16.17 Communication Plan

SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT

COMMUNICATION PLAN

2016 / 2017

SOM COMMUNICATION PLAN Our Message

UM-Flint’s Mission Statement:
The University of Michigan-Flint is a comprehensive urban university of diverse learners and scholars
committed to advancing our local and global communities. In the University of Michigan tradition,
we value excellence in teaching, learning, and scholarship; student centeredness; and engaged citizen-
ship. Through personal attention and dedicated faculty and staff, our students become leaders and
best in their fields, professions, and communities.

UM-Flint’s Vision Statement:
Engaging Minds, Preparing Leaders through Academic Excellence, Student Centeredness, and En-
gaged Citizenship

SOM’s Mission Statement:
We deliver innovative high quality educational programs; create intellectual contributions that
impact business theory and practice; meaningfully engage our local and global communities; and
demonstrate the highest integrity and ethics in all that we do.

SOM’s Vision Statement:
Enabling students, faculty and staff to make a positive impact on organizations, society and the
world.

Communication Goal
• To engage local and global communities

• Support our statement of high quality educational programs with examples/content/testimonials

• Show our integrity and ethics in all goals

• Show our impact, innovation and engagement through events, content, and dedication to
higher education

Communication Challenges
• Event planning
• Alumni outreach
• Student involvement
• Current research
• Staff, faculty, and student accomplishments

Our Target Audiences & What They Care About
Students

• Internships / Job opportunities
• Events
• Course Changes / Program Changes
• Community Involvement
• Student spotlights

Alumni
• Events
• Job opportunities
• Department updates
• Faculty news

Staff
• Events
• Course Changes / Program Changes

SOM COMMUNICATION PLAN Faculty
• Research
• Student Spotlights
• Some Events

Community
• Community Involvement
• Student Spotlights
• Community Events

Our Goals

Students
For our students, we want them to engage with us; both online and in person. We aim to raise
awareness about our events, classes, educational standing, and community involvement. We want to
be supportive of our students in the classroom and outside the classroom. We want them to notice
that we pay attention to their achievements and success while at the School of Management and
afterwards.

Alumni
For Alumni, we need to keep them engaged with the School of Management after graduation. It is
impossible to retain all alumni but we can create a solid network of supporting alumni. We need to
focus on sending a tailored message containing what is important to them.

Staff
We need the staff of SOM to work together to plan and coordinate events, student/alumni
communications, and changes within the school. This communication will lead to organization and
more support to each staff member. This will help to create a unified message throughout the school.

Faculty
The faculty of SOM needs to communicate about what is happening in their classrooms, clubs, and
events. When a potential star student is presented and if they work closely with SOM faculty, it
needs to be communicated back to SOM staff. This person may be a good option for testimonials,
internships, or jobs. These students will reinforce our mission statement.


Community

We want the community to see the positive impact our organization has for them and the surround-
ing areas. As a commuter college, showing that our students care about the well being and happiness
of the community around them. We want to show that our students come to support business and
local causes. We also want to show our student’s personal investments in the local community with
their commitment to existing local organizations and with their own entrepreneurial goals.

Communication Outlets
Current Mediums

• Word of Mouth
• Student Email
• Social Media
• Facebook
• Twitter
• Instagram
• LinkedIn

• Website
• Blog
• Printed Materials
• LCD’s

SOM COMMUNICATION PLAN Additional Mediums
• Video
• Snapchat
• Local Advertising / Print & Digital
• Alumni Newsletter

Budget
?

Multi Medium Goals
To be successful, we need to approach our outlets by using more than one method. For each
individual message, two or more outlets need to be used.

Example One: If we have a class change that needs to be communicated, we can send a blast email
directly to students, hang signs, and advertise on the LCD’s. This allows the students to receive the
message multiple times.
Example Two: We have a student who is having a very successful internship with a local company.
We want to write an article about them to show the success of our current students. Once the article
is complete, we would post it to our blog, share it on corresponding social media and let our faculty,
staff, and alumni know about it. This shows that we care about the success of our students.

Time Frame / Frequency / Goal of Medium
Frequency of Message

The frequency of our message needs to be frequent without being overwhelming. Posting or
communicating too much can become annoying to our audience. Likewise, not posting enough will
create an audience who is not enthused by our message. If we are sporadic, it will convey that we do
not have a lot going on or that we are not paying attention depending on what member of our
audience receives this message. Each medium has a suggested frequency which will be explained
below.

Word of Mouth: This medium needs to be very frequent. The School of Management is already
doing a good job of communicating to our audience frequently about our message by word of
mouth. This comes from our organization as a whole. We are constantly striving to spread our
message in person which is also one of the most effective ways.

Student Email: This medium reaches the highest number of students in our audience, only sec-
ond to word of mouth. Student email ranks second because a student is more likely to remember
something said in person. E-mail is a good option for a second line of communication with word of
mouth. This gives the student a record of the details of communication. This is especially good for
class changes, school wide announcements, and events.

Social Media: For each outlet of social media, frequency and message change within the limitations
of each platform. Social media can be used to target our entire audience but is most beneficial for the
community, students, and alumni.
Facebook: It is suggested to post 1-2 times per day during the week and no more than 1 time

per weekend. Three or more posts a day usually had a negative impact with your
audience. We need more engagement from users. This is the best way to spread our
message. Facebook audiences prefer higher quality content with depth. Events
created on Facebook can generate a significant engagement as well.
Twitter: Twitter doesn’t filter out posts like Facebook does. This ensures that your audience
is guaranteed to see your post in their feed. At the same time, this creates a short
lifespan for a tweet. The average tweet has the lifespan of two hours or less
depending on the amount of followers an audience member has. It is
recommended to tweet 4-15 tweets per day. That goal is difficult for any business.
If the recommended tweets cannot be reached, it is still preferred to be somewhat
active on your account. Another possibility is to re share the same content
frequently but to reword the message. This ensures that a larger audience can be
reached.

SOM COMMUNICATION PLAN LinkedIn: It is recommended to post one time per day during the week on LinkedIn. This
site has a professional nature and posting on the weekends is not beneficial. For this
audience, it is important to avoid too many “promotional” style posts. This is better
for news about our organization or research from our faculty.

Instagram: It is recommended to not share more than 7 posts on Instagram per week. One
post a day on the social network is standard. This is more for behind the
scenes and activities. This is a good place to show the daily activity of our
organization. This should be used for a more casual approach to our message.

Website: Our main goal is to get all members of our audience to our website. This is easier for some
sections like faculty, staff and current students but our main goal is to get new visitors who will look
at the School of Management website and see our mission. Our website also houses all our important
information about what we offer, student resources, and a lot of other significant information. Our
other mediums of communication should reinforce visiting the website.
Blog: The School of Management blog will mainly be used to tell our story. In the way that
Instagram is used, the blog will be more informal than other mediums. The goal of our blog is to
share in depth knowledge about what goes on at SOM; be it faculty research, student involvement,
or community impact. This medium works well with Facebook and Twitter to create content for
posting. The blog can also serve as an easy way to create content for our up and coming alumni
newsletter and annual magazine.
Printed Materials: Printed materials are one of the best ways to reach our audience. It is also
important to be innovative in this category. People love tangible objects in the same way that a lot of
people prefer books to an e-reader. The e-reader may be easy to carry around but the book gets more
attention; displayed on a bookcase and shared with friends. In the same way, we want our printed
materials to have a longer shelf life. We want to motivate our audience to support our organization
and our efforts. With our printed materials, it is important to avoid clutter, such as having too many
typefaces. Our printed materials need to use white space properly. This will ensure that our message
is direct and has purpose. Printed materials can tie into all facets of our communication to solidify
our message.
LCDs: With our LCD promotion, we are targeting future students, current students, faculty, and
occasionally alumni. This is the best place to post quick information about events and announce-
ments. LCDs are easy to update and attract attention. It is important to use strong imagery to pull in
attention from passersby and to compete with other screens such as mobile devices and tablets.

Additional Mediums
Video: Video can provide information quickly to future students who are used to getting all their
information quickly. Our audience understand the format and will retain the information better. The
goal is to keep the videos at 3 minutes or less. Videos that are too long will lose the viewers attention.
Providing multiple shots and graphics helps keep the viewer entertained as well. Videos can be placed
in multiple places like our website, blog, and social media accounts. This helps to reinforce our
message. Video has the possibility to be shared and viewed a lot more than any other form of
communication which will spread our mission faster and it has been shown that a person will stay
on your page longer when there is a video. This could prompt them to be more interested in the
supporting text and links.
Snapchat: Snapchat is a great way to reach a younger audience. For one, it is the only proven social
media medium that the younger generation is using regularly. Like video, snapchat is a quick way to
get our message out to future students but it is also like Instagram in that it is very casual. It allows
the viewer an inside look into how an organization is and its culture. This is listed as an
additional medium because its implementation is difficult and the correct way to use it will be
decided by University Relations. Our guidelines will be updated per approved use by UREL.
Local Advertising (Print & Digital): The benefit of adverting is apparent. It is the easiest and quick-
est way to get SOM’s message out to a specific audience but is not as cost effective some of the other

SOM COMMUNICATION PLAN mediums listed above. Advertising is the biggest way to compete with our competitors. It is
not uncommon to see billboards, online ads, and newspaper ads for other educational programs.
The purpose of advertising is to reach future students and the parents/grandparents/guardians of
future students. While we do a lot to reach out to our future students with other mediums,
advertising is a good way to target those individuals who can help a future student decide where to
invest their time. Digital advertising also helps promote our message to future students directly
as well.

Alumni Newsletter: The alumni newsletter is currently being worked on by Anna Swartz with help
from Alumni Relations. We aim to create an engaging newsletter to help keep alumni informed
about what the School of Management is doing in all aspects. Content from the blog will be used as
well as content created just for the newsletter. Our goal is to create a support network of dedicated
alumni. The newsletter helps alumni feel that they still are involved with what happens within SOM.

Length of Time Frame
The time frame for these goals is tentative and may adjust at any point during the suggested time of
implementation. The goal of implementation will last from the 2016 Fall semester until the 2017 Fall
semester. Each additional medium may happen at different stages depending on support and logistics.

Feedback
Clear Message
To create a clear message, we need to correctly identify our audience. For each audience, we need to
know what they want to know, what interests them, and what form of communication are they most
receptive of.
Effective Message
To create an effective message, we need to prioritize defining each audience and message. By taking the
step beyond just a well worded promotion, we can focus on developing relationships with our audience
by paying attention to their needs. It is suggested to use multiple forms of communication to convey
the message effectively.

SOM SOCIAL MEDIA PLAN Goals

Overall:
The goal of the School of Management’s social media is to increase awareness of our mission,
identity, and to communicate with our students (current and future), alumni, and the community.

Specific Goals for 2016/17:
1. Maintain a regular presence on our forms of social media.
2. Create dialogue with our audience by asking questions and peaking interest.
3. Create a plan of posts for a week period. For this, follow University Relations lead.
4. Create unity among platforms and a consistent voice from each.

Social Media Inventory:

Site URL Followers Last Activity

Facebook facebook.com/UMFlintSOM/ 997 June 30th 2016

Twitter twitter.com/UMFlintSOM 1,438 June 29th 2016

Instagram instagram.com/umflint 105 April 2016
LinkedIn schoolofmanagement/
972 June 30th 2016
linkedin.com/edu/universi
ty-of-michigan-flint-18638 Table created on 6/30/2016

Survey:
Surveying your audience helps you understand them better. It may be good idea to try to survey our
audiences individually to figure out how to cater to them.

Some categories to consider:
• Percentage of response
• Age
• % male / % female
• % on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, Snapchat, YouTube
• % using other social media

Other Similar Organizations:
It’s important to watch what other organizations are doing locally. That way you can adapt your
strategy based on their reactions. It also gives you the ability to see something you may not have
done or even thought of.

Content We Will Create:
We aim to create original and engaging content for our audiences.
Original Content:
• Articles about faculty research
• Articles about star students
• Articles about Alumni
• Articles about department changes
• Event content and information
• Announcements

SOM SOCIAL MEDIA PLAN Content We Will Share:
We will share engaging content for our audiences.
Shared Content:
• Articles produced by University Relations that pertain to our school
• Articles produced by University Relations to pertain to the University as a whole
• Events created by UM-Flint that pertain to whole University or may be of interest to our audiences
• Campus wide announcements
• Approved articles from other sites that pertain to our faculty

Post Frequency Goal:
• Facebook / minimum 1 time per week / maximum 11 times per week
• Twitter / minimum 1 time per week / maximum 500 tweets per week
• Instagram / minimum 1 time per week / maximum 7 times per week
• LinkedIn / minimum 1 time per week / maximum 5 times per week

What will be developed in 2016/2017:
Over the 2016/2017 year, we will aim to gain a better knowledge of our audience and their needs.
Content will need to be tailored to their preferences to be best received. This knowledge will assist in
helping SOM develop an editorial calendar that works to support every aspect of their audience. This
strengthened relationship aims to bring in more support for our events and initiatives.

Another goal for improving our social media presence is monitoring our analytics. This will allow us
to track our growth and audience interaction. This report will be created monthly for each area that
allows tracking. At the end of the 2017 summer semester, this data will be compiled into an annual
report. We will also track the top performing content per month to have a better insight into what
performs the best. We will do the same for low performing content and work to develop a stronger
delivery. The monthly report will also include what worked well and what did not work well. This
will be helpful in developing the next social media plan for the 2017/2018 year.