Laura Vann Stephens

Communication strategist | Perpetual optimist | Sunny day enthusiast

Social Campaigns

I believe social media success is dependent upon strategic planning; consistent analysis of actionable metrics; and smart, stylish, authentic multimedia content that engages target audiences.

Lynn University began using social media in 2007, when our office launched Lynn's first official blog ("My Life in Madrid"), followed by the university's first Facebook page in 2008. Under my direction, the university's social media presence blossomed into a nationally recognized program that is active on multiple platforms.

#lynndebate Social Media Campaign

On Oct. 31, 2011, Lynn University was officially announced as the location for the third and final presidential debate on Oct. 22, 2012. Planning for this international event began instantly. With more eyes on the university than ever before, Lynn’s Office of Marketing and Communication realized the importance of creating, populating, fine-tuning and measuring our social media channels. In addition to ramping up the university’s ongoing use of Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Flickr and Google+, Lynn launched three new platforms: Tumblr, foursquare and Instagram. The new platforms were chosen after a thorough analysis of popularity, audience and overall functionality.  

Student Storytellers  

In March 2013, my team and I launched Lynn.edu/social featuring five "student storytellers," an idea that we tested during the #lynndebate and established in a fulltime capacity five months later. The student storyteller model empowers real students to use their personal social platforms to discuss what life as a Lynn student is really like. Completely uncensored, Lynn's student storytellers produce the university's the most authentic form of social content.

Hashtags  

In addition to launching student storytellers, my team and I developed and promoted a family of official university hashtags including: #lynndebate, #lynn50, #lynngrad, #lynnsocial and #lynnvisit, among others. 

Interactive Campaigns  

To keep our content exciting and fresh, Lynn's social media team launched multiple interactive multimedia campaigns intended specifically to help increase social engagement and promote Lynn's core values across various platforms including: "Where in the World are Lynn Students From?", "Get Knighted" and "#lynn50 Trivia." 

In addition, I wrote, revised and edited Lynn's social media policy and guide to video production, among other documents.