Leveraging Social Media for Technology Transfer …...© Fuentek, LLC Leveraging Social Media for...
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Transcript of Leveraging Social Media for Technology Transfer …...© Fuentek, LLC Leveraging Social Media for...
© Fuentek, LLC Leveraging Social Media for Technology Transfer Marketing page 1 of 12 March 2011
Leveraging Social Media for Technology Transfer Marketing
by Karen Hiser, Fuentek, LLC (http://www.fuentek.com)
Before You Do Anything Else
Squatters abound in the social media world. Don’t let them get your spot! Reserve your organization’s name on all of the popular sites
SlideShare
YouTube
© Fuentek, LLC Leveraging Social Media for Technology Transfer Marketing page 2 of 12 March 2011
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the paper “How to Build an Effective Tech Transfer Web Site,”
available at http://www.fuentek.com/Register-for-insights.php
Don’t Forget Your Web Site
Regardless of all of the hype about social media outlets, your Web site is still the most valuable digital media tool. If you post a 140-character Twitter message, your Web site is where people will go to find more information about you and your tech transfer offerings. If you don’t already have a robust Web site, hold off on social media for now and instead build your TTO’s Web site following the best practices for TTO Web sites outlined in Fuentek’s online Insights: http://www.fuentek.com/insights-online-presence.php In particular, see the white paper “How to Build an Effective Tech Transfer Web Site.”
© Fuentek, LLC Leveraging Social Media for Technology Transfer Marketing page 3 of 12 March 2011
Social Media Dos and Don’ts
Do
Thoughtfully plan your objectives and strategy
Implement a rigorous editorial process
Include your Web site’s keywords in posts and categories
Use a personal voice, informal tone, and transparent authorship
List your social accounts to e-mail signatures, Web site, business cards, etc.
Don’t
Get consumed and overly absorbed in the social media world
Let your emotions drive you to post entries you might regret
Ignore replies to your posts
Go silent for long periods of time
© Fuentek, LLC Leveraging Social Media for Technology Transfer Marketing page 4 of 12 March 2011
Don’t Get Blocked
The LinkedIn site rigorously prohibits spamming. When responding to your invitations to connect, if several people indicate that they don’t know you, your LinkedIn account may be blocked by LinkedIn’s spam police. Make timely invitations to only those people you truly know. Include a tickler in your invitation to jog their memory (e.g., I met you at…). Learn more about LinkedIn restrictions at https://help.linkedin.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/1386
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Should Your TTO Use Facebook?
Fuentek’s experience with the Facebook community has been that, although it has more users than the LinkedIn community, its focus is more purely social (as opposed to professional) and it has a stronger business-to-consumer presence than it does a business-to-business focus. For these reasons, Fuentek has not yet embarked on a Facebook implementation for tech transfer. However, Facebook has a strong university presence, so it may be an appropriate tool for university TTOs, primarily to connect with on-campus innovators. In addition, usage patterns among the leading social networking sites are continually shifting, so Facebook may soon become a “must” for all businesses in the future. If you decide to roll out a Facebook page, consider carefully how to present the TTO. Keep a professional online appearance. Most importantly, keep business and personal separate—both for yourself and your staff. If prospective licensees visit your TTO’s Facebook page, you do not want them getting sidetracked by links to your interns’ spring break pictures.
© Fuentek, LLC Leveraging Social Media for Technology Transfer Marketing page 6 of 12 March 2011
Blogging Dos and Don’ts
Do
Incorporate links to other relevant sites and content
Post in the mornings (e.g., 9 am to 12 noon Eastern time)
Don’t
Write long blog posts; 250–500 words is a good target
Forget to tweet a link to each new blog post
© Fuentek, LLC Leveraging Social Media for Technology Transfer Marketing page 7 of 12 March 2011
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Twitter Glossary
@ replies: Identifies the tweet as meant for that person, although all of the tweeter’s followers see it
d username: A direct (private) message that followers and the public cannot see
followers: Twitter users who have elected to monitor the tweets of another Twitter user
hashtag: Similar to a keyword or subject header (see page 8 for more information)
retweets (RTs): Similar to e-mail forwarding, RTs go to everyone following the (re)tweeter and are viewable by the public
tweeps: People with mutual followers
tweets: 140-character text messages sent and received using the Twitter system
tweet-up: A non-virtual (i.e., in-person) meet-up of Twitter users
twitpitch: Marketing a product or service in 140 characters or less via Twitter
URL shorteners: An alternative to lengthy URLs, allowing tweets to stay within the 140-character limit, available through http://tinyURL.com, http://bit.ly, and others
username: Links to the user’s profile (e.g., http://www.twitter.com/fuentek)
© Fuentek, LLC Leveraging Social Media for Technology Transfer Marketing page 8 of 12 March 2011
• Hashtags: No, it’s not a potato
Hashtags are a unique Twitter phenomenon invented by Web consultant Chris Messina in 2007 to tag tweets related to a common topic or event.* Hashtags operate like a keyword or subject indicator but are unstructured. Adoption of any particular hashtag is at the discretion of the Twitter community: people will either find it interesting and use it, or they won’t. Web sites such as hashtags.org and TweetChat.com track the most popular hashtags. Prefixed by #, hashtags are an excellent tool for grouping tweets related to an event. For example, #AUTM_East was the hashtag used for the June 2010 AUTM Eastern Region Meeting. Anyone tweeting from the event used that hashtag, making it easy for others to use Twitter search to find and review tweets relevant to the event.
*Source: http://gigaom.com/2010/04/30/the-short-and-illustrious-history-of-twitter-hashtags/ (accessed Feb. 2011)
© Fuentek, LLC Leveraging Social Media for Technology Transfer Marketing page 9 of 12 March 2011
Twitter Dos and Don’ts
Other dos and don’ts for microblogging also are similar to those for blogging (see page 6).
Do
Tweet timely information; stale postings are frowned upon by the Twitter community
Respond quickly to replies, but do so responsibly and without emotion
Carefully review your tweets prior to posting
Take detailed conversations offline using a <d username> Direct Message if needed
Don’t
Let the quantity of tweets overrule their quality
Tweet trivial information
© Fuentek, LLC Leveraging Social Media for Technology Transfer Marketing page 10 of 12 March 2011
© Fuentek, LLC Leveraging Social Media for Technology Transfer Marketing page 11 of 12 March 2011
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© Fuentek, LLC Leveraging Social Media for Technology Transfer Marketing page 12 of 12 March 2011
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AUTM is a registered trademark of the Association of University Technology Managers. Blogger and YouTube are
trademarks of Google, Inc. Facebook is a registered trademark of Facebook, Inc. LinkedIn is a registered trademark of
LinkedIn Corp. Seesmic is a registered trademark of SEESMIC, Inc. TweetDeck is a registered trademark of TweetDeck, Inc. Twitter is a registered trademark of Twitter, Inc. WordPress is a registered trademark of Automattic Inc.
