CATA: Social Media Strategy

Elizabeth Dobson James Jackson Kevin Marheine Brittany Tuori

Overview
This document outlines our recommendations for the CATA social media strategy. It names the objectives of the social media strategy, details the elements of that strategy, and identifies several social media platforms and provides. Finally, it outlines suggested tasks and responsibilities for CATAs social media coordinator.

How CATA Currently Uses Social Media

Twitter
@RideCATA - CATAs official Twitter. (Followers - 265, Following 385) CATA currently is following more people than they have followers. Of the thousands of students who attend MSU, only 265 are following CATA on Twitter. Occasionally, CATA answers a question from a student - not often.

Facebook
CATAs Facebook currently has 413 Likes.

CATAs Facebook displays more information than Twitter about the organization. It also gives phone numbers and hours of operation.

Strategy Objective
Community Engagement
While many of the purposes of social media parallel traditional media, because social media is a two way medium, it offers unique opportunities to engage the audience in the spaces and conversations valuable to them. Furthermore, achieving the traditional aims of marketing within social media is often best accomplished through a strategy focused on engagement.

MSUs student population

We were asked by CATA to focus primarily on their constituents within the MSU student population. Our strategys main goals are to: generate awareness regarding CATAs social media presence promote engagement between CATA and MSU students better the feedback portals for CATA and MSU students ultimately, increase ridership

Personas
The purpose of the interviews and the resulting personas is to assess the way CATA is perceived by students at Michigan State. We also asked students what they would like to see CATA do with its social media presence.

These personas were developed after interviewing twenty Michigan State students. The participants ranged from freshman to Graduate Students and included students from in-state and out-of-state, as well as International students. Participants also varied in their housing situations. 8 students living on campus, 8 students living off campus, and 4 students that commuted from nearby cities.

Anna Kramer, freshman

Lives on campus; rides CATA; has an active social network.
Background Anna is the persona created to best represent freshman new to Michigan State and the Lansing area. Anna comes from a small town in South Eastern Michigan. As Anna is new to the area she doesn't stray too far off of campus. Neither Anna nor her new friends she has met in the dorms have a car at school, so she relies heavily on CATA for her transportation needs, most notably getting her to class across campus with time to spare. Needs Anna is a new and young member of the community, and even though she is an avid user of the bus system, she isn't aware of all the services CATA has to offer. Anna is very interested in getting to know the Lansing area, but is also unsure of where to get more information. Anna knows that the kiosks at the front of the bus have information on the other routes, but she feels that it would be awkward to make oncoming passengers slide past her as she thumbs through the pamphlets.

Social Networking Like many college students Anna spends a lot of time on social media. In fact she is always updating and checking her Facebook and Twitter accounts via her phone or laptop. Recommendations Anna would love it if CATA used social media to promote events, services and connect with students like her. CATA has played a positive role in her college experience so far, and Anna is excited to see what other benefits CATA has to offer.

Neil Standish, junior

Lives on-campus; does not ride CATA; active social network

Background Neil is the persona created to best represent upperclassmen at Michigan State. Neil is a junior that lives on campus. Neil is very familiar with campus and the surrounding area. He is a Resident Mentor in Brody Hall and his residents look to him as source of information. Neil is very involved in programs both on and off campus. He has a car that he uses as his main source of transportation, but refers CATA to all his residents. Neil is a big advocate for the Night Owl service and urges his residents to use the service after long nights out on the town. Neil is 21 and doesn't take the bus a whole lot anymore; but he says he would much rather use the CATA Night Owl service than a cab because he trusts CATA to get him home safely.

Needs Neil represents our person of students who don't use or need CATA but view it as an asset to Michigan State's community. During Neil's freshman year he used the bus to explore Old Town, Okemos, and downtown Lansing. It was the experiences he had that year that established his trust in CATA. And even though he doesn't use CATA's services now, he wouldn't hesitate to use them if he had to. Neil now walks to his classes and uses his car when he has to go off campus. He says that his choice to do so was a subconscious one. He didn't wake up one morning and decide he wasn't going to take the bus anymore; it's just how it worked out. He still feels it is a great way to get around campus and to get to know the Greater Lansing area, but it's just not what he uses anymore. Neil is also a frequent social media user and says he wasn't aware of CATA's social media presence but was sure they had Facebook and Twitter account.

Neil is representative of a lot of the older students still on campus. Many of them use CATA during their first year on campus and then for some unexplained reason they gravitate away from it. Many like Neil feel positively about the service and recommend it to their younger peers, but have just developed their own methods for getting around campus. Neil says he knows many upperclassmen that still use the bus, but his decision wasn't so much to quit taking the bus as it was to start walking to class. As Neil has advanced in his academic career his classes have become more centrally located, and because he doesn't have to travel multiple times across campus walking seems like a healthy alternative to the bus. Neil also believes that having a car impacted his decision because the freedom and convenience of being able to drive himself made him less reliant on the bus.

Social Networking Neil said that even though CATA wasn't his go to anymore he would be sure to pass on information about events and services posted on social media to his residents.

Sarojini Balasubramanium, sophomore

Lives on-campus, rides CATA; semi-active social network
Background Sarojini is the persona created to best represent International students at Michigan State. She is a sophomore living in Holmes Hall and is a student in the Lyman Briggs College. Sarojini comes from Coimbatore in Southern India. Sarojini has not decided if she will return home after graduation or if she will stay in The United States; as a result she is hesitant to go through the process of obtaining a driver's license and depends on CATA for her transportation needs. Sarojini is also very interested in getting exposed to American culture and seeing if Michigan is a place she would like to live. Sarojini's floor OCAT aide has done a lot to help her during this time of transition, including introducing her to CATA.

Sarojini represents our persona of students who use CATA and who view it as an asset to the Michigan State community. CATA has helped her experience a variety of events both on and off campus, and has played a large role in transforming Michigan State from her school, to her home away from home. Needs Sarojini is representative of many of the students at Michigan State. International or domestic, students are searching for events, activities and communities to make the best of their college experience. Many students get their information from social media. Even students that don't "actively" use their accounts still take the time to at least look it over to keep them current. Sarojini says that she is likely to keep using CATA's services because to her CATA is more than just a transportation service; it is part of her college experience.

Recommendations Sarojini would like to see CATA use social media to become a more visible partner of the MSU community. She is familiar with many of CATA's special events and feels that CATA could generate more student involvement if they used social media more. Sarojini knows that similar to herself, her peers check their Facebook profiles at least once a day. She feels that social media would be an effective, efficient way to not only disseminate information but also to engage students.

Clayton Krohn,

sophomore
Background Clayton is the persona created to best represent underclassmen living off campus. Clayton is a sophomore and lives off campus in a small house he is renting with three of his friends. His house is a block off of Grand River, so Clayton isn't too far away from campus. He is a diehard sports fan who has an unblemished attendance record for both football and men's basketball games; which is something that his professors wish would transfer over to his class attendance. Even though Clayton has only been at State for one full year he is confident in his ability to

navigate around campus and the Greater Lansing Area. Clayton's parents surprised him with a brand new scooter back when he moved into his house in August. Clayton has never really used CATA's services; citing that he has heard plenty of stories about the buses being overcrowded, late, and being driven by crazy drivers. He trusts himself to get to class on time and safely. Social Media Clayton is an avid social media user and often adds his own opinion to topics he has no actual experience with; recently he tweeted about CATA's service using the hash tag #cata after listening to a classmate describe a friends "near fatal" run in with a bus. Needs Clayton represents our persona of students who don't use CATA and don't think of CATA's services as an asset to the Michigan State community. Clayton and those similar to him make up a very small percentage of the student body. Most students, at some time during their academic career, have taken a bus and there are definitely mixed feelings associated with taking the bus. It is important to not only have a social media presence but also to monitor social media channels and contribute new information to them. Recommendations Students like Clayton have developed their opinion of CATA solely off of the testimonials of other students. Use social media as a way to engage your cliental and change students' perceptions of the organization. CATA does a lot of wonderful things, some of which students like Clayton are unaware. By constantly maintaining your social media feeds you can: engage in online reputation management gain insightful feedback from students address common misconceptions answer questions improve your overall quality of customer service

Holly Mosley, senior

Background Holly is the persona created to best represent upperclassmen living off campus. Holly is a senior in the Education Program. She rents an apartment in Okemos. Holly has a 20-minute commute to campus, but that's the price she pays to have more affordable rent. She drives to campus, despite struggling to find a place to park. Holly was an avid CATA user when she lived on campus during her first two years of college, but since Holly lives so far off campus she is concerned about how reliable the bus is. Holly would love to take the bus and cut down on both her gas consumption and potential ticket fees; but she is unaware of a method to check route details. Holly doesn't use social media as much as she used to, but she makes time at the end of each day to reconnect with the digital world.

Needs Holly represents the group of students who use to use CATA's services and

appreciate CATA, but are unsure of how useful/effective CATA's services would be for them. Holly would take the bus but she is not sure that it is worth investing the money in a semester pass. Using her car, while more expensive, is just more reliable to her. Holly acknowledges that if there were some way she could view route schedules and develop a plan that would fit her schedule, she would be more likely to opt for the semester pass. When asked where on the Internet to look for such a service Holly was unable to give a definite answer. She theorized that CATA's website was a strong possibility and a friend had mentioned that Google Transit might have that information, but those are just guess. Holly and students like herself aren't likely to put effort behind something that may or may not be useful to them.

Holly is representative of many of the students living off campus. Many students aren't opposed to riding the bus, but are worried that the bus schedule won't match up with their own. And while it may seem at times that college students are lazy the opposite is actually true. College students, especially upperclassmen like Holly, are extremely busy and their lives become one giant balancing act. This aspect of a college student's life makes it highly unlikely that they are going to put forth a large amount of effort to see if the bus schedule lines up with their own.

Recommendations However, if social media were to direct students towards a quick and easy method of doing so many would take advantage of it. Students like Holly know about CATA and many of the services you have to offer, and would like to see social media used with more of a customer service angle then just a promotional one.

Erik Linnen, graduate student

Background Erik is the persona created to best represent Graduate Students at Michigan State. Erik lives in his hometown of Flint, Michigan. Erik has never used CATA's services and doesn't really know anyone who does. That being said Erik can appreciate the role that CATA plays within the MSU community.

Social Media Erik is usually a very busy guy, but still finds the time to log onto Facebook and/or Twitter at between 2 to 3 times a day. He says that he doesn't follow CATA on either social media platform, but said he would keep an eye on them now for announcements about special events.

Needs Erik represents the group of Michigan State students that don't use CATA, appreciate CATA's services and are interested in following CATA's community involvement. Erik is new to the Lansing area and is interested in the community. He knows that CATA partners with many Greater Lansing organizations for different events throughout the year, and is would be interested in attending such events. Erik is a little disappointed on how CATA is portrayed though. He knows CATA does a lot to be part of the Michigan State and Greater Lansing area communities, but feels like you are only thought of as the transit service.

Recommendations Erik would like to see CATA use social media as a method to convey CATA's role as a community member and engage with your fellow community stakeholders.

Conclusion
After reviewing the notes from the interviews we were able to identify many common themes. Those themes are as follows: CATA is a needed and at times overlooked part of Michigan States community. CATA plays a role in a majority of students lives. Students arent aware of all the services CATA has to offer. Students are interested in CATAs special events but they are not sure where to get information about the events. Students assume that CATA has a social media presence but arent really engaged by it. Students are active social media users. Students are busy, they like convenience.

Overall Recommendations
Students would like to see your social media space to be one of both promotion and engagementa hybrid between marketing and customer service. They would like to be informed about special events and services, while at the same time direct them to the information they are looking for. The one thing that remained constant across all the students interviewed was they use social media. Social media is an easy, effective and efficient way to get in contact with students, and most successful businesses have a good mix of business related and personal tweets or posts to give the organization a more human face and better engage with students.

CATA: Content Strategy

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Listening: Finding Conversations and Stepping in

Maintaining a social media pages like Facebook or Twitter is an integral component of a social media strategy, but much of the online conversations that CATA constituents participate in occur away from organization controlled spaces.

By developing an awareness of these spaces, CATA can develop an ability to step in and participate in these conversations. Doing so will allow CATA to: Better Understand its Audience. Because the tenor of the conversations in these spaces is likely to be different than more official digital channels, these spaces provide CATA with an opportunity to understand its audience from a new angle: understanding how constituents talk about CATA to each other rather than directly addressing CATA. Increase Its Visibility.

By joining conversations CATA can expose more people to its online presences (particularly people who havent been directed towards CATAs online presence by traditional means) and demonstrate that those presences are not only active, but also meaningfully engaged.

Work to Redirect Conversations and Perceptions. By being aware of and participating within conversations CATA can intervene within them, by addressing rider concerns and negative perceptions.

Twitter hashtags like #CATA are a perfect example of this. If an individual uses the #CATA hashtag to complain about CATA, CATA can step in and ask for more details, direct them to customer service, or try to address the complaint in some other way. Unlike traditional avenues for complaint, these conversations are publicly visible and provide opportunities for CATA not only to address complaints in the traditional sense, but also to send a message to a larger audience that CATA cares about listening to and engaging its riders. Even if the above scenario doesnt result in changing the complainers opinion of CATA, it

will demonstrate to other riders who follow either @rideCATA, or #CATA that the organization is actively engaged in addressing rider concerns. Furthermore, this demonstration of engagement will make them more likely to sympathize with CATA rather than complainers not only in this instance, but in future instances as well.

Making Connections
Making connections with other official social media presences like @michiganstateu and Michigan State Universitys Facebook page are also essential to the process of listening. By following and even communicating with these organizations publicly on Twitter and Facebook CATA can again send a positive message to riders about engagement with the larger MSU community, and can expose the followers of those organizations to CATAs social media presence. But beyond simply enhancing CATAs ability to direct messages towards its audience, these connections will help CATA learn more about this audience. By paying attention to how the moves these other organizations make, the conversations they are a part of, and the tenor of the conversations on their official pages CATA can learn more about what the MSU audience values, and which social networking moves are effective at reaching it.

Making behind the scenes connections with these organizations and the individuals responsible for their social media content is also important, because it can allow CATA to learn from these organizations successes and failures, as well as coordinate social media actions with them (E.G. Strategically retweeting each others posts when this benefits both organizations).

Representing and Engaging the Whole Organization

In many ways a social media strategy needs to be a strategy for the whole organization. Because social media is a two-way connection, distinctions between marketing and customer service are less distinct, and new direct ways

of connecting with constituents becomes available.

For example, when a constituent makes a comment on a social media site relevant to planning (such as requesting a bus stop be added or route changed) the social media coordinator should pass that information on to planning instead of directing the constituent to contact planning directly. Engaging the constituent through the media they used to contact CATA allows the constituent to feel heard (instead of feeling dismissed), and demonstrates to other followers on social media that CATA is engaged. But most importantly it advertises social media as a means to reach CATA with concerns, providing the planning department with a new avenue for receiving information vital to improving service.

Because to fully represent the organization, the social media coordinator will have to engage in activities traditionally done by other departments, this will require the social media coordinator to engaged not only with CATA constituents, but with the different departments within CATA as well. While the above scenarios might be straight forward, protocols for these and other situations would have to be negotiated internally by the social media coordinator and representatives from other departments.

For instance, sometimes complaints should be directed towards the customer service department because it would not be appropriate for the social media coordinator to handle them. But when it is possible for the social media coordinator to deal with a complaint, and doing so will enhance CATAs image and/or presence within social media it is beneficial to the whole organization for the social media coordinator to do so.

Routine Content Management

Listening and Engaging Monitor discussions on official CATA web spaces (e.g. Twitter and Facebook pages) and unofficial channels (e.g. hashtags) Searching out new sites of conversation and developing strategies for engaging in them Entering conversations on the fly when feasible and beneficial

Internal communication and coordination Relay messages picked up from social media to relevant departments Regularly meet with representatives of other departments, in order to make sure that CATAs social media use is congruent with that departments activities Disseminating information from departments on social media when this supports CATAs broader marketing and social media strategies

Making Connections Listening to and observing the social media presence of other key institutions in the MSU and Lansing Area community Making contact with the social media coordinators of other organizations to explore potential coordination of social media activity (e.g. getting @michiganstateu to retweet a message about an important CATA event) Directly and publicly engaging with other organizations on social media sites when this is beneficial to CATA, and welcomed by the social media coordinators of these organizations

Promoting CATA Informing social media users about CATA events, and activities Disseminating other promotional material