Social Media WorkshopWith Mark Egan, Infoxchange& Tracey Ezard, Jessup Ezard Consulting

What is Social Media

• Online ‘media’ that allows and promotes discussion and sharing.

• User generated content.

• Commonly: Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Flickr, your own blog or website, LinkedIn, podcasts, Google +

Common Social Networks

Facebook

Twitter

YouTube ( + other video)

Linked In

Flickr

Uses

• Sell / promote your service to new clients.

• Inform current clients / users of updates.

• Advocate your mission to the broader community.

• Network with peers / like-minded partners / volunteers / media.

• Find answers.

• Listen to what others are saying about you.

Benefits• Free* advertising (will take an investment of time and

resources).

• Grassroots discussion / presence.

• Engage with supporters, peers, clients, partners, volunteers, donors at a deeper level.

• 2-way conversation (information gathering, feedback, even complaints).

• Allows supporters to self-organise around your organisation or campaign.

• Unites people around common interests. Fosters niche communities.

Benefits (cont.)

• It is the new norm. Deciding not to participate could potentially alienate your organisation from audiences, supporters, media, donors, volunteers and new staff.

• Talks especially to a younger audience.

• Push-not-pull = messages are pushed to followers, instead of followers having to being pulled to your message.

• Helps with Search Engine Optimisation.

• Helps with brand awareness.

Key considerations

Social Media

Alignment

Does it align to your

organisation's strategic goals?

Planning

Integrating social media into your

communications strategy

Governance

Policies around use, content, risk mngmt, style guides,

etc.

Training

getting staff over that initial learning curve.

Resourcing

How much time are staff able to spend? + other budgetary issues.

Tips• Find people within your organisation and wider networks who

regularly use social media and ask them for help.

• If you want to catch a fish go where the fish are.

• Start with social media tools that your team already know and use.

• Adding easy to use, recognisable share buttons and comments sections on your blog or news page turns your content into ‘social media’.

• Link to your social network accounts clearly in the header, footer or sidebar of your website. People look for these links, and will follow you.

Tips (cont. 1)

• Don’t use social media alone – social media compliments other online and real world platforms. Think of your website as your home base on the internet, while a social media page is like a stall at a fete.

• Using multiple platforms ensures you hit more targets more often to get your message across.

• Launch your social media accounts ‘quietly’, get the hang of them, and populate them with a bread-trail of content before you launch ‘loudly’.

• Be friendly. Be welcoming.

• Always check your content before and after posting.

Tips (cont. 2)

• Don’t use social networks as a soapbox, use a ‘1-for-me, 1-for-you’ style of approach, sharing other people’s content in addition to your own.

• Represent yourself online as you do in the real world.

• Online tools are available to relay messages from one social media platform to another.

• Free applications like Hootsuite or Tweetdeck allow you to monitor and update all your social media accounts in the one place. Hootsuite also provides statistics on clickthroughs.

• Remember that social media is noisy.

8 Step Social Media Strategy

Where to next?

iTaNGO Communities of Practice

http://cop.itango.infoxchange.net.au