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Media Report for North Central STEM Hub from September to November 2016
Aileen E. Rojas, Communication Intern
Iowa State University and Greenlee School student

Table of Contents

Abstract ...... 3
Newsletter Report and the Impact of the Dual Language
Newsletter Report ..... 4
October Newsletter ... 4
Newsletter Strategies and Implementations ..... 5
Social Media Analytics
Twitter Analysis ......... 6
Twitter: What the Hub Does Now ... 7
Twitter: What the Hub Can Do .... 9
Facebook Analysis ... 10
Facebook Strategies and Implementations ..... 10
General Recap
Overview .... 10
References . 13
Appendix ........ 14

Abstract

The data collected compares media relations from before September 2016 to after
September 2016. The North Central STEM Hub hired a communication intern during
this timeframe and thus research provided measures what the intern has done and how
that has affects the STEM Hub. This report will clarify the pros and cons of the hubs
current marketing tactics to conclude what the intern, along with the rest of the team,
can do to further the North Central STEM Hubs image to the public.

Newsletter Report and the Impact of the Dual Language

Newsletter Overall
The North Central STEM Hubs (NC STEM Hub) newsletter usually consist of a
section dedicated to the regional manager, Paul Gibbins, an outline of what a reader
can expect to find in the issue, an events calendar summarizing all upcoming STEM
events, a list of the advisory board members and finally a link for readers to join the
mailing list.
With each issue that is published, the hubs numbers seem to increase in regards
to: the number of emails the newsletter is sent to, number of people that open the
newsletter and number of interactions (clicks). Most interactions come from application
information and sign-ups. There is a very small amount of our audience that clicks on
the Read More links which directs them to an articles full spread. Although the
numbers fluctuate overall, the difference per month of open rates and click rates ranges
from a 3 to 5 percent increase or decrease.
October Newsletter
The October 2016 newsletter differed from the rest because it was the very first
newsletter that contained Spanish translated articles. At the top of the newsletter there
was a description of the new feature (being articles in Spanish) and why this feature
was being presented (to better serve the Hispanic community). Located below each
article, we provided a Leelo en Espaol link where users can be directed to the

Spanish article. Our data, provided by Constant Contact, shows that there was zero
reader engagement towards the Spanish articles.
Newsletter Strategies and Implementations
Per Litmus Software, 53 percent of emails are now being opened on mobile
devices meaning that the content of a newsletter must be short, concise, and
graphically appealing or readers will close out of the email within 5-7 seconds. If a
reader is constantly opening an email and simply exiting out of it, they are more likely to
unsubscribe to the newsletter. Not only does this provided us with empty data but it
ruins our brand and relationship with our audience. Providing a short summery of an
article with a hyperlink to a landing page would not only provide us with full data loyal
readers versus visitors but it will help us gain more readership and interaction (APA,
Image A, p. 14). Another way to gain more interest would be to design a newsletter with
white space, white space is key in email newsletters because it helps visually alleviate
the cluttered feel, and on mobile, makes it much easier for people to click the right link,
(Mineo, 2015).
According to Susan Gunelius, author of 10 Laws of Social Media Marketing,
you do not start a newsletter or any other social media marketing project unless
you have a clear target audience. You need to know who your audience is, what your
audience wants and how you can provide them with that. The NC STEM Hubs
audience is the Hispanic community; they want more information on STEM and the hub
does this through translated articles and STEM information. Although we know who the

audience is, the hub does not know who the audience is. The NC STEM Hub is
targeting the Hispanic community but does not have people in mind. If most newsletter
readers are English speakers, there is no point in sending out translated articles (thus
the zero engagement on the Spanish links). However, if the hub creates a mailing list of
Spanish speakers then we would have our target audience and we would be able to
adequately provide them with the resources they are searching for. Unless the hub can
find their audience, then the Spanish translation of the newsletter is useless. The hub
should simultaneously create translated articles while also promoting this feature by
reaching out to local schools, Spanish speaking entrepreneurs and Spanish speakers
within STEM.
Social Media Analytics

Twitter Analysis
All the data compared in this section will be from August 23, 2016 to November
21, 2016. Throughout this 91-day period, the NC STEM Hub has earned and increasing
29.6K impressions (the number of times users saw the STEM Hubs tweet(s) in their
timelines). Over this time-period, engagement has also increased; replies on articles
have increased by 30 percent and profile visits are up by 3.4 percent. These numbers
reflect the improvement in communication between the hub and its twitter followers;
meaning audience interaction has grown considerably. Statistics show that people
usually engaged with the links posted, however, now they are engaging with our links,

they are retweeting us, they are mentioning us and they are tagging us. Through this
time frame, the hub has gained 78 new twitter followers, 54 of which have been
between mid-September to present day (the time frame that the hubs communication
intern has been working). Another thing to note is that the STEM Hubs top tweets have
the same pattern which consist of photos from scale-ups and/or conferences, general
applications and girl/women STEM related articles and opportunities.
Twitter: What the Hub Does Now
According to Forbes online, for a business to have a successful Twitter they need
to have a loyal audience. How does a business create loyal followers? Here are a few
methods Forbes uses to help increase loyal Twitter followers: follow people back,
maintain consistent tweets, use hashtags, tag other people, engage back with your
audience, promote your twitter everywhere you go and finally do not just post typical
post.
Comparing the Forbes article with the hubs work, the NC STEM Hub has always
followed people back and tagged people/organizations in related post. This not only
allows tweets to circulate around the twitter world, but it creates community within the
STEM world. Paul Gibbons, the regional manager, is constantly posting photos and
updates whenever he is attending a scale-up or conference. This has effectively
generated a positive buzz and has helped personalize the hub with a familiar, friendly
face.

Regarding Forbes other methods, the communication intern who works mostly
in the office has worked on consistency, hashtags and audience engagement. By
creating a media schedule which includes a media calendar with a 4:3 Facebook to
Twitter content ratio, content consistency has been met without overwhelming the
followers. The content consists of both personal and promotion articles relating to the
STEM Hub, Iowa STEM, Iowa State University STEM clubs and other STEM related
events or activities going on in Iowa. The idea of this calendar, as indicated by various
media sources including neshawoolery.com, hootsuite.com and sproutsocial.com, is to
be able to create consistency, cohesiveness, strong branding and more.
The intern has also increased the hubs audience engagement through feedback,
interest and retweets. As stated above, more and more followers are starting to tag the
North Central STEM Hub whenever their organization or school is doing something
STEM related. Note that in the past, the hub has not reciprocated back in regards to
communication. We upload article after article and provide our readers with an
abundance of links but we do not personally interact with our audience. By responding
to comments, asking them to follow up on their content and retweeting or quoting
tweets, we create a relationship with our followers. The more engagement they see
from us, the more engagement we see from them. Finally, with engagement comes
hashtag consistency. Through various tweets, the Hub uses the follow hashtags:
#STEMisFun, #EngineeringIsElementary and #IowaSTEM.

Twitter: What the Hub Can Do

As of right now, all efforts are being executed except: full promotion of page
outside of social media, creating non-STEM related content and creating a branding
trend. Whenever the North Central STEM Hub makes an appearance, whether its as a
STEM conference, a scale-up meeting etc. the representative must take it upon
themselves to promote the media pages. Another thing that was advised in many
articles, include Forbes, was to post non-typical post. Keep in mind an organization
should not divert too much that it distracts branding and overall purpose of the
organization. Nonetheless, being able to relate to an audience on a personal level has
shown to gain followers and audience engagement by over 37 percent (Dybward,
2009).
What exactly does non-typical post mean? It means posting about important
world and local news. It also means posting content related to holidays, birthdays,
quotes etc. Doing this enhances the relationship between the organization and the
audience by personalizing it and creating friendly and trusting relationship (APA, Image
B-D, P.15) Finally creating a personal trend that is distinguishable to our brand would be
beneficial. This idea not only plays on the creative side but its something that our loyal
follower will look forward too and speak about to their friends and followers (APA, Image
E, P.17).

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Facebook Analysis

The North Central STEM Hubs Facebook page has a total of 181 likes and 175
followers. Our followers are mostly engaged on Wednesdays and are more receptive to
our content from 6 to 8 PM. According to our insight and analytics page, our post
consists of one of three things: news articles, video or a hyperlink to a landing page.
From these three types of post, the most viewed and interacted are those that contain
video and links. Looking back as far as October 27th, (which is as far back as the
analytics page allows) our highest three post include the new promo video, Code Iowa
information and finally a link to our newsletter. The lowest ranking post all include
general news articles such as: Fun with a new image data set: Mars Orbiter Missions
mars Colour Camera. Although news articles are our least liked post, the news articles
that directly connect with Iowa State University students and ISU organizations
generally have more feedback then non-Iowa State Related post.
Facebook Strategies and Implementation
Facebook and Twitter have a lot of the same marketing strategies. Many of the
things that can be improved can be read under the Twitter section, however, here are a
few things that identify specifically with Facebook. Per Hubspot, one thing that our page
should have but lacks is a proper and professional cover page. A cover page must be
high quality, engaging and promotional. This takes up the most real estate, on the
page thus making sure this relatable and professional is very important (Mineo, 2015).
As a company, this can either entice people to read our information or it persuades

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them to leave our page. We should also take advantage of Facebooks pin option. This
option allows us to keep important post towards the top of our timeline regardless of
how many times we post. This could be used for promotional content, such as important
applications, events or scale-ups.
Facebook is also supposed to be visually appealing, so creating more graphics
would be very beneficial for this medium. Any graphic, which can be done using Adobe
suite products, can be simple and quick but very effective (APA, Image F, P.16). Finally,
we should consider investing in Facebook ads. According to Wordstream.com,
Facebook ads work incredibly well because they create a short campaign for your
brand and gets you real and loyal followers. By choosing the right demographics such
as age and subject, you get followers that are generally interested in your brand and
what your brand does.
General Recap
Overview
Communications is often overlooked by various business and organizations. As
such, they risk missing out on customer relationships. The North Central STEM Hub has
done a lot with their communications efforts, however, there is a lot of work to be done.
This is not only limited to social media but overall communication. The hub needs to
start connecting with Iowa State professors, Iowa State student organizations and they
need to reach out to EVERY school that is under its region. This would not only fortify
the brand but it would promote social media pages. Since out social media pages are a

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huge recourse for educators and students, it is vital that they follow our mediums. The
NC STEM Hubs media efforts are professional and tactical, which has allowed great
engagement thus far. Although there is a lot of room for improvement, the hubs efforts
would see more reward if they had a bigger audience.

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Reference Page

DeMers, Jayson. 50 Free Ways To Increase Your Twitter Followers. Forbes. Forbes
Magazine, 17 Aug. 2009. Web. 28 Nov. 2016.
Dybward, Barb. Tweet Ideas: 13 Things to do ontwitter Besides Tweet. Mashable.
N.p., 21 Aug. 2009. Web. 28 Nov. 2016.
Gunelius, Susan. 10 Laws of Social Media Marketing. Entrepreneur. N.p., n.d. Web.
21 Nov. 2016.
Jordan, Justine. 53% of Emails Opened On Mobile, Outlook Opens Decrease. Litmus
Software, Inc. N.p., 25 may 2016. Web. 18 Nov. 2016.
Mineo, Ginny. 19 Essential Tips for an Engaging Facebook Business Page. HubSpot
Blog Homepage. N.p., 9 July 2015. Web. 30 Nov. 2016.
Mineo, Ginny. How to Create an Email Newsletter People Actually Read. HubSpot
Blog Homepage. N.p., 21 Apr. 2015. Web. 21 Nov. 2016.
Shewan, Dan. Does Facebook Advertising Work? WordStream. N.p., 15 Nov. 2016.
Web. 30 Nov. 2016.

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Appendix

Image A shows a personal newsletter from Trilix Marketing Group and their
formatting. They have their heading, concise copy and a button that hyperlinks to
a landing page. Each article is surrounded by white space which makes it easy to
read, easy to follow along and more obtainable for readers to get their
information.

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Image B-D shows the media patters of two local marketing and advertising
agencies: Trilix Marketing Group and Happy Medium. The North Central STEM
Hub would customize their post according to their audience, but these are
examples of non-traditional post for a small business. They dont strictly relate to
media, marketing, advertising etc. but they do create a personal feel to the brand.

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Image E shows Happy Mediums Teach Me Tuesday which is done every other
Tuesday. They invite different members of their team to teach the audience
about a specific topic within their realm of work.

Image F comes from Iowa States Universitys Dance Marithon committee. This
graphic is simple, brand oriented, eye-catching and informative.