Sparty For President

The Campaign

In any social media strategy, campaign or plan, audience outreach and engagement is one of the most important things when it comes to getting people interested in your cause. Simply throwing information on your site is not going to get the attention that your social media outlet will need to succeed.  As far as my social media campaign goes, literally, direct engagment with my target audience will be one of the most important tactics. My Facebook page, Sparty For President - 2016, will be reaching a vast age demographic, but at the same time, will have a specific target audience - Michigan State University fans. Even though I know my target audience and know that I have to engage with the individuals who are already a part of, interested in or may not even know about my page, there are specific types of interaction and communication that will need to be implemented.

Positive Comments from Supporters

It is already assumed that the vast majority of followers and likes on my page are going to come from Michigan State University supporters, alumni and fans. And with this in mind, it will be most beneficial for my page to talk in the voice of a true Spartan. And in this case, Sparty! Connecting to followers and audeinces that are engaged with my page will require an attitude which revolves around MSU. Another thing that is very important to remember when responding to positive comments on my page from supporters is consistency and timeliness. Being consistent not only in checking my page, but also following up and responding through comments will keep my audience happy and feeling like they are engaged. Keeping a personal relationship with the Sparty For President - 2016 followers will keep them coming back and wanting more - ultimatley spreading the Spartan Spirit and keeping new and old followers engaged.

Negative Comments from Opponents

If I had to take a guess at what kind of negative feedback and comments that I would recieve on my page, I would assume that it would be from other colleges across the nation, specifically other mascots. In all seriousness, I could see that other mascots from universities across the nation would only spread negative comments to my page for some friendly competition. In the rare case that there would be some serious negative feedback and comments on my page, I think that it would be most important to respond to the questions, comments and concerns in a timely and professional manner. One of the worst things that you can do is delete and ignore questions, comments and concerns that arise on a social media site. Through ignoring and deleting comments that you might not know how to repsond to, or might not want to respond to, it shows that you are scared and unprofessional. Standing up for what you believe in but also being respectful and professional is the best way to handle any negative situation that may come up on a social media site. 

Questions from the Media

In order to keep a professional presence, I would only respond to things in person as a representative of the MSU Student Alumni Foundation, the home of Sparty. In doing so, I would keep the authentic image of Sparty and would be able to be reference to a well known and prominent organzation on MSU's campus. As long as the conversation stayed online, it would be appropriate to keep Sparty as the voice and image of the page. As soon as the media or anyone would want to talk to the owner of the Sparty For President - 2016 page, it would then need to be stated that I am a representative of the Student Alumni Foundation in order to keep the authenticity and tradition of Sparty the mascot's image.

The Pitch

In pitching this page, it would be greatly beneifical to not only invite my friends to the page, but also get others in the MSU community engaged. Direct messaging, connection through Twitter and other social media sites, as well as word of mouth, would all be great way to spread the word of the page. Digital PR is a great example of a way to get individuals and groups interested in the Sparty For President - 2016 campaign page. Interaction is key. And without interaction and direct Digital PR and engagement with followers, audience won't be or stay intersted in any campaign.