social media
The Woman Behind the Screen.
@pleaseherband: the social media handle I manage as media manager for a local rock band.
Case Study: Rock the Quad 2024.
(coursework and organizational involvement)
Introduction
Student radio, a collegiate activity much older than me in which students can host their own shows and plan student events amidst a student zeitgeist that revolved around on-air communication. Club members can host their own hour-long show on stream each week. The club hosts events, including their main event, a free concert called Rock the Quad, each spring. As a show host, club treasurer, music lover and aspiring public relations practitioner, I have high hopes the club can excel at their goals of engaging student publics and giving students exciting tales of student radio for more generations to come.
The PR Problem
Despite existing as a club formatted around communication, WCCR has struggled post-pandemic to engage the student body. Event attendance is low, especially regarding concerts and events boasting live music like Rock the Quad, which this year has only garnered RSVPs in the double digits. Four years after a global pandemic, ensuring concert attendance is still precarious. This is not just a probelm for the club, in the New York Times, Ben Sisario describes how artists are struggling to pack venues, making concerts less profitable and the event of concert going uncertain for less famous artists than mega-stars with massive promotional assets such as Taylor Swift (Paulson et al., 2024, para. 10). The costs of promoting and executing a concert are too high to properly communicate to publics the event is worth engaging with. Concerts are just one facet to the issue, campus events seem to be struggling to obtain student involvement as well. According to Giovanna Brasolin from the University of Tampa, “it’s hard to know about events happening on campus” (Brasolin, 2022, para. 2). Despite other promotional efforts put forth, campus organizations may be struggling to reach their target audience and forge fruitful relationships with the student body. Though Brasolin (2022, para. 4) credits Instagram as the point of communicative breakdown, her reasoning for this issue is mainly organizations are not building hype, credibility, or engagement with students and haphazardly communicating in an ineffective, one-way promotional manner. Mirroring these phenomena in the news, WCCR is struggling to break through collegiate noise and garner attendance to their concert events. In March of 2024, the club was preparing for Rock the Quad, the timely and uncertain issue of increasing attendance is one that has persisted for years and may continue for future events if not intervened. With a non-super-famous headliner, and a floundering one-way mode of communication, the club can employ simple public relations concepts to increase student public’s interest and engagement with their events.
Proposed Solutions
In a case study paper for a class, I proposed a three-fold solution of switching the club's modality of communication to a two-way model, utilizing social media, and pursuing earned media. I then got an A on that paper and took my newfound confidence and plan to the club. First on our to-do was switiching our mode of communication. In practice, this can include sending out polls to students on what kind of events they would like to see from the club, or types of artists they would want to see at club-sponsored concerts. For Rock the Quad, the club can review Instagram comments and DMs about the impending event and keep that feedback as a resource. Changing communicative methodology would allow students to feel involved, more invested and aware of what is going on. Under the two-way asymmetric model, WCCR can use messages from the public to tweak their communication to engage more students more effectively in the future (Seitel, 2020, pg. 80, para. 9). Through seeking and drawing upon student feedback, club executives will have the opportunity to strengthen their organization’s relationship with their publics. Though the headlining act had already been booked for RTQ, I created a survey and accompanying promotional assets to be used in the years to come which give students a chance to share their ideal liineup for RTQ talent. A mere start to a larger trend of communication, these surveys were a huge success, and the club possesses a laundry list of headliners as Stories templates to continue to send these out. Finally, I strategized a plan to help the club easily find student talent to serve as opening acts at future concerts. After creating custom-branded promotional assets, I made another interest form for student acts and a methodology for the club to select these acts online.
The two-way model was utilized with ease on WCCR's social accounts. TikTok, Instagram, and Snapchat are the most fitting platforms for the club, with 62%, 78%, and 65% of adults aged 18-24 on the platforms, respectively. WCCR dis not have a TikTok or Snapchat account, the simplest of tactics I recomended for the club was to create these accounts and begin writing a plan for content. I personally took over Instagram duties, creating branded content that allowed WCCR to personalize their posts by adding interactive elements in their captions and stories. For RTQ, I created a series of fliers and posters that would also work as guerilla marketing, some of which aided in a contest the president and I created that called for users to engage with our content in hopes of winning a DJ controller. We also employed some club funds to boost the post on Instagram and Snapchat.
Finally, I implemented a strategy to allow the club to seek earned media. Rather then shooting for the largest general audience, I made a plan for the club to sliver their ptiches to organizations and promo Instagram accounts that reach RTQ's target audience and fans of the headliner. We sent DMs to the headliner's fan accounts, local blogs that repost concert events on campus, musical organizations, and class of 202XX snapchat stories. Engagement on Instagram increased by over 200%, and the concert was the most successful in event attendance since pre-pandemic. Though this is a mere start for the club, I set up future executives for social media campaigns that will increase awareness and engagement in the years to come.
Case Study: @Pleaseherband Spring 2024.
nominated for Achievement in Social Media- Client at 2024 Gold Carpet Gala
On a campus that had been struck by the cold, unforgiving January air, set to endure three long months without a break from classes, it seemed all hope was lost. Where is the gusto, the fun, the whimsy that will help the masses of bored, music-loving college students find solace within these trying times?
Please Her, an iconic campus band in which I serve as the media manager for, had much ado on their semester docket. From shows to an album release, the band was bubbling under the piles of snow with plans of an eventful semester. The only issue- they had mysteriously wiped their Instagram account of all non-aesthetic posts (secret hype tactic for album release) and had seemed to fall off the map. How will loyal followers know what is going on? When the world needed @pleaseherband on Instagram the most, they were nowhere to be- oh, never mind, they just posted: Public Relations, the debut album, out in three weeks?? What?!?! The soulless office cliches, the corporate outfits, the photos that serve major looks, Please Her is back and all Instagram users are in for a treat.
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The post received the highest engagement the account has seen to date, inspiring 222 profile visits, 22 external link taps (to pre-save the album), 32 shares (lurkers in chat), and 7 saves.
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Of course, an intro post would not be enough to not only promote an album, but turn a mere follower into a fan, which is the goal. After a few weeks of engaging Please Her posts, namely show announcements and release campaign stuff, the fans were craving more. Yes, the album release was a smash hit, but to create a fan is to create a relationship between the seemingly untouchable corporate entity of @pleaseherband and the growing number of loyal followers/listeners. Oh- What’s that? A lyrics Zine? An interactive scroll gallery of digital collages with behind-the-scenes content, “ester eggs,” a banging’ Jello shot recipe, personal acknowledgments to the fans, and a report on the most unhinged playlists the songs were featured in?
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After this post, the album’s playlist adds increased by 70%. The post garnered less non-follower engagement than the intro post, but followers and listeners on Spotify used the zine to connect with the lyrics and official band lore. Plus, it looks cool.
As the sun began to reappear, @pleaseherband had another tactical move for the ‘gram. The account boasts an ongoing series of bi-semester posts, typically a still of a fake magazine full of jokes, updates, and interactive elements for fans. Over spring break, when campus shows were on pause and the student body was prepared to relax... Until @pleaseherband dropped the bi-semester magazine?! Remain calm, this post was a triumphant celebration of the semester so far, and a teaser for what is to come. Complete with promotional headlines to cross-platform content, more unhinged playlists from fans, and a beautiful scroll gallery that highlights the talent of local photographers, this post let the world know that the folks of Please Her have more up their sleeves, and all who follow should cherish the memories of the past, while looking forward to the future.
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Now to be serious: @pleaseherband has been my chance to practice planning and running a successful social media account, and I have had a blast learning about social media tactics and creating posts that engage audiences online and in person at the shows. In the past 90 days, my strategy has increased follower engagement by 50.3%, and non-follower engagement by 265% (and I did not spend money to boost a single post). Content interactions are up by 185%. Follower count has increased by 11.1%. With a few more weeks left in the semester, and a big, wide world open for the band, I look forward to what’s next.