How to Make the Most of Your Station’s Facebook and Twitter

PagesNovember 15, 2012

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What do you currently use your station social media pages for?

Answer this question on your right

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Submit questions on the right Tweet with #NPRKnight Archived at http://bit.ly/

nprknight11_15_12 Sign up for Nov. 28 webinar on local

content that triggers engagement

Email feedback to tgorman@npr.org

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Facebook and Twitter pages from a news perspective

Take a step back• Assess your social media pages • Use assessment to think about next steps and goals

What We’ll Talk About Today:

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Why are we talking about this?

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Why are we talking about this?

Sharing Culture

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Why are we talking about this?

Stay Relevant to Community

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Why are we talking about this?

Having a page and just posting stories isn’t enough.

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Take a Step Back: Assess Your Pages

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What to look at:

1. The Basics2. Frequency3. Content4. Voice5. Engagement

What to look at when assessing a page

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Go deeper: questions to ask after assessment

6. What are our goals and are we measuring successes and failures?

7. Who is responsible for each platform?8. What purpose does each social page serve?9. Do we promote our social networks?10. Are we able to easily adjust to social network changes?

What to look at when assessing a page

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Is the page filled out?

1. The Basics

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Is the page filled out?

1. The Basics

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Is the page filled out?

Checklist:

Username About section Profile photo Timeline photo

1. The Basics

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1. The Basics

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Don’t auto-connect Facebook and Twitter pages1. The Basics

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Each social media page is different1. The Basics

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1. The Basics

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Frequency and timing matter

2. Frequency

Via blog.hubspot.com

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Times to try: When people are on their computers or phonesFacebook: Off-hours Weekends The lunch-time crowd: 12-3 p.m. ET Responsive to newsTwitter: Quick response to news: use your archives Schedule tweets for off hours and weekends

2. Frequency

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How often to post:Facebook: Try out 2-5 posts per day – pick a pace Don’t flood the feed Be consistent and reliable Experiment!

Twitter: Can post more often: more real time than Facebook Be consistent and reliable Experiment!

2. Frequency

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Look overall at a period of time. Try a week.3. Content

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Choose a format that fits – and use a variety of them.

The 3 Popular Facebook Formats:

Links Photos Status Updates

3. Content

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Links:

3. Content

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Links: A good image An interesting

headline An interesting intro in

the status field

3. Content

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Photo:

3. Content

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Photo:

3. Content

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Photo: Photo posts often perform

better than link posts They pop on the news feed

Share breaking news photos Photos from the field Photos with a link to a story Infographics Screen shots

3. Content

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Status Updates:

3. Content

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Status Updates:

Conversation starters Breaking news Find sources

3. Content

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Other ideas:

Video Audio Events Live chats Experiment

3. Content

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Choose a format that fits – and use a variety of them.

Types of Twitter posts:

Links Status updates (no links) Photos, video, audio

3. Content

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Links:

3. Content

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Links:

3. Content

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Status updates (no link):

3. Content

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Status updates (no link):

3. Content

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Photo, video or audio:

3. Content

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Other ideas:

Twitter chats Tweet-ups Live tweet a show Experiment

3. Content

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4. Voice

Via Flickr user KB35

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4. Voice

Via Flickr user cobdogblog

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4. Voice

Insert Your

Station Here

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4. Voice

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4. Voice

Some examples:

Conversational, reliable and personal, but not snarky: @WDET

Curated feed sharing information on a topic: @OntheMedia

Authoritative news voice with personality: @NewsHour

Mix of news, engagement and promotion: http://www.facebook.com/stlpublicradio

Mix of news, music and communication: http://www.facebook.com/kutradio

Continues the conversation online: http://www.facebook.com/OnPointRadio

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4. Voice

What is your tone and persona?

Who is my audience now?

Who do I want my audience to be?

Who runs the accounts?

Is the tone consistent?

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Create a style guide to keep a consistent tone:

Ideas of what to include:

AP Style-type Tips Photo Guidelines Breaking News/Big News/ Emergency Guide Corrections Policy Ethics Policy. Example:

http://ethics.npr.org/tag/social-media/

4. Voice

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5. Engagement

Is someone answering questions and comments?

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5. Engagement

Are pages asking interesting questions that people want to answer?

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5. Engagement

Sometimes, questions can be confusing or patronizing.

Don’t overuse them.

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5. Engagement

Is engagement meaningful: are answers used in stories?

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Next steps…

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Go deeper: questions to ask after assessment

6. What are our goals and are we measuring successes and failures?

7. Who is responsible for each platform?8. What purpose does each social page serve?9. Do we promote our social networks?10. Are we able to easily adjust to social network changes?

What to look at when assessing a page

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6. Create goals and measure successes and failures

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6. Create goals and measure successes and failures

Set goals for social media.

Measure those goals.

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9. Create goals and measure successes and failures

Go beyond follows and likes:

When I post a story:

How many people like, comment, share? Track instant traffic with Chartbeat Look later at Google Analytics Save links and screenshots

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6. Create goals and measure successes and failures

Make sure goals and measurements are part of the conversation

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What happens during breaking news or emergency situations

Who is checking in on what is working

Who is interpreting the measurement, and adjusting goals

Check in on the tone

7. Who is responsible for each platform?

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8. What purpose does each social page serve?

Make a list of all your pages, what you use them for, and who is responsible for them.

What goals do you have for each page?

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8. What purpose does each social page serve?

Before you start a new page or profile, answer these:

We need to do a Facebook page for ____ because ______.

Who will be in charge of it What will be unique here What will happen when the project is over Can we use our station page and existing resources

instead?

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9. Do we promote our social networks?

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Tell guests/publicists about social media accounts

9. Do we promote our social networks?

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Online:

9. Do we promote our social networks?

Offline:Radio:

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10. Are we able to adjust to social changes?

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10. Are we able to adjust to social changes?

High quality and shareable local content is key.

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Next steps…

• Assess your social media page. • Set up short and long-term social media page goals.• Start measuring.

Don’t forget…

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Next steps…

• Assess your social media pages.• Start following basic best practices. • Set up short and long-term social media page goals.• Start measuring

Don’t forget…

Have some fun!

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Questions?