A Day at the ONU Social Media Workshop!

 Hey everyone! I hope you all had a fun weekend and are having a great week on campus this week. This past Friday our Principles of Social Media class visited the ONU Social Media Workshop and I thought I would give you some details on my day there. First I want to give you a little background on this event. 

The ONU Social Media Workshop allows social media and digital experts to come for a one-day intensive workshop to help individuals learn how to effectively use social channels like Facebook, X, and Instagram. Throughout the day you attend four breakout sessions with keynote speakers you will have the chance to learn about different ways to navigate your social channel experience. 

The day started with registration/welcome with Dr. Aggie introducing us to the event and goes through the schedule. She then introduced the first speaker of the day, Amy Hertsenberg who is alum of Ohio Northern. Amy gave a great presentation over AI-powered Digital Mastery: Transforming Social Media Strategy & So Much More. This presentation in summary demonstrated how AI is changing our way of navigating social spaces. After Amy finished her presentation and we had a break, we then began our breakout sessions. The first breakout session I chose to attend was Sally Stearns from Owen Corning. Sally presented on Connecting, Converting, and Cultivating: The Art of Brand Engagement on Social Platforms. Sally hit on those three key components that are in her title. She started by explaining that connecting to your audience and customers is an important aspect of brand engagement. This aspect is all about creating a bond with your customers that goes beyond just being satisfied by the product or service. She then went onto explaining the importance of converting. Sally explains that this component is all about establishing a brand mission and vision to get your target audience to want to interact with your product or service. The last component Sally hit on was the cultivation aspect. This is what makes your brand unique and is the sum of your brands values, traditions, and beliefs. I loved this presentation and how informative Sally was on brand engagement strategies. 

Another keynote speaker I wanted to highlight was Mallory Grayson who presented on Amplifying ISAW: Influencer Impact on a Budget. Mallory first introduced us to her campaign that she works with at Geben, ISAW, which stands for Infantile Spasm Awareness Week. Mallory informs us that one of the most important components to amplifying your cause is to target audiences. The five target audiences Mallory has worked with within her cause included: parents of children with IS, new or expecting parents, pediatricians and medical professionals, individuals with social impact interests, and individuals unfamiliar with ISAW. She then introduced us to the two-pronged approach which included paid influencers and unpaid influencers. Influencer impact on a Budget, Mallory said includes strategic influencer selection being key, leveraging both paid and unpaid partnership, effective use of influencer marketing tools, and the power of authentic storytelling. The three takeaways Mallory wanted to inform us on when working with an influencer on a campaign were to carefully define your campaign goals and audience, build relationships with influencers who care about your cause, and strike a balance between informative and engaging content. 

After hearing Mallory speak I headed over to one more keynote speaker before the wrap-up session of the event. I really enjoyed the Social Media Workshop and I hope all of you found the information I have given insightful. That wraps up this week's blog on Days with Dani. Look out for next week's blog to see what I'm up to next!