Communicating with Faculty Using Social Media

Communicating with Faculty
Using Social Media
RESEARCH FUNDING & DEVELOPMENT SERVICES
Rachel Dresbeck, Ph.D., Director, Research Development & Communication
Oregon Health & Science University
Oregon Health & Science University – Portland, Oregon
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OHSU Research Funding & Development Services
VEHICLES USED TO COMMUNICATE WITH RESEARCHERS AT OHSU
Research News blog
Created to avoid sending lots of emails
Research News bi-weekly email
Sent to all faculty, research staff, admins,
postdocs, and other subscribers (approx 5,000)
Weekly Funding Alerts email
400 opt-in subscribers, also posted on the web
Occasional targeted email
Important policy changes or events
Flyers
Usually posted near elevators to advertise events
Postdoc Facebook page
98 followers. Post info about events, funding
opportunities for postdocs, interesting articles
Very rarely: Snail mail
Faculty welcome letters, postcards to advertise
Research News
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OHSU Research Funding & Development Services
WHY SOCIAL MEDIA?
Who wants to get 500 emails a day?
• Our read rate for email newsletters was
30-35%
• Everyone ignores email, even from the
Vice President
• Wanted to achieve better penetration for
important information
• Wanted to give opportunity for direct
feedback
• Wanted to give postdocs a sense of
community
• Gives users more control over how and
when they can get information
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OHSU Research Funding & Development Services
We added a Facebook widget to our postdoc
site to promote integration and validity of
social media.
DRIVING TRAFFIC TO OUR SOCIAL MEDIA SITES
Research News blog gets 7,000-11,000 page views per month
• Bi-weekly opt-out news digest is the main driver of traffic (sent to all faculty, research
staff, administrators, postdocs, and other subscribers)
• Feeds on the OHSU intranet
• Content researchers actually want to read— “news you can use”
• Short, easy-to-remember vanity URL: http://www.ohsu.edu/researchnews
• Use images and embedded YouTube videos whenever possible
• Link to Research News in our email signatures
• Collaboration with other bloggers at OHSU (i.e. Staff News, Cancer Institute blog)
• Postcard sent to all readers saying “Got questions about research?”
Postdoctoral Fellows Facebook page
• Sent an email to all postdocs asking them to “Like” our page
• When you highlight an individual or cool article, tend to get more “Likes”
• Widget on our Postdoctoral Fellows webpage
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OHSU Research Funding & Development Services
WHAT DO PEOPLE READ?
OHSU Research News
• High profile, new faculty recruits
• Funding opportunities (including internal
opportunities and limited submissions)
• Major discoveries or publications by colleagues
• Events (visiting speakers, lecture series, career
development workshops)
• Policy changes and news from the NIH
Examples of high traffic posts:
“One step closer to developing an HIV vaccine”
Researchers enjoy hearing about their
colleagues.
“Kenton Gregory, M.D., joins OHSU”
“New guidelines posted for Tartar Trust Fellowships”
“Pay down your loans with the NIH Loan Repayment Program”
“How would a government shutdown affect you?”
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OHSU Research Funding & Development Services
MEASURING SUCCESS
Use emailing marketing software (ActiveCampaign, Mail Chimp, etc.)
• Track how many people are opening and interacting with the emails you send
• Aim for at least 25-30% read rate, 5-10% click rate
• Read rates will be higher for opt-in emails, less for opt-out emails
• These programs can also show you WHO is reading your emails
Track web and blog traffic with Google Analytics
• Track trends over time
• Does your traffic increase when you post internal
funding opportunities?
When you send out newsletters?
Set goals
Metrics can help you figure out
what’s working and what’s not.
• Using your current traffic metrics as a starting point, set realistic goals and track your
progress monthly.
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OHSU Research Funding & Development Services
THINGS WE’VE LEARNED COMMUNICATING WITH FACULTY
Know your audience
• Make it very clear who your blog post is targeting. Readers should know within the
first sentence or two if something is relevant to just junior faculty or everyone.
• Reference the name of the speaker first, in the title if possible. Researchers care
more about who is talking than the title of the talk.
• Subject lines/headlines are critical
Remember, people are busy
• Avoid bureaucratic language. No one will read what
you have to say unless they feel its relevance.
• Be human.
We try to use real OHSU
researchers, not stock photos!
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OHSU Research Funding & Development Services
QUESTIONS?
Contact us at funding@ohsu.edu
Research News: http://www.ohsu.edu/researchnews
Find Funding: http://www.ohsu.edu/funding
Postdoctoral Fellows: http://www.ohsu.edu/postdocs
Thanks to Katie Wilkes, Program Manager for Research Funding
& Development Services, for her hard work on these slides!
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OHSU Research Funding & Development Services