What do you get when you combine three social media experts, three student interns with minimal social media experience, and a self-proclaimed Tick Guy?

TickSmart Social Media SWAT team achievements

• Startlingly improved social media results for TickEncounter
• Valuable learning experiences for the interns
• A hilarious Viral Video Award-winning movie trailer
• A model for future hands-on learning experiences at University of Rhode Island and beyond
• Useful connections and contacts for TickEncounter within two of its target demographics: parents and pet owners

So how did the TickSmart team get there? Let’s look at some of the techniques that made this particular project so successful.

TickSmart Social Media campaign goals

1. Boost TERC’s [TickEncounter Resource Center] message of tick literacy and the center’s profile using integrated new media strategies and tactics.

2. Structured and led by content and social media professionals, the SWAT Team project offers students an opportunity to serve a real client, foster on-the-job new media skills and understanding, working experience in a creative and collaborative setting, and gain feedback and insights from new media experts.”

Put simply, this campaign hoped to improve TickEncounter’s social media reach while giving the interns valuable experience – and on these two points, this campaign was certainly considered a success.

TickSmart Social Media Campaign results

Among some of the impressive statistics,

• TickEncounter’s Facebook followers increased by 48.2 percent and
• Referrals to the TickEncounter website rose by 190 percent.
• TickEncounter’s followers on Twitter grew by 129 percent, and
• Referrals from Twitter grew by 103.7 percent.
• Referrals from Google to the TickEncounter website increased by a whopping 444.11 percent because of strategic SEO marketing.

 

TickEncounter’s message had the potential to reach 2.73 million after most of these strategies, but before the release of Ticknado. It really is remarkable that such in a short period of time, and with minimal cost, this brand can reach almost 3 million people with its message.

All of this was accomplished on a small budget, and can continue to be useful to TERC even after this campaign has ended and funding for the project has stopped. TickEncounter is left with many more followers, connections, and contacts within its two main target audiences – things that will only continue to help spread the health-saving important messages of tick-bite prevention.

Strategies to improve TickEncounter’s social media reach

TickEncounter already had research-based key phrases and marketing techniques in place when the team began the project. The team pondered whether TERC focused too much on promoting these key phrases, and forgot to engage and interact with others in the community using common terms and hashtags, for example.

The three interns had minimal social media experience – and none representing a brand online. So how did they go from very little experience to creating a successful multimedia online campaign? Here are some of the points they began to focus on.

1. Define and refine target audiences
2. Develop targeted messaging
3. Identify potential influencers and engaged communities
4. Develop conversions and ongoing targeted outreach / events follow-up
5. Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest – individual goals set for each
6. Traditional influencer outreach
7. Repackage existing content
8. Boost Search Engine Rankings

 

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Meet the TickSmart Social Media team members

Social Media Professionals

• Suzanne McDonald – Founder of Designated Editor and Newport Interactive Marketers, former Boston Globe journalist, and social media professor at University of Rhode Island and Framingham State University, McDonald spearheaded this project.
• Julia Scott Cavanaugh – Also a former journalist and current successful blogger on Bargainbabe.com, Cavanaugh advised the social media team on content development, social media engagement, and monetization.
• Katherine Gagliano – Owner of Amplify Marketing, Gagliano develops content for websites, social media platforms, and email marketing campaigns. She is also on the Boards of the Aquidneck Land Trust and the Portsmouth Business Association.

 

University of Rhode Island Interns

• Dacia Daly – Working toward a degree in English and Journalism, Daly focused on Facebook, understanding audience based on surveys, and writing guest posts, among other responsibilities.
• Lafleche Giasson – Nicknamed the “Meme Queen,” Giasson created many popular memes for this project – and inspired the scientists to continue to create more – among many other important contributions. She is majoring in Writing and Rhetoric and Environmental Sciences and Management at URI.
• Cara Sullivan – Majoring in Public Relations, Sullivan made many connections with target audiences, among other valuable assignments. She feels strongly about tick-disease-awareness because her family dog had to be put down due to Lyme disease.

 

The “Tick Guy”

• Thomas N. Mather – Director of URI’s Center for Vector-Borne Disease and its TickEncounter Resource Center, Dr. Mather has decades of research on tick-borne disease prevention, tick ecology, tick control strategies, and tick bite protection.

 

TickSmart’s connection to the University of Rhode Island

The founding director of University of Rhode Island’s Harrington School of Communication and Media, Dr. Renee Hobbs helped kick off this program.

This pilot project, which was designed to give the interns real-world experience by working for a brand as an actual social media agency would, is now the model for further projects, like the Unclassroom program, which strives to offer similar hands-on experience to URI students.

Hobbs also named this project one of Harrington School’s top three achievements of 2013.

Let’s look at what the social media team actually did in order to achieve such success.

How these points were put into action

The first strategy was put into place by asking each intern to connect and interact with 20 bloggers who are in the target demographics, in this case parent and pet bloggers. While they could have reached out to more target audiences than that, it’s more important to focus on really cultivating a few key areas online extensively, rather than dabbling here and there.

The second point is something TickEncounter had already begun to work on. TERC/TickEncounter had already thought about ways to create targeted messages. What they needed to work on was to have a little bit of fun with their content.

To help improve how relatable these messages are, the resident “Meme Queen” created witty memes that had tick-related

lines, like the ones shown here. This type of whimsical content  interests an audience, makes them smile, and encourages them to share your content or page with their friends. This is similarly what made #Ticknado successful. Read more on Ticknado in the section below.

The third point, to engage with influencers and communities, included proposing guest posts on some of the blogs the interns connected with. Nine of the 24 guest post proposals were published on related blogs. This benefits host bloggers because they get an interesting new perspective on a topic, and it benefits you because it harnesses the host blogger’s audience and encourages them to see what else your company has done.

The social media team assessed how TickEncounter was already using each social media channel, and how they could improve their use. Specific goals were set for each platform, and then largely bypassed by the end of the campaign.

Establishing your brand as a useful resource for traditional influencers, like media outlets, politicians, and civic leaders, will expand your reach to those who care about your cause offline as well.

The TickSmart team repurposed existing content by creating blog posts of frequently asked questions via email to Dr. Mather. Rather than him emailing people the same responses, and only reaching one viewer at a time, the TickSmart team repurposed that information and saved effort by posting useful facts for all to see.

As always, being knowledgeable of SEO will help your brand be found by those who are looking up related topics. It doesn’t help much if the only people seeing your content are the ones searching for your brand name. Your brand is more likely to get many more new viewers when they see your posts when searching for more general topics.

Behind the success of Ticknado, the “Sharknado” spoof

Suzanne, Julia, and Katherine, the three social media professionals working on this campaign, gathered for weekly strategy sessions. Before the team’s final meeting, a firestorm of ideas and laughter came at the mention of the new movie that was trending on Twitter, “Sharknado.”

They realized that a spoof trailer called, Ticknado would actually not be that difficult, as they had equipment/technical support from TERC’s New Media Director Brian Mullen and a group of people who cared about the cause.

After storyboarding, planning, commandeering TERC’s tick costume, and only about two hours of shooting at the team’s final meeting, a barbeque at Suzanne’s house, the making of #Ticknado was well underway.

What qualities made Ticknado successful?

Viral videos don’t have to be professional quality to become popular. In fact, viral videos are often homemade – people like to see that this is something that they, too, could produce.

Ticknado in particular was successful because it spoofed on an already funny and trending topic. It made something that was already funny and silly, and played on those emotions, taking it a step further.

See this post about the making of Ticknado from the perspective of TickSmart intern Dacia Daly.