Amplifying Cedar Post Social Media Presence
As soon as I had been selected as the 2017-18 Editor-in-Chief of the Cedar Post, I began brainstorming ways to increase engagement on our social media platforms. I recognized that social media was the next arena Cedar Post would need to cover in order to be most accessible to our readership of tech-savvy teenagers. I established these goals to increase our social media presence.
- Post new content daily on website
- Increase span of coverage to new platforms (Snapchat, Instagram stories, livestreams)
- Post at least twice daily on each social media platform with more than just photos
- Increase social media following
- Live Tweet sports scores
I met with my Social Media Editor during the summer to communicate our visions for the year. We identified these goals regarding our social media following on our primary platforms:
Twitter goal: 650 / beginning of year: 436 / current: 491
Instagram goal: 1000 / beginning of year: 540 / current: 797
We're on track to reach our Instagram goal, but we're lagging a bit on our Twitter following. We have, however, satisfied our goal of live tweeting athletics.
Twitter goal: 650 / beginning of year: 436 / current: 491
Instagram goal: 1000 / beginning of year: 540 / current: 797
We're on track to reach our Instagram goal, but we're lagging a bit on our Twitter following. We have, however, satisfied our goal of live tweeting athletics.
Increasing Engagement with Print Editions
Every month, there are a stack of unread Cedar Posts left in the journalism room. Since my first paper, I've tried different ways to get more papers into the hands of more students. Some of the ways I've tried to increase reader engagement with the monthly paper include:
For our paper quizzes, we contact local businesses to donate gift certificates in exchange for the advertising in association with the contest. For our February Edition quiz, we gave away a $25 gift certificate to a popular restaurant after teasing the contest on Twitter, Instagram and our daily announcement program. Instagram posts about the quiz can be seen to the left. 105 students participated in the February Edition quiz, which can be found below. |
Branding the 2017-18 Cedar Post
I wanted to create a new look for the Cedar Post to reflect our greater changes and growth as a publication. When we set to work on the first day edition, I pitched some logo and banner revamp concepts to Cienna, the Design Editor. I sketched out a new, more minimalist banner for the paper and web with a more mod logo. During 2016-17, the Cedar Post emphasized triangles as a consistent element in the paper and in branding, but they proved to be difficult to design with. In recognition of this, we emphasized circles instead. Cienna designed accordingly, and we created a new personality of the Cedar Post's branding.
Left, 2016-17 web banner, paper banner, and logo. Right, 2017-18 changes.