and tricks for online marketing and communications. This training is a terrific opportunity for faculty, staff and students who didn’t attend the session last September.

Making your statement in a digital world

You’ll learn practical strategies for managing websites, blogs and social media. We’ll answer questions like:

  • How do we repurpose our website and blog content and distribute it on social media?
  • What do users want my website, blog or social media to provide?
  • How do we become better strategic storytellers?
  • How can we utilize the newest features of the upgraded blog themes?
  • What are some tips and tricks we can use to make sure our site is accessible for all users?
  • How do we manage messaging on multiple social media channels?
  • What are some advanced strategies to increase our effectiveness on Facebook, Twitter
    and Instagram?
  • How can we best leverage photo and video content?
  • What can we do immediately to make our digital communications more strategic?

Key details

  • What: Making Your Statement in a Digital World, a free training session on websites and social media presented by Kevin Agee and Kai Raymer
  • When: 1-5 p.m., Friday, Feb. 23.
  • Where: Karls Hall, room 102
  • Who: Open to faculty, staff and students who manage content for Missouri State University websites, blogs and social media platforms.
  • How: This event is free; registration though My Learning Connection is requested. Please feel free to bring your own laptop or tablet.

From a student’s point of view: The My Place Instagram initiative

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Instagram Takeover Preview ScreenToday the office of Web and new media rolled out a new Instagram initiative: the My Place Instagram takeover.

Sharing a student perspective

The My Place Instagram takeover principle is simple: for one day, one student shares his or her perspective on life at Missouri State through the Missouri State Instagram account. The goal is to tell the student story from their point of view with strong visuals.

The initiative launched today with Brooke Rohan, a hospitality and restaurant administration major and Carrie’s Café student. Visit Instagram to see more about her place at MSU.

Why Instagram?

Although relatively new to the social media block, Instagram has more than 200 million monthly active users. Each day those users share 60 million photos.

Growth is most rapid in younger demographics – 35% of 14-18 year olds and 31% of 19-24 year olds use Instagram – ranking the platform more popular than Twitter with those groups.

The future of My Place

We are piloting the My Place Instagram takeover this spring and summer, with plans to roll out a more regular schedule of takeovers during the fall semester.

These photos and captions will also be captured for longer term use as spotlight stories on the Missouri State website.

Recommend a student

Do you have a student to recommend? Email the office of Web and new media your suggestion. Experience using Instagram is preferred but not required.

Tips for telling a good story

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In May, I attended HighEdWeb Michigan, a regional conference sponsored by the Higher Education Web Professionals. This conference offered an amazing keynote by Kristina Halvorson, two tracks of content and networking opportunities.

Session recap about storytelling

One session that I found particularly informative was The Art of (Brand) Storytelling by Dawn Pick Benson.

Good storytelling requires time and effort

Dawn reminded us that telling a good story requires that you talk to your audience, attend their events and understand their emotional journey. If you don’t take time to understand your readers, then you won’t be able to craft stories that resonate; you’ll miss the opportunity to convert your passive readers to passionate stakeholders.

For example, if your audience is prospective students, you need to spend time attending orientation, campus tours or campus visit days and actually speak to the students. You need to ask them about their fears and needs. Only then can you truly understand where they are and how to communicate with them. You cannot rely on your personal experiences; you are not the audience.

A single story can be dangerous

Dawn also recommended we watch this TED Talk by Chimamanda Adichie. In this talk, Adichie shares how easy it is to stereotype other people and cultures if we only reference a “single story.” It’s a good reminder that we need to seek out differing viewpoints and information sources to expand our perceptions.