Placement report

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Placement report

CENTRE FOR RUSSIAN STUDIES AND THE NETHERLANDS- RUSSIA CENTRE

MAR YÉPEZ – S3347230

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Degree programme: Ba Media Studies Student number: S3347230

Name: María del Mar Yépez

Address: Grevingaheerd 37, Groningen Telephone number: +31639457487

E-mail address: m.d.m.yepez.abad@student.rug.nl Name and location of placement organization:

Centre for Russian Studies, 2^nd floor of the Universiteitsbibliotheek, Groningen.

The Netherlands-Russia Centre, Antonius Deusinglaan 2, Groningen.

Name of external supervisor: Prof. Dr. Hans van Koningsbrugge Name of placement lecturer: Bart Brouwers

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Preface

At first, my vision was to find a placement abroad. Due to my lack of proficiency on the Dutch language and my vast skills in writing in academic English, I wished to find an internship in the United States of America. The reason behind choosing this particular country being that I have visited before in various occasion and found the experience enjoyable. With the advice of the counselor Esther Haag, I prepared and applied to more than ten placements online. Unfortunately, it did not work out seeing as it was not appealing for American companies to hire interns that needed to go through the process of applying for a student visa. After scratching an internship abroad off the list, I prepared and applied to internships in The Netherlands. However, my lack of fluency in Dutch presented a barrier that most companies were not willing to overlook. Finally, with the help of Sipke de Hoop I was able to come across a placement with the Centre for Russian Studies and The Netherlands-Russia Centre. After meeting with the director of both centres, I was able to start my placement under his wing.

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Introduction

The placement I have followed through with Prof. Dr. Hans van Koningsbrugge is as a social media advisor for both organizations under his direction: the Centre for Russian Studies and The Netherlands-Russia Centre. The Centre for Russian Studies is an organization that focuses on the study of Russian society, history, culture and language, and in particular of the Russian-Dutch relations. Differently, the aim of the Netherlands-Russia Centre is to build business, governmental, and cultural relationships between the Netherlands and Russia. The role I carried out for these organizations was that of a social media consultant and advisor. This means that, for the duration of the internship I offered help on small media-related tasks and at the end presented a final report with my full advice. Coming into this experience I hoped to achieve the following learning goals: improving my project management skills, further developing my report writing skills, putting my initiative and responsibility to test in a professional environment, and reflecting on the qualities I find preferable on future work environments.

Description of the placement organizations

As previously mentioned, my placement concerned both of the organizations under Dr. van Koningsbrugge’s direction. Even though they may seem similar, each institution has its own unique traits. Firstly, the Centre for Russian Studies’ goal is centered around the study of Russian culture and all that encompasses for relations between Russia and The Netherlands. Whereas their focus is on the educational and cultural aspect, the Netherlands- Russia Centre deals with the bureaucratic factor due to its goal to facilitate business between Russia and The Netherlands. This, in turn, means that the functions they carry out also differ.

The Centre for Russian Studies organizes lectures, exhibitions, courses, and grant free access to a library database for research. On the contrary, the main functions that the Netherlands-

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Russia Centre executes are mainly business consulting for Dutch and Russian cultural and scientific institutions seeking cross-border cooperation, and advising government organizations. Lastly, the audiences of these organizations vary. In the case of the Centre for Russian Studies, their audience is not limited to only students but also other people with educational and historical interest in Russia. However, the Netherlands-Russia Centre has a more specific audience consisting of Dutch companies interested in working in Russia, and vice versa.

Description of the placement work

For the duration of the placement, my role was that of a media consultant. When I first met with my placement supervisor, I was called in with to help Dr. van Koningsbrugge improve the online media presence of both companies. My experience as a media consultant for The Smooth Brothers, as part of a course for my degree program, gave me the knowledge necessary to be able to develop a set of tasks for me to complete in order to be able to provide a full advice report. After presenting and discussing them with my placement supervisor, the tasks remained as follows:

 Develop an audience persona profile.

 Analyze the state of the current social media platforms.

 Develop a set of recommendations, keeping into account the specific goal of the organizations, the persona profile, and individual research.

 Familiarize oneself with the event taking place in March.

 Research the previous advertisement strategies for other events.

 Carry out individual research into the nature of a marketing strategy.

 Develop an advertisement plan for the event, taking into account the target audience, previous event marketing strategies, and individual research.

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In addition to these, however, smaller tasks arose throughout the three months of this placement. For example, I was approached by the secretary of the Centre for Russian Studies, Marcel Stoeten, to help write up a Tweet¹ for a movie-night they were going to host. Dr. van Koningsbrugge himself requested additional advice about how to advertise an economic union he was in the process of finalizing. For the notes delineating my recommendation on the matter, see appendix A. The weekly meetings with my placement supervisor often consisted of presenting my ideas and progress I had made for the final report. For example, I collected data on the potential of Twitter as a platform ideal for both organizations and the matters they would tweet about. After 2 weeks of recollection using the online tool called Coosto, I presented my results to Dr. van Koningsbrugge and he found my results very interesting. He also directed me towards looking at the Twitter usage of organizations that are on the same field or relate to his’, the notes on that are gathered on appendix B. Moreover, I also produced a final report which, as requested by my placement supervisor, included a general guideline on how to use their online platforms to their best advantage. This report, which also contains the evidence of the Coosto research, is available on appendix C. Finally, I also presented a report with specific media advice when promoting a masterclass taking place in March, this report is presented on appendix D.

Evaluation

When I first found an opening on this placement, my supervising lecturer advised me to start developing my learning goals from the beginning but also to be open to adapt them as my time in the internship went through. My learning outcomes for the duration of this placement were: improving my project management skills, further developing my report writing skills, testing and expanding my initiative and responsibility in a professional environment, and reflecting on the qualities I prefer on future work environments.

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Firstly, the goal of improving my project management skills arose from my assumptions on consultancy-type jobs. Based on my experience on the Social Lab course, working as a social media advisor, I expected this placement to involve more than just one task. Indeed, as mentioned on the previous section, throughout the course of this internship different assignments arose. Short assignments like the Twitter post for the movie night or economic union advice had a period of a week for a deadline. This meant that I had to arrange and organize my own time to be able to complete these assignments in a week’s time.

More importantly, I had to do so while making sure I would keep working on the other two main reports. These two final reports were assigned to me due the final week of the internship. Therefore, it was up to me to decide how and when to work on each report. Since the first report would be a general guide to media use for these two organizations, and the other one would focus on a specific case, I decided to first work on the general guide. I aimed to hand in the first report in the beginning of January, so that I would be able to have more time researching and exploring each online platform’s constraints and capabilities before applying them to a specific situation. At the end, the placement I was able to hand in the reports on time and due to the balanced distribution of work I was able to do so with minimum stress. Granted, I do tend to be an organized person, but handling multiple projects on a professional environment is not quite the same. I had not tested my project management skills in terms of my career, and although I struggled with overwhelming feelings of doubt and worry, I was able to make significant weekly progress and finish all assignments on time.

Similarly, my report writing skills have been developed throughout my student years.

Nevertheless, I had not had any experience in writing a professional report for a company I work for. My only previous professional experience was during the Social Lab course, but in that case the report structure and requirements were set by the university and not the company I was working with. The reason I selected this goal is because I set out to learn what

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would be the specific demands that an employer would ask of a media consultant. I was taken aback when I found that Dr. van Koningsbrugge had unexpectedly broad requirements of writing a general guide that would help improve their social media usage. Still, I structured the papers around my past experience in academic papers and media advice reports, and the response from my supervisor was positive. When I showed my reports to Dr. van Koningsbrugge on our last meeting, he seemed pleasantly surprised and complimented the clean and organized structure of the reports. During this internship period I wished to contribute to the organizations by offering them an opportunity to ease their journey back to a steady online presence. Through these reports I hoped to be able to give these organizations a fresh perspective into the usage of social media, so that they may incorporate them into their marketing strategy. In this way, although this placement did not completely challenge my previous knowledge on report writing, it still allowed me the opportunity to practice researching social media practices and presenting my analysis of the results in the form of a report. Given the positive reaction from my placement supervisor, I would hope to have helped these organizations be able to keep up with their social media presence.

The following learning goal I set for myself during this experience was putting to test my initiative and responsibility in a professional environment. As previously mentioned, I have very little experience in the work force. Throughout the Career Minor, a recurring aspect in my reflections was my growing anxiety on my ability to succeed in my profession.

This makes it so that I constantly doubt myself and my work when I am put in a professional setting. At first it was extremely difficult for me to execute any action without second guessing myself. It was not helpful that the type of supervision I was receiving from my placement was relaxed and indirect. It was after almost three weeks that I realized I could not move healthily forward if I kept doubting my every move. It was then that I decided that I would make do with the instructions that I was given by my placement supervisor. I needed

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to accept that I am new in a working environment and any mistake or misunderstanding is a part of the learning curve. Even though it was hard on my initiative, feeling lost and scared made it so I would not want to carry out any task, I managed to get through that rough patch and take responsibility my work.

Finally, I also hoped that this internship would allow me to have a look into the current work force but also allow me to reflect on my future. This placement has granted me a short view into the labor market, specifically a working environment when one is supervised from afar and most work is done independently. It made me reflect on what I thought was my ideal working environment, and thereby would now seek in my future career.

During my time in the Career Minor, I believed I had strong leadership qualities that favored an isolated and more independent workspace. I used to believe that group work and tight knit workspaces were aspects that would clash with my personal traits. However, my time spent in working in this placement has shown me otherwise. The indirect supervision and long deadlines had a demotivational effect on me. Perhaps a more direct and permanent form of feedback would have made me feel more comfortable with my position in the organization, and in turn made me more motivated. Therefore, I now favor a future in an organization where there are others to rely on but also learn from. I think that my ideal working environment would be one where there is a close relationship with the authority and, in turn, the entire organization.

As a student following a bachelor’s in Media Studies, I was prepared for an internship in media consultancy through the media analyzing and report writing skills developed in courses such as Social Media Analysis and Social Lab. These, I feel, are the courses that had a direct influence and shaped me into a capable social media advisor for organizations such as the Centre for Russian Studies and The Netherlands-Russia Centre. In addition, the Career Minor gave me the tools necessary to ease my entrance into my professional work life. It

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taught me the technicalities, like writing a CV and how to search for openings in companies, but the most important lesson I received was reflection. Thinking on my personal qualities, job types, work environments and relationships, and personal interests was the most helpful. I found that practice acquired in that programme so helpful that I later continuously used it throughout my placement. Although this internship was not what I aimed for in the beginning, I am grateful for the experience I gained. It is important to also take into account that the international business and legislation context of these organizations is remarkably different than the type of industry I would like to work in. This means that the skills developed in this instance might not be exactly fitting for job openings in the entertainment industry. Still, any experience is a gain in one way or another. In this case, even though the first-hand experience on an indirect leadership and decentralized work environment was not the most gratifying, it still allowed me to narrow down what I would like to continue pursuing in the future.

Appendices

Appendix A

Advice for advertising economic union:

o Consult and request the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy to advertise and proceed with the union as it would any other union. Ex: Website in their News or Documents section -

https://www.government.nl/ministries/ministry-of-economic-affairs-and- climate-policy

o Contact embassies/related organizations to the union for advertising in their platforms and mailing list. Ex: Romanian embassy in the Economic Bureau tab https://haga.mae.ro/en/node/796

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o Adversative in own mailing list and website in News section to interested parties

Appendix B

Analyzing related businesses’ Twitter accounts:

 Chamber of commerce (https://twitter.com/KvK_NL)

o Posts their own tweets, rarely a retweet – if you are working together you may request them to post it.

o 50,6k followers but very little reaction rate to tweets.

o Hashtags used only ‘#KVKNieuws’, always include an external link and a picture.

 Russian embassy (https://twitter.com/rusembassynl)

o Posts their own tweets in English, but also retweets from other Russian officials accounts (MFA Russia, President of Russia) in Russian or English language.

o 3k followers but a relatively high engagement (likes and retweets).

o Hashtags last names of politicians, and countries involved.

o May be too focused on politics rather than business.

 Russian Trade Representation (https://twitter.com/rustradeNL) o Only posts their own tweets, no retweets.

o 1,6k followers and very little engagement.

o Tweets in Dutch, English, and Russian, with no hashtags or much text, and always including links.

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Appendix C

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Introduction

This report includes social media advise for the organizations under the direction of Prof. Dr. Hans van Koningsbrugge: the Netherlands-Russia Centre and the Centre for Russian Studies. Although both under the same supervision, the organizations have distinct identities.

On one hand, the Netherlands-Russia Centre’s main focus is on supporting businesses between The Netherlands and Russia, thereby reinforcing governmental and cultural relationships between both countries. Thus, its target audience is that of Dutch companies and start-ups interested in expanding their business to Russia, and vice-versa. On the other hand, the Centre for Russian Studies is oriented towards education on Russia, including the Russian language, history, culture and society. Thereby, this organization aims towards a more broad audience encompassing citizens of Groningen that have an educational interest in Russia.

This report will present the methodology that was carried out in order to arrive to the recommendations.

Detailed description of the problem

In the first meeting with Prof. Dr. Hans van Koningsbrugge, he explained that the social media accounts of both organizations were not actively used. The reason behind this is that there used to be a person in charge of the media and communications area of the organizations, but after they this aspect was left relatively unattended. At the beginning of the internship period, November of 2019, the Center for Russian Studies accounted for a website and a Twitter profile as their online presence. On Twitter, they had 236 followers but had published no tweets in 2019. Regarding to the social media presence of the Netherlands- Russia Centre at this same period of time, they had an account on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn, as well as their own website. Their presence on Facebook was the most active, with 21 written posts in 2019 and a following of 554 users. On Twitter, they had 153 followers but

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had published only 2 tweets on said year. Finally, on LinkedIn the Netherlands-Russia Centre had a closed group with 234 members and they had only posted once said year. The main platforms of communication with the public that are maintained and used regularly are the website and the mailing list of each of the organizations.

Due to this, Prof. Dr. Hans van Koningsbrugge wished for the advice to focus on how to improve the usage of each platform. The goal of this media advice was not specific, on the contrary, the goal was to create a general plan to follow in order to keep up the use of the social media platforms of each organization.

Advice Guide

Website

A company’s website is their main platform for their online presence. It is where all information about the organization must be gathered and made easily available to the public.

An important aspect to consider, regarding information on a website, is language. The Center for Russian Studies’ website² is available in two languages: Dutch and Russian. It is always advised to have an English translation available, due to the reach of said language. But, since most activities organized by the Center for Russian Studies, be it a movie night or a lecture, are executed in Russian or Dutch such an advice is not imperative. In the case of the Netherlands-Russia Centre, their website³ is available in three language: Dutch, English, and Russian. However, there are subpages of the website that are only available in the Dutch language, and not in English or Russian. Although there are tools that may help breach the language barrier online such as online translators, it is still not the most user-friendly method.

Therefore, it is advised to make full translations of the website, so that all information is readily publicly available.

2 https://russischcentrum.ub.rug.nl

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Another matter regarding the textual content of a website is novelty. It is important to keep the websites’ pages updated because search engines estimate “that the fresher the content, the more relevant the web page will be” (p. 421, Safko, 2012). In other words, changing up the content of a website regularly will not only prevent misunderstandings that may arise from outdated information, but it will also increase the chances of a search engine suggesting that page. In the case of both institutions, maintaining their websites updated could range from refreshing their partners list as soon as there is a new addition or change on the list, as well as posting in their latest news sections. There is yet another way to help improve on a website’s traffic. This is by contacting your company’s business partners and request for them to include a link to your website on their own. Currently, the Netherlands- Russia Centre has a list of partners and clients on the main page of its website but such is not reciprocated. It is a common practice for partners to be linked to one another, so it would not be abnormal to make such an inquiry (Safko, 2012). Hence, the potential reach of your website may increase due to the visitors coming in from business partner’s sites.

Twitter

The structure and capabilities of Twitter shape the user interaction in such a way that users of said platform must abide by concise yet attention-grabbing posts. The main factor for such a practice is the 280-character limit in a Tweet, which would explain its users aiming for a post as short as possible (Perez, 2017). This, however, may raise the concern that Twitter may be a network not completely compatible with the scholarly and serious nature of the organizations we are dealing with. Using a software tool called Coosto, the relevance of Twitter as a platform for the Netherlands-Russia Centre and the Centre for Russian Studies to participate in was measured. By inserting a series of keywords related to the nature and field of both centres, Coosto filtered all public tweets on Twitter that included said terms. In this case, the search was conducted along the terms of: Rusland, Masterclass, Groningen,

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Russische Markt, Bedrijven, Russische Studies, Russische Cultuur, Russia-Netherlands, and Russian export. This activity was tracked for a period of two weeks, between the 25^th of November and 8^th of December 2019. The data gathered suggests that, on average, 3695 tweets are posted on a daily basis about topics that of relevance to the centres with an overall neutral tone in most cases (see Appendix). In other words, this implies that Twitter is a platform adequate for the organizations, where others will be likely to discuss and be interested in tweets from the Netherlands-Russia Centre and the Centre for Russian Studies.

In the case of wanting to promote a specific event, whether it be a serious masterclass or a laid-back movie night, a tweet shall be sent. Depending on the type of occasion the time for posting changes. For example, if the content of the tweet aims to inform the public of the organization’s new accomplishment, the tweet should be published as soon as possible. As previously mentioned, freshness is an important factor in online media presence.

Furthermore, the essential components of a well-structured tweet are date and time of the event, location of the event, a link to further information, and preferably a picture related to the event. To ensure that a tweet is both brief and informational one must consider the key matters about the subject of each tweet: what is happening, when is it happening, where is it happening, and why should we care. In addition, the cost of entrance to the event should be mentioned in the tweet because it is a significant factor relevant in determining the public’s attendance. Ideally, a tweet would contain all immediate information about the news or event.

However, if there is more information relevant for the public, a link can be included to redirect them towards further content.

It is also highly advised, when possible, to tag the accounts of the parties directly involved with the event. For example, if the masterclass is taking place in the University of Groningen (RUG) one should tag their official Twitter account (@Univgroningen). This will not only seem bring the tweet to the attention of the RUG’s Twitter account, but it also

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encourages them to retweet and share the post with their followers. Hashtags are also a recommended addition to the tweet, because they expand the exposure of the tweet beyond only your account’s followers. It is advised to use hashtags to refer to a keyword that other users may find interesting and use it themselves too. For example, the main topic of discussion for a masterclass or the title of the movie playing for a movie night would be an efficient way to make use of hashtags.

Facebook

Unlike Twitter, Facebook is designed in such a way that users are capable of writing longer text posts. This entails that Facebook users are more willing to both write and read posts which contain longer pieces of information. In terms of the account of the Netherlands- Russia Centre, their presence in the platform of Facebook is more active. Their posts contain full paragraphs of information that follow the structure of an article, and their posts are frequent. Nevertheless, there are still recommendations to have a prosperous Facebook page.

A Facebook text post, although able to be lengthy, may still use some of the characteristics recommended for Twitter. Text posts should have a captivating first sentence in order to catch the eye of the reader. For example, a good first sentence should summarize the main point or intention of that specific message. In this way, the reader would be able to understand what the post is going to be about from the very beginning. In addition, including related pictures to a text posts may also attract the attention from those who follow your page.

However, hashtags are not necessary since Facebook’s search option includes any words and is not limited to hashtags.

In addition to just normal posts, there is another factor of Facebook that can be used for the benefit of a business page. The possibility to create ‘events’ is an affordability limited to Facebook. This is of benefit for the public because it allows them to add the event to their Facebook calendars, if they mark as ‘interested’ or ‘going’, which gives them a quick access

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to the page with important information on that specific event. In turn, having a list of people that have marked as ‘interested’ or ‘going’ to the event would give the hosts of the event a preliminary idea of which and how many people to expect, which serves as an efficient potential list of assistance. It also might prove beneficial due to Facebook’s event-specific search, where users can look up keywords to find related events on Facebook and thereby the page that organizes it.

The essential elements of an ‘event’ page on Facebook contain: a short title, the time and date of the event, the location of the event, and a short description of the event. It is recommended to create the event page with at least a month before the day the event takes place. This way, Facebook users have enough time to plan and make time to attend the event.

This also presents an advantage to the organization behind the event to post weekly updates on the event that present added information to those interested and serve as an indirect reminder that the event is taking place soon. For example, if the event is a lecture, short posts could include topics such as: background information on the lecturer, real life news relevant to lecture topic, or even share some facts about a literature to be mentioned in the lecture.

One final note that can be of relevance when it comes to posting on Facebook is the tone.

Creating a Facebook page for a serious business presents an opportunity to show a less strict corporate image, one that may be more friendly and approachable to the public. For example, including exclamation points and phrases like “we hope to see you soon!” “everyone is welcomed!” are simple ways to add a casual tone to a Facebook post, one that would make the public more comfortable (Holloman, 2014).

LinkedIn

LinkedIn is a business platform, designed with around the idea of solidifying and expanding your business network. This, in itself, presents a clear difference with other social media platforms in which organizations may present themselves. Contrary to Twitter’s short

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and snappy tweets and Facebook’s longer yet casual posts, LinkedIn is inherently professional. When analyzing the Netherlands-Russia Centre’s LinkedIn presence, the first matter that stood out was that they have a LinkedIn group instead of a company page. The main difference between a group and a page is that in a group any member is able to post and share. Although both are ways to present a professional portfolio of the organization, the members of a LinkedIn group are able to post and start a discourse for the whole group to participate. On the contrary, in a LinkedIn company page only the administrator of the page is able to post and those who follow it are not allowed to start a conversation. They can only include their opinion in form of a response through a comment or by sharing the post to their own profile. It is for these reasons that in most cases companies opt for a company page in LinkedIn. Nevertheless, a LinkedIn group for an organization such as the Netherlands-Russia Centre might be ideal. In a group, members are more connected and encouraged to interact with one another. Through this, they are indirectly sharing and broadening their network. The concept of working as a network and connecting with those in related business lines up with the ideal behind the Netherlands-Russia Centre. As stated on their LinkedIn page, their aim is to “initiate, stimulate and guide business, government and cultural contacts” and with the format of a group page such aim is best met by allowing free discourse between group members and access to the group member’s networks.

Nonetheless, LinkedIn etiquette is still different than other social media platforms because of its focus on professional networks. For example, LinkedIn groups are not to be used in the same way as a Facebook group because promoting events organized by your organization is not ideal. Instead, a LinkedIn group serves as a posting wall to share achievements, developments and other news that may be of interest for future business partners (Holloman, 2014). In other words, a written post that is published on the Netherlands-Russia Centre’s Facebook page should not be posted in the exact manner on

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their LinkedIn group. Firstly, the contents of the post should not be the same because, whereas a Facebook post may act as an invitation to an event, LinkedIn posts are a way to reach your business network and to inform them about your organization’s achievements. In such a way, the time for posting in LinkedIn is also particular. Due to the focus on a professional portfolio in the platform, LinkedIn posts are to be published after an event has occurred and not before. In addition, if pictures are to be included in a LinkedIn post, they should be taken directly from the event and not just a stock image or of a previous event. This is not to say that pictures have no place in LinkedIn. On the contrary, images can be a good way to visually attract readers as long as they meet the professional boundaries. Furthermore, as one is dealing with a group page, posts should also include ways to start a discussion and invite group members to become active. For example, publish a text post where you invite those in the group to advertise job openings, workshops, events, and even articles of interest for the group. Group administrators are also highly advised to take up that behavior themselves. This is because other group members will likely start more discussions after those responsible for the group page have done it themselves.

Conclusion

It is important to keep in mind that this guide is not meant to be a social media rulebook applicable for any company. Instead, this is a general guide and advice for the social media presence of the Netherlands-Russia Centre and the Centre for Russian Studies. When posting on an online platform, be it Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn, one must first consider the motive for posting. For example, an invitation an event or a post to share an achievement reached by your company. Then, take into consideration which tone and vocabulary would match best with the reaction you wish to achieve from the audience. In the case of it being an official brief about a professional achievement, a formal tone and vocabulary would be the

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case of posting on a LinkedIn group for example, there would be no need for using hashtags or stock pictures. In other words, social media presence is all about considering the audience, it is a balance between the audience of your own company and the etiquette the audience of each platform follows.

Bibliography

Holloman, C. (2014). Social Media MBA Guide to Roi: How to Measure and Improve Your Return on Investment. John Wiley & Sons.

Perez, S. (2017, November 7). Twitter officially expands its character count to 280 starting today. Retrieved January 3, 2020, from https://techcrunch.com/2017/11/07/twitter- officially-expands-its-character-count-to-280-starting-today/.

Safko, L. (2012). The social media bible: tactics, tools, and strategies for business success. Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons.

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Appendix

Only on Nov 25^th, 3729 tweets were published that included the terms:

rusland, masterclass, groningen, russische markt, bedrijven, russische studies, russische cultuur, russia-netherlands, russian export.

In 14 days, 51726 related tweets came up on the Coosto keyword search (https://www.coosto.com/en). This suggests that Twitter is a platform adequate for the organization, where others will be likely to discuss and be interested in related topics.

Raw Data:

November 25^th, 2019 – related messages of Coosto search:

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December 1^st, 2020 – related messages of Coosto search:

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December2^nd, 2020 – related messages of Coosto search:

December3^rd, 2020 – related messages of Coosto search:

December4^th, 2020 – related messages of Coosto search:

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Appendix D

Introduction

There is an event approaching, a masterclass on how to take advantage of business opportunities in Russia. The main topic to be discussed is the opportunities for doing business in Russia and its partners at the Eurasian Economic Union. The four hours of this masterclass involve guest lecturers that will expand on topics such as: business cultural differences between Russia and The Netherlands, price setting in a different market, reaching international customers, etc. This event, which will take place in March of this year, is going to be hosted by the Netherlands-Russia Centre. In preparation for the execution of this event, a media plan should be developed on how to best share this message to the public. As part of my work for the Netherlands-Russia Centre, this paper presents my media strategy advice for the previously mentioned masterclass.

Recommendations

In any post aiming to advertise this masterclass there are essential factors that shall not be omitted. In order to convey a message about this event the following elements are of importance: title of the event, main topic to be discussed, a hook to convince the audience of attending, and time and place in which the event will take place. Although there are elements which should be present in all types of messages, there are aspects that vary depending on the platform the message is going to be posted on. Safko (2012) expresses that “you will need to develop your strategy for interaction. Play with each network to help you understand the culture of that network and how the members interact” (p. 559). In other words, they key to reaching the desired audience is understanding the etiquette and rules followed by the users of each platform.

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Twitter

The way in which Twitter is structured means that the main factor differentiating a post on Twitter from one in any other platform is the length. Due to the 280-character limit to every tweet, every message must remain brief and concise. In the case of this masterclass, a tweet shall be sent out with a month of anticipation. Three to four weeks of anticipation allows the public to have enough time to arrange their schedule around this event. In regard to the content of the tweet, a tweet about this event shall include: the topic of the masterclass, the date and location, a welcome or invitation phrase, and a link for further information. It is also advised to tag Utrecht University (@UniUtrecht) seeing as the event is taking place in their facility, and tagging them will increase the potential reach of the tweet. Also, the tone of a tweet for this masterclass would have to be informational yet casual enough to extend a friendly invitation to the public. Finally, hashtags for a tweet of this kind could include the type of event (masterclass), keywords from the topic of the lecture, the name of the organization behind the event, or even the name of the main lecturer.

Facebook

The first recommendation for advertising on Facebook is creating a Facebook ‘event’

page for this business masterclass. The event page should be created as soon as possible. It is also advised to post on a weekly basis on this page. In this way, the users that mark as ‘going’

or ‘interested’ will receive a notification about a new post on the event and thereby be reminded of it. The text posts to be published on the event page should have a more friendlier tone, and should include phrases to seem approachable to the public. Due to Facebook’s structure, it is also possible to write a longer piece of text. Nevertheless, a text post should not exceed more than two paragraphs of length in order to remain appealing to users. As mentioned on the general guide report, these reminder posts could consist of the following:

background information on the lecturers, real life news relevant to one of the topics

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mentioned on the lecture, or even share some facts about the readings to be mentioned in the lecture. In addition, a picture would help catch attention from the public. In which case, a picture of the lecturers or the literature they will build on would be appropriate for such a post.

LinkedIn

LinkedIn’s focus on a professional profile entails that the main use is that of a recollection of achievements. This means that the structure itself is not ideal for an invitation to an event. That being said, an announcement can be posted on to the Netherlands-Russia Centre’ group page. The recommended time slot to publish this post is between three to four weeks before the event. The tone shall remain professional and, in this case, the length of the post shall not exceed two paragraphs. Regarding the content of the post, the text should remain informative and images are not necessary in this situation. The most important use for LinkedIn comes, however, after the event has taken place. Moreover, it is advised to publicize a summary of how the event went in order to grow the online records of the achievements accomplished by your organization. This recap post should be published as soon as possible after the masterclass, ideally during the first week after it takes place. This post could also include a finalizing phrase that redirects the interested group members towards the main site. For example, “to stay up to date with other events or news from the Netherlands-Russia Centre follow us on Twitter or visit our webpage”. Here, it would also be beneficial to add hyperlinks to those previously mentioned sites.

References

Safko, L. (2012). The social media bible: tactics, tools, and strategies for business success. Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons.

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Placement report