While most technology transfer offices may still be in the throes of validating the merit of expending resources on Twitter, a blog, or LinkedIn, some have already leapt into the fray, convinced these trends are not passing fads. Betsy Merrick, associate director of marketing/public relations in the Office of Technology Commercialization at the University of Texas-Austin, says her organization made the decision to dive in with a full-scale multi-media strategy, hoping to improve client interactions through OTC’s presence on RSS feed, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and LinkedIn.
What pushed her to launch the multimedia initiative? “I read something from Nielsen that said, across the globe in 2008, activity in ‘member communities’ accounted for one in every 11 minutes,” Merrick says. “We needed to get in on it. Our business is part of a global network. We’ve got a global ecosystem. Social media can simultaneously reach more people than traditional offline tools,” she explains. It’s understandable, she adds, that “TTOs and other similar business might have a little hesitancy. There are a number of fears of social media . . . such as a fear of the time commitment. We have a limited staff. Another thing is the fear of the unknown. It’s a new communications channel.” But the social media train has left the station, Merrick stresses, and those fears must be overcome. “It’s time for TTOs to get in on this.” A detailed article on UT-Austin’s social media marketing strategy, including 10 key steps for success, appears in the April issue of Technology Transfer Tactics. To start a subscription and access the article, along with three years of archived case studies and best practices, CLICK HERE.