ARROW BUSINESS PROPOSAL
Contact information: Andrea Gils - firmdirector@prssa.se - (941) 567 8193
TABLE OF CONTENTS Executive Summary .............................................................................................................................................. 3 Situation Analysis .................................................................................................................................................. 4
Background ............................................................................................................................................... 4 Market Analysis ....................................................................................................................................... 4
Consumer Analysis ................................................................................................................................. 4
SWOT Analysis ......................................................................................................................................................... 5 Recommendations................................................................................................................................................ 6
Social Media .............................................................................................................................................. 6 Hootsuite ............................................................................................................................................................ 6
Website Traffic ......................................................................................................................................... 8 Scroller ................................................................................................................................................................ 8 Newsletter.......................................................................................................................................................... 9
SEMO Portal Module ................................................................................................................................... 11
Brand Image Improvement .............................................................................................................. 12
Domain Re-direct Issues ........................................................................................................................... 12
Links and Headlines Inconsistencies ................................................................................................... 12 Google Search ................................................................................................................................................ 14
Flyer contest ..................................................................................................................................... 15
Press release .................................................................................................................................................. 15
Schedule ................................................................................................................................................................... 16
Budget ....................................................................................................................................................................... 18
Evaluation ............................................................................................................................................................... 19 Riverfront PR Mission Statement............................................................................................................... 21
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: For the Arrow newspaper we have proposed to launch a campaign to increase students’ awareness of the fact that the Arrow is not only a weekly print publication but also a daily online newspaper. To achieve this goal, we designed a multi pronged campaign encompassing social media monitoring, website traffic increase, and brand image improvement.
We propose the implementation of Hootsuite, a social media-monitoring dashboard which facilitates posting messages on Facebook and Twitter. We will provide an intensive course to a designated person within the Arrow team, who will be taught how to use the platform and extract reports. To tackle the website traffic deficiency, we propose placing a scroller on semo.edu promoting the campaign, add a module showing the Arrow’s latest news on the SEMO portal, and we will send an interactive newsletter where viewers will see a selection of the most relevant week’s news and will be re-directed to southeastarrow.com
To improve the brand image and make it more consistent, we would have Information Technology change the mistakes found on semo.edu when it comes to hyperlinks, links and headline names.
Another issue we identified was that when a user types capahaarrow.com, the redirection to southeastarrow.com is done but the URL on the top does not take effect until another page is clicked. Additionally, we identified that the Google search engine shows results for capahaarrow.com at the very top of the list, when searching for the words “the arrow.
These two problems identified are affecting the brand consistency of the Arrow, but it would be something the host and owners of the domain would have to take care of since Riverfront PR does not have access to change it. To increase the students’ involvement with the Arrow, we would implement a flyer contest where students’ will design and submit the flyer. The winner will have his or her flyer displayed in every academic building on campus. The flyer should promote the new campaign that Riverfront PR is carrying out. Finally, we will write and send a press release to Ann Hayes from the News Bureau department so that she informs teachers and other departments through the university’s media, that the Arrow has changed names and has become a online daily newspaper, as well as a partner of Riverfront PR.
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SITUATION ANALYSIS: Background The Arrow newspaper has been a student-run publication since 1911. It has changed names throughout its history. The previous name, “Capaha Arrow” implied ties with Native Americans and due to the negative connotations that the audience could associate with the name, the publication re-branded to “Arrow.” The logo has been successfully accepted among its publics. The Arrow’s website won Best of Show Award 5th place, in the National College Media Convention which took place Nov. 4. in Chicago. Market Analysis Arrow is the only student-run publication in Cape Girardeau, Mo., and is partnered with the Southeast Missourian, which is at the same time, a competitor of the publication when it comes to breaking news that affect the local community. Advertisers which enable the Arrow’s circulation are small local businesses in the Cape Girardeau area. The Arrow has increased its national awareness since the coverage of two main breaking news stories: Megan Herndon’s scooter accident, and former international student Nafis and the unfolding events that followed the terrorist attack attempt in NYC. Consumer Analysis Arrow’s target audiences are students, faculty and staff from Southeast Missouri State University.
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SWOT ANALYSIS: Strengths:
Weaknesses:
-Only student-run college newspaper in Cape Girardeau
-Poor online traffic
- Arrow obtained 5th place in Best of Show Award by National College Media Convention in Chicago (Nov. 4). - Good print pick-up rate.
- Increasing print readership (compared to past years). -Opportunity for students to gain real-life experience
-It is run by students so topics are pertinent to campus - Breaking news coverage on scooter accidents
-Coverage on attempt of former SEMO student terrorist attack in NYC (drew readers and other media towards Arrow).
Opportunities: -Arrow’s partnership with Rust Communications (Southeast Missourian) provides the Arrow with support that may be needed when requesting other departments within the university to take actions or provide information such as students’ emails.
- Students are using social media more often than ever before.
- Local business owners may see the Arrow’s website as an opportunity to advertise.
- Poor consistency in social media posts (Facebook and Twitter)
-Readers don’t know it became daily online newspaper -Very small amount of people know the name changed from Capaha Arrow to Arrow -There is no brand consistency in semo.edu, portal.semo.edu. (links)
- Current page of the Arrow is not the first link to appear in the semo.edu search engine.
- URL redirect to southeastarrow.com is still promoting capahaarrow.com. - Capahaarrow.com is the first link showing in Google when searching: “arrow”, “the arrow”, and “southeast arrow”.
Threats:
- Information Technology not responding in a timely manner. - Poor online advertising from local businesses. - Newsletters going to spam inbox.
- Competitors publishing breaking news stories pertaining to the Cape Girardeau community before the Arrow.
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RECOMMENDATIONS: Social Media Implement use of Hootsuite, a free social media management platform, to make the person responsible of social media, have an easier job. A downloadable application is available for iPhone and Android, enabling the administrator to monitor and post messages on different streams. We will explain the system and how messages can be pre-programmed to ensure there is a constant online social media presence, every day.
o This is the one of the Twitter streams that can be managed in Hootsuite. The columns can be modified to show different contents allowing the administrator to see direct messages (inbox and outbox), mentions, sent tweets, scheduled tweets, retweets, and the home feed. Page | 6
You can also manage Facebook accounts, YouTube streams, LinkedIn Accounts, Google+, Foursquare, Wordpress, Myspace, and Mixi. Each can be tailored individually.
Hootsuite also has the capability to create reports using quick analytics or custom analytics. Available templates include proposal reports, Google analytics and Facebook insights which can be purchased through a token based system. (To see a template, see page Evaluations, pages 19-20).
Additionally, Hootsuite allows its users to see the different contacts in each stream and identify the influencers within the account. You can see the followers, who they’re following, and their Klout score. A Klout score is a single number that represents the aggregation of multiple pieces of data about your social media activity. In other words, you can identify your biggest influencers in your account.
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Website Traffic Our goal is to increase the annual average of website visits by 10%,. Scroller
To achieve this goal, we would design and place an info graphic on the image scroller located on the upper-mid sector of the semo.edu homepage. The scroller is the first visually appealing item a person sees when he or she enters semo.edu. By having an info graphic on the homepage, we will emphasize the new branding of The Arrow, allowing visitors to click on the scroller, which will redirect the visitor to southeastarrow.com. The info graphic will create a greater visual impact of the new brand upon each semo.edu visitor. We are aiming to feature this scroller twice a semester. At the beginning of the semester and towards the end would be the most effective times because of high usage rates on the SEMO website.
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Newsletter Another tactic to increase the website traffic towards southeastarrow.com is to design a visually appealing newsletter containing the Arrow logo and hyperlinks to stories of the week in each section of the paper. This means there would be 5 sections: Feature (the center spread of the week), news, sports, entertainment and opinion (which includes Facebook polls, photo submissions and Think page).
The feature section will have its headline hyperlinked and a 5 line-deck describing the article, inviting the reader to click to read the story. The news, sports, entertainment, and opinion sections will all include a main story hyperlinked to the website, with a 3-lined deck describing the story, plus two or three headlines also hyperlinked to the website. Each section in the newsletter also says “click HERE to read more [section name], hyperlinked to the corresponding section on the website.
The newsletter would be emailed weekly to students, faculty and staff of Southeast, on Wednesdays at 8 a.m., when the paper comes out and the new stories are already uploaded on the Arrow’s website. We would also like to add a tab on southeastarrow.com to provide a database of past newsletters (most recent on top).
The links in the current HTML email template redirects to semissourian.com and not to southeastarrow.com. We would need the person in charge of tracker support from the Southeast Missourian to change those links to southeastarrow.com. The following is the proposed newsletter template.
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SEMO Portal Module We believe the portal should include a locked module on the first top positions on the left column of the Campus tab. Students access the portal to pay fees, enroll in classes, check schedules and events. If a module with the southeastarrow.com news is located on the first tab students see when they log in [the Campus tab], the website and the stories published will have a greater exposure. The possibility of adding the Arrow’s module currently exists, but the portal user would have to voluntarily add it, supposing they knew how. In order to have a locked module on the top, we need Information Technology to set it up as a fixed module.
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Brand Image Improvement Domain Re-direct Issues When typing capahaarrow.com, it leads us to the homepage of the website, but does not change the domain name at the top. A redirect of the URL should cover up the name capahaarrow.com and show the viewer southeastarrow.com. This will cover both the problem of the brand’s consistency and being identified with the old name “Capaha Arrow”.
Links and Headlines Inconsistencies The links on semo.edu should be changed from [The] Arrow to Southeast Arrow, to be consistent with the online brand: Southeast Arrow. That way, not only will there be a consistent brand shown on Twitter (handle name @southeastArrow) and Facebook page (Southeast Arrow), but also the website’s name (southeastarrow.com) and editor’s emails [person’s name@southeastarrow.com]. There are several instances in which the website semo.edu includes “The Arrow” and “Capaha Arrow” references. For instance, a .pdf file on the Campus Life section regarding Advertising on Campus mentions the Arrow and the name to the website is capahaarrow.com and it redirects to the same one, instead of southeastarrow.com.
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Another section of semo.edu which needs to change is the Student Media section where the hyperlink named Southeast Arrow is broken (no link to the desired page) and the title of the section says “The Arrow”. To be consistent with the online brand, the headline of the section should say “Southeast Arrow.”
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The other section of semo.edu that is inconsistent and needs to change titles is the page of Student Organizations under the Department of Mass Media. The organization is listed as The Arrow instead of Southeast Arrow.
Google Search When a person does a Google search of the words “The arrow�, the first result that appears is a link to the website capahaarrow.com. The first link appearing should be southeastarrow.com instead.
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Flyer contest To increase students’ involvement with the campaign, we will announce a design contest where students will have to design and submit a flyer promoting the newspaper, that will be placed in each academic building. Guidelines will be designed and the flyer contest will be publicized on the SEMO Portal, under the Campus announcements module, on the Campus tab. Students will have two weeks to submit the flyer electronically. The cost of printing the flyer is not included in the budget. Press Release We will write a press release to inform the News Bureau and departments within SEMO, that the official name is no longer Capaha Arrow but “Arrow” for printing purposes and “Southeast Arrow” for online mentions.
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SCHEDULE:
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BUDGET: The budget was created based on a $20 hourly rate, and would encompass the entire spring semester 2013.
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EVALUATION: There are a number of different ways this campaign would be evaluated.
First, we would monitor your social media sites by tracking the number of followers on Twitter and likes on Facebook every month and construct a report of the results.
We would evaluate the success of the newsletter by monitoring the opening rates on a weekly basis, as well as analyze the re-directs to the website, facilitated by the newsletter.
The following is a custom-made template report sample made on Hootsuite (this would be used to analyze the social media data).
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RIVERFRONT PR MISSION STATEMENT: Riverfront PR is a public relations student-run firm at Southeast Missouri State University.
Our ultimate goal is to communicate effectively and foster beneficial relationships between our clients and their publics, with an innovative, transparent and passionate approach.
At Riverfront PR we value dedicated team members who are eager to face challenges with determination and a willingness to learn from clients and coworkers. We are passionate about all clients and see them as an opportunity to learn new skill sets and grow as a company. We make sure honesty and integrity is present in everything we do. We foster competition while respecting each member’s individuality and creativity, maintaining diversity and harmony within our company and clients. Ethics and striving for excellence is not only our value, but our way of thinking.
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