WEEK 2: A Conversation with Guest Speaker Clint Schaff by Titilayo Ogunsina
By UCLA X469.21 Student Titilayo Ogunsina
Our Week Two guest speaker was the very funny and entertaining CLINT SCHAFF @clintschaff, VP of strategy and development at the Los Angeles Times. Clint is an expert at using social media and PR creatively to solve business challenges.
He started by leading us on a journey of how he grew up on a farm in North Dakota, graduated from the University of Minnesota and worked early in his career with a range of companies and organizations – from the White House to David Bowie. He then worked with several PR and digital marketing agencies including M80, Edelman and Golin, where he developed campaigns for all sorts of clients. Since 2008, he has also taught social media and PR related courses at USC.
Clint shared valuable insights with our class about how to develop a social media playbook, which is a tool he often creates for clients. The playbook is a document that lays out the objectives of a company as far as social media is concerned. It states the roles and responsibilities of every employee involved in managing the social media platforms, and it provides guidelines for online community management.
During the discussion, Clint showed the class a sample Social Media Playbook that his prior agency created for a client. The playbook included:
- Business and social media goals
- Brand voice
- Primary audiences
- Platform ideas
- Content themes
- Allocation breakdown
- Content examples
He explained how the playbook helps clients plan ahead and approach the social media effort strategically. The process of developing the playbook also promotes a consistent campaign based on listening and engaging with the community.
Clint wrapped up by discussing the need for organizations to have a clear social media policy so employees know what they can and cannot do online.
