Introduction
This assessment is worth 20 points of your overall grade.
This client proposal assignment asks you to identify the organization that will serve as the focus of your work for this semester. In this assignment, you will identify the organization, justify your choice, analyze the organization’s social media use and begin conceptualizing possible outcomes for your social media strategy plan.
You are encouraged to read the guidelines for the final assignment “social media strategy plan” before choosing your client.
There is no restriction on the organization that you choose. However, the following suggestions should help lead to a more focused learning experience, and better connection to the expectations of the final strategy assignment:
1. Choose an organization that you are passionate about or interested in. You will be diving deep into the organization’s communication work, and the experience will be more satisfying if you choose an industry or organization of interest.
2. You are welcome to choose an organization that you currently work for/with. Especially if you are involved in an organization’s social media work, you may find this course is a valuable opportunity to develop new and interest content and strategies. Please seek the appropriate permission before choosing your own organization.
3. The experience in this course is generally more fulfilling if you choose an organization that does have some, even if it is limited, social media presence. While the work in this course may inform efforts to start a social media presence, most activities generally assume some level of social media content exists.
4. In the past students have chosen large national companies (Burt’s Bees) and small non-profits (Horton’s Kids), local schools, and global health campaigns. This is your class. Make this something
you are interested in!
If you have an idea that feels entirely “out of the box” please feel free to email your instructor with your idea so that we can review it before completing your client proposal.
Please note: it would be inappropriate to choose an organization for which you have already created a social media plan in another course during your academic career. Please use this course as an opportunity to broaden your knowledge and to explore new opportunities.
Your work on this proposal will allow you begin using terminology associated with social media, to consider the relationship between an organization’s mission and its social activities, begin developing the elements of your organizations digital story, and begin strategizing the use of social media for the purposes of achieving communications goals.
Your proposal will be submitted in the form of a VoiceThread presentation, no more than 10 minutes in length, with no more than 20 slides. The specific areas to cover in the proposal are discussed in detail in the “Directions” section of this assignment guide.
Directions
Create a presentation using Powerpoint (or other presentation software tool). Your presentation should address the following topics, in the following order:
1.
Organization Details. Please share the name of the organization you want to create a social media strategy for and provide a link to the organization’s website if applicable. Briefly describe the nature of the organization (it’s primary mission and organizational structure) and your interest/reasoning in choosing the organization. If you have a personal relationship to the organization, please describe that relationship, including your access to/role in managing the organization’s social/digital presence.
2.
Organization’s “Business Goal(s).” Briefly describe one or more key goal you believe the organization may want to try and accomplish through social media. For example, if I chose Johns Hopkins University – one key goal right now is getting professionals to enroll in the MBA program. Or, if I chose Burger King, maybe I would want to focus on the launch of a new kids meal. What do you know about what the company/organization is working on that they might want to focus on
right now?
3.
Organization’s social/digital platforms. Please describe the organization’s social and digital communications. What platforms does the organization use to communicate with its audiences? Does the organization have a presence on LinkedIn? Instagram? Facebook? Etc? Generally, how is each platform used? You might choose to do this in the form of a table or list. Be sure to include links to the organization’s social presence.
4.
Publics/Consumers. Generally, who are the groups that the organization is trying to reach through their social media platforms? Are they audiences of fans? are they consumers? Are they volunteers? Other businesses?
5.
Storytelling/Messaging. What are the key messages that are shared through the organization’s social platforms? You may choose to organize your description by types of messages, or choose some key examples that highlight the types of stories that the organization shares.
6.
Influencers. Does the organization have/use influencers to extend their social media reach? If so, who are those influencers?
7.
Recent campaigns/engagement. Identity the organization’s most recent social media content. What has happened on the organization’s platforms in the past 4 weeks?
8.
Industry/Competitor observations. How does your organization compare to the social media use of its competitors? You may choose the one primary competitor, or a broader field of organizations.
9.
References
Learning about your organization:
Every organization is unique. In some instances, you may have to search back over many years in order to understand the social media landscape for your organization. Your organization may have a strong social media history or a very limited presence. Do a search of industry and news publications and digital posts to identify any significant campaigns and review your organization’s past posts to inform your analysis. The organization you choose should guide the content in your assignment.
Presentation Specifics
Your VoiceThread should include at least one slide where you record yourself on video (so that we can see your face).
Your VoiceThread presentation should be no more than 10 minutes in length and include no more than 20 slides of information (including your title slide and references).
Your presentation slides should evidence of effective composition. Do not use your slides as a script. Instead, take time to create slides that visually enhance, organize, and showcase the message in your presentation. Use infographics, color, images and style appropriate for a professional context.
Your presentation style should be professional, practiced, and show evidence of confidence and interest about the material.
Notes:
· If this is your first VoiceThread presentation, review the guidelines for creating, uploading and sharing a presentation in the VoiceThread Course View area on the navigation menu.
· If you created your presentation as a PowerPoint – save your PowerPoint as a PDF file and
then upload it to VoiceThread (do not upload PowerPoint files directly to VoiceThread because they will look weird).
· Practice creating something small and then uploading it to VoiceThread to see how your slides will “look” on screen. Occasionally you may find that presentation software you’ve chosen does not translate visually to the course site site.
· Be sure to share your presentation with the rest of the class.
· Be sure to submit your presentation via the VoiceThread link on the navigation bar on course site.
Scoring
Scoring for this assignment is composed of three categories:
1.
Accurate completion of all elements client proposal. For full credit in this area your presentation will not only accurately review all of the required categories, it will do so by using specific examples from the organization that you have chosen. 10 points possible
2.
Evidence of understanding the course concepts and application of the course readings. Where appropriate, your presentation will use the terminology we’ve reviewed during our lesson weeks, and reference readings or examples that help illuminate your description of the organization’s social presence. Your goal is to show that you are developing a sense of how the elements of an organization’s mission and message interact with its social media content. 5 points possible
3.
Effective presentation. Your presentation content is thoughtfully prepared with attention to effective slide design including the use of infographics and images to highlight information about your organization. Your slides are audience-centered – this means they help illuminate your message, they are not your script for your presentation. Your presentation is professional and there is evidence of preparation and rehearsal. Your presentation is the appropriate length (slides/time) and references, when needed, are accurately formatted. 5 points possible
