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COM 310 (Campus) - Social Media

This guide is a companion to Professor Boroshok's COM 310 course to guide students through the social media marketing plan project for their selected nonprofit organization.

Pew Research Center

Pew Research Center

Pew Research Center is a nonpartisan fact tank that informs the public about the issues, attitudes and trends shaping the world. They conduct public opinion polling, demographic research, content analysis and other data-driven social science research. They do not take policy positions.

Look at the tabs across the website banner and click on Research Topics and then select "Full Topics List". There you might select under "Age & Demographics" Generation X, Generation Y, Millennials, Baby Boomers, or under "Internet & Technology" you might choose Social Media, or choose the category "News Habits & Media," or other related topics. You may also use their search box and type in key words. These can be helpful in learning more about your target audience(s).

Social Media Platforms

Research which platforms to recommend to your client: 

Below are some suggested databases and resources to select social media platforms that best match the target audience data for your client. Remember that social media is constantly changing, so you will want to find the most recent information available to justify your selections for your client.

Statista

Use the Social Media button beneath the search box on the interface, or search for individual platforms: Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, etc. to see user information and match to your target audience data. 
Examples:

Look up major social media platforms:

eMarketerPro

In eMarketerPro This link opens in a new window, you may look up an individual social media platform by name and comma US. Example: TikTok, US

  • Limiters in the left margin to narrow/focus your results
  • Select TicTok Users in left margin and you will see a line graph with data tables beneath it showing the current year's data of users and projections for 4 more years. Other categories to select in the left margin include Ad Revenues, By format, Time spent, Age/Gender/Race/Generation of users, etc.

If you use a different keyword in the search, when you get a list of results, use the limiters across the top of the results list, to select from a drop-down menu. Example, under "Content Type" you may want to limit to Report. Then click on one and read the intro or the table of contents for relevant information.

Example: TikTok, US

Screenshot of EMarketer TikTok report

RKMA

Click on the link below and scroll down to the Table of Contents, select appropriate sections, noting page number; scroll down to that page.

Sample source from RKMA

Scroll through the extensive table of contents to utilize the information you need to support your recommendation for particular social media for select populations as target audiences for your client.

Social Media Management Tools

There are a variety of social media management tools to allow your small start-ups and non-profits to manage their social media accounts with minimal resources. These tools offer a variety of plans from free to low-cost to pricey.

Later

Later is a social media scheduling and marketing platform available on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, LinkedIn, and TikTok. Their features focus on visual scheduling, media management, marketing and analytics. Free accounts are available as well as paid accounts that include more services and options. They also offer a 50% discount for non-profit organizations This link opens in a new window for their professional accounts. 

Later This link opens in a new window

Check out these helpful resources for using Later:

Hootsuite

Hootsuite, the social media management platform is used by nonprofits, education and business all over the world. They also publish relevant reports.

Hootsuite This link opens in a new window

Check out these helpful publications from Hootsuite:

Buffer

Buffer consists of a distributed team of 85 people living and working in 15 countries around the world working to build the best products to help customers build their brands and grow their businesses on social media. Buffer grew from humble beginnings to serve more than 73,000 customers. 

Buffer This link opens in a new window

Check out these helpful resources for using Buffer: