Week 3: A Conversation with Guest Speaker Sara Dunaj by YiTzu(Ivy) Hung
By UCLA X469.21 Student YiTzu(Ivy) Hung
YiTzu(Ivy) Hung
Our class had an opportunity to hear from a talented week 3 guest speaker – Sara Dunaj – who delivered an impressive presentation on a range of topics, from using analytics and measuring KPIs to managing difficult conversations with consumers.
Sara’s background includes working in travel industry PR and social media for more than 10 years. Now she’s senior manager of social media and influencer relationships at Princess Cruises.
Sara Dunaj
Sara led us into a world of numbers based on analytics. She began by explaining her three-step measurement approach:
1. Find the objective: it’s essential to make sure you’re measuring the right stuff.
2. Identify your KPIs (key performance indicators): you should figure out what metrics actually correspond to the objective.
3. Develop the target: you should set benchmarks to determine how well your campaign is going.
Sara also gave us an example of KPI mapping based on different objectives we may have for a campaign, which was really helpful. For example, if your objective is to increase word-of-mouth, you can use UGC (user-generated content) volume as a KPI. Especially in the travel industry, consumers usually trust other people way more than they trust the brand, so it’s important to increase UGC. Sara also mentioned the need to focus on bottom-line issues and use analytics to refine your strategy, and remember that context is king!
For the second part of her discussion, Sara introduced several useful tools for analytics — from software she uses at work to free tools available to everyone online. If you have the budget, she recommends Sprinklr which she described as a unified customer experience management platform. On the other hand, if you’re working for a smaller company, you can use a tool like Sprout Social which is comprehensive, user-friendly and a lot less costly. She also referenced several other platforms for social media management such as Tailwind (for Pinterest and Instagram scheduling) and Pixlr (for creative development).
After discussing how to generate video content, Sara taught us how to leverage influence, which is a really fun topic. The value of influencers is that they can develop content from a new perspective and help find the sweet spot between what an audience wants to see and what brands want them to see. Moreover, influencers have an authentic relationship with their fans who really trust them, so they can reach an audience in ways the brand can’t.
Sara mentioned a few tips for working with influencers:
1) Select influencers who actually have a passion for your brand.
2) Always compensate them.
3) Put all aspects of the arrangement (expectations, deliverables, etc.) into a detailed contract.
Sara wrapped up by discussing various KPIs to measure influencer campaigns, including brand lift studies, clicks to the website, social engagements, video views, and social reach.
Last but not least, when it comes to dealing with negative reviews Sara suggests brands respond quickly, avoid argument, limit the public back-and-forth discussion, and be consistent across customer care channels.
To sum up, it was great to have Sara in class sharing her valuable experiences and insights. I definitely learned a lot! Thanks Sara for bringing us amazing knowledge about analytics, influencer marketing, and how to manage challenging conversations.
