SOCIAL MEDIA PLAYBOOK - localheart.orgwcm/@cmc/documents/...Media Guidelines and Social Media...

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SOCIAL MEDIA PLAYBOOK Optimizing Online Engagement for

AHA Social Media Community Managers

April 10, 20October 25, 201312 3

Table of Contents

Preface ............................................................................................................................................... 4

Overview ............................................................................................................................................ 5 Definitions ..................................................................................................................................................................................................... 5 Purpose ........................................................................................................................................................................................................... 5 Refinement Process ................................................................................................................................................................................... 5

Social Media Summary ....................................................................................................................... 7 What is Social Media? ............................................................................................................................................................................... 7 Why use Social Media? ............................................................................................................................................................................. 7 Personal Use of Social Media ................................................................................................................................................................. 7

National-‐Affiliate Relationship ........................................................................................................... 8

Social Media Contacts ........................................................................................................................ 9

Social Media Center of Excellence (CoE) ........................................................................................... 11 Alignment ................................................................................................................................................................................................... 11 Communications ...................................................................................................................................................................................... 11 Education/Training ................................................................................................................................................................................ 12 Social Media SharePoint ....................................................................................................................................................................... 12

Establishing and Maintaining Official Social Media Presences ........................................................... 13 Official Social Media Presences ......................................................................................................................................................... 13 Contact Information and Access ....................................................................................................................................................... 13 Ownership of AHA Presences ............................................................................................................................................................ 13 Passwords and Entitlement Reviews ............................................................................................................................................. 13 Account Organization ............................................................................................................................................................................ 13 Strategy ........................................................................................................................................................................................................ 14

Community Manager Guidelines ...................................................................................................... 15 AHA Policies .............................................................................................................................................................................................. 15 Privacy ......................................................................................................................................................................................................... 15 Participation Guidelines ....................................................................................................................................................................... 16 Disclosure ................................................................................................................................................................................................... 16 Guidelines for Community Managers ............................................................................................................................................. 17 Listening ...................................................................................................................................................................................................... 19 Engagement ............................................................................................................................................................................................... 20 Moderation ................................................................................................................................................................................................. 23 Crisis Communications ......................................................................................................................................................................... 25

Checklists, Tools and Resources ........................................................................................................ 27 So You Want a Social Media Presence? .......................................................................................................................................... 27 Creating a Presence Checklist ............................................................................................................................................................ 28 Facebook ..................................................................................................................................................................................................... 30 Twitter ......................................................................................................................................................................................................... 32 YouTube ...................................................................................................................................................................................................... 34 Blog ................................................................................................................................................................................................................ 36 Pinterest ...................................................................................................................................................................................................... 38 Photo-‐Sharing ........................................................................................................................................................................................... 40

Media Production, Promotion and Measurement ............................................................................ 42 Editorial Strategy and Calendar ........................................................................................................................................................ 42 Content Promotion ................................................................................................................................................................................. 42 Submitting Content to be Published ............................................................................................................................................... 42 Blogger Requests ..................................................................................................................................................................................... 42 Measurement ............................................................................................................................................................................................ 43

Frequently Asked Questions ............................................................................................................. 44

Additional Resources ........................................................................................................................ 46

Preface

To meet our 2020 goals of improving the heart health of all Americans by 20 percent and reducing deaths from cardiovascular diseases and stroke by 20 percent, the American Heart Association (AHA) recognizes social media gives us the ability to communicate with a large community in a new way. It is an important tool for outreach and relationship-building with the communities we serve. Thus, we use a variety of social media platforms designed to support a range of media including text, photos, audio, and video.

This Playbook is meant for all AHA social media community managers. The information within this Playbook will familiarize you with our Social Media strategy and structure and guide you in building a thriving social media presence.

We love building online communities using social media tools. We also realize that a social media strategy is a significant commitment of your time both daily and long-term. The AHA will grow its social media presence largely in part due to the important work you do as community managers. With that said, the guidelines that follow are meant for you.

As you look through this Playbook, you will find the following items aimed at supporting AHA social media efforts. These include:

• Overview of AHA’s social media strategy and goals • Definition of “Social Media” • Expectations of National Center and affiliates • Recommended practices to follow (and things to

avoid) as you engage in social media on behalf of AHA

• How to best engage as a social media community manager • How to manage a social media crisis • Guidance on recommended social media tools, technologies and channels • How the Social Media Center of Excellence and SharePoint site can be resources for the latest social

media news, resources and best practices • Frequently asked questions

Again, this guide is a living, breathing document. It is meant to be yours, and we encourage you to contact us with your questions or comments about the Playbook or about social media in general. This Playbook sets forth clear guidelines and best practices that will assist you when engaging in social media activities on behalf of the AHA.

Overview

Definitions

Social Media Playbook refers to the structure and processes, which ensure alignment of social media efforts with AHA’s organizational strategy.

Social Media Guidelines refers to guidelines and recommendations that apply to AHA employees’ official and unofficial (personal) social media activities. The Social Media Guidelines apply to all AHA employees.

Social Media and Community University (SMaC U) refers to the certification process to become a community manager for an official AHA social media property.

Purpose

The purpose of this Playbook is to empower you to best accomplish the mission of the AHA on social media. In light of the highly regulatory environment in which we operate, there are certain responsibilities and limitations that we must keep in mind as we engage with one another and the public at large. This Playbook is intended to capture the leading practices in how we perform our jobs in service of AHA’s mission.

The Playbook and Social Media Guidelines are living documents that will be refined, updated, and enhanced over time. Official versions of the Social Media Guidelines and Social Media Playbook reside in the Reference section of the Social Media SharePoint site.

Refinement Process

Despite the fluid nature of social media, there is still a need for an official set of policies, governance and operational procedures. It is the responsibility of the Social Media team to review and update the official versions of these documents in a frequent and timely manner. At a minimum, the team will convene and consider changes on a quarterly basis, and occasionally, even more frequently.

Discussions on relevant issues will be taking place frequently in Yammer, with the Social Media Center of Excellence (CoE) leveraging Yammer’s microblogging functionality in particular. Residing inside our social media SharePoint will be living versions of the Guidelines and Playbook documents that will be updated from time to time by members of the extended social media community managers who participate in the Social Media CoE. Prior to making updates to the documents, members of the CoE should converse with the broader community both in Yammer’s microblog stream and via email. This, in part, will help avoid excessive confusion in the document relative to changes made. After changes are proposed through conversational threads, and deemed necessary, they should be moved into Social Media on SharePoint where the broader CoE should be invited to participate with their particular focus directed to the sections where change is desired. Outlined below are the necessary steps that must take place before changes can be finalized and a new official document published.

* Two weeks is the maximum time period, but from time to time, this process should be adjusted due to the urgency of the need. If deemed high enough value, the commentary period may be restricted to 24 hours. ** All prior versions should be made available in the archive for discovery purposes relative to date/time modified.

Governance Document Change Process

Environmental change occurs

New tool emerges

Incident occurs

Discuss recommended

course of action (Yammer and email)

Should document be

updated?

Changes to the governance

document drafted by assigned party

Yes

Official comments on proposed

changes and final decision provided

by national

No

Notify members via email and Yammer post of period for

review and comment*

Finalize changes and publish official version to intranet**

Social Media Summary

What is Social Media?

Since the term social media is used a number of different ways, we want to make sure you understand what we mean when we say “Social Media.” Social media is any tool or service that facilitates conversations over the Internet. Social media applies to traditional big names such as Facebook and Twitter, but also applies to other platforms you may use that include user conversations, which you may not think of as social media. Platforms such as YouTube, Flickr, blogs, and wikis are all part of social media.

Social media tools such as Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram make it possible for virtually anyone to create and be part of online communities where people can discuss the AHA and share stories, photos, videos, and other exciting things happening within the organization. While social media creates new opportunities for communication and interaction, it also creates new responsibilities for you and risks for both you and AHA, especially when you are acting on behalf of the AHA. Therefore, all AHA community managers must become familiar with and comply with the guidelines and recommendations set forth in this Playbook.

AHA encourages AHA community managers to use social media the right way, and this Playbook should help you on that path. If you’re interested in social media, whether personally or professionally, you should look into our Social Media and Communities University (SMaC U) classes.

Why use Social Media?

Social media is changing the game at a rapid pace. Nonprofits and health organizations must be active in the community. It is important that we understand what social media can do and how we, as a nonprofit organization, can operate within our communities.

More than 53 percent of online moms say social networks influence their opinions about health2. About 82 percent of moms go online for a second medical opinion3. On average, 60 percent of e-patients, or one-third of adults, access social media information related to health4.

As digital leader Erik Qualman wrote, “We don’t have a choice on whether we do social media, the question is how well we do it.”

Personal Use of Social Media

Many employees, volunteers, donors, partners and other constituents of the AHA are already involved in social media. The Social Media Guidelines set forth important guidelines for AHA employees using social media for personal or unofficial activities. Your use of social media, whether on your personal account(s) or when acting on behalf of the AHA as a community manager, must not violate any existing AHA policies.

2 Enspektos report, Digging Beneath the Surface: Understanding the Digital Health Mom, May 2012 3 Enspektos report, Digging Beneath the Surface: Understanding the Digital Health Mom, May 2012 4 The Social Life of Health Information, Pew Internet Project, July 2009

National-Affiliate Relationship

Collaboration and coordination among all of AHA’s social media community managers are critical components of successfully executing our social media strategy as well as delivering AHA’s mission to our communities. Thus, all community managers must have an understanding of the expectations and responsibilities that apply to your conduct when acting on behalf of the AHA online. This section is intended to outline some of these expectations and responsibilities in the areas of messaging and reporting.

Expectations of National Center Expectations of Affiliates

Strategy Define vision and direction of the overarching AHA social media strategy

Guide major strategic decisions (e.g. funding requests on engagement technology)

Develop and manage local strategies that align with overall AHA social media strategy

Provide input and feedback on strategic decisions (i.e. funding requests)

Messaging Focus on high level programs and national campaigns

Share general news and information (i.e. heart health, fitness, etc.)

Focus on local news, announcements and publicity

Promote and share local stories

Amplification Share local stories, content, and events to promote local presence

Drive buzz to national campaigns and activities to enhance overall awareness

Resources Provide quickly deployable resources (i.e. templates)

Provide suggested content (i.e. Facebook posts, tweets, etc.)

Share local templates/reusable resources

Share best practices and success stories with National Center and Social Media CoE

Reporting Share overall engagement statistics with community managers via the Social Media CoE

Report monthly engagement statistics to National Center via sharing in the Social Media CoE

Moderation Focus on building and maintaining the larger AHA community

Monitor activities across National properties to identify potential issues

Alert all community managers when issues are identified to ensure awareness

Focus on developing and making local communities thrive

Monitor community activities across local properties to identify potential issues

Notify National Center and fellow community managers when issues are identified

Training Coordinate National training initiatives and events

Collaborate with affiliates to develop and deploy additional training programs

Support National training initiatives Collaborate with National Center to

develop and deploy additional training programs

Social Media Contacts

From time-to-time, you may need additional support or information; for example, you may want to ask a question, alert someone of crisis, etc. Use the following contacts as your resources. If you are unsure of who to contact, please email [email protected].

Subject Matter Name/Title Email Phone

Executive Sponsor Manages engagement teams

Gerald Johnson Chief Diversity Officer & SVP, Strategic Planning/Innovation

[email protected] (972) 706-1269 work

Manages content database and website

Oversees media, content and communications teams

Matthew Bannister EVP Communications


Supports community managers and other programs across AHA, in terms of creating and executing strategies and campaigns

Engagement strategy Crisis point-of-contact Oversight and management of

national AHA social media properties

Oversees listening and SMaC U

Krisleigh Hoermann Social Media Strategist

[email protected] (972) 706-1486 work (469) 223-5265 cell (emergency only)

Oversees sensitive issues and crisis plans

Amit Chitre Director of Strategic Communications


Serves as primary contact for the National Service Center

Handles customer resolution in social media

Linda Dickey Director of Customer Relationships


Supports community managers and engagement strategies for ASA initiatives

Oversight and management of National ASA social media properties

Alexson Calahan Social Media Manager


Oversight and management of National Go Red For Women social media properties

Katie Brooks Communications Manager


Oversight and management of National advocacy social media properties

Katie Taylor Grassroots Advocacy Manager


Oversight and management of CPR & First Aid social media properties

Brad Miller Marketing Manager


Supports community managers and engagement strategies for Founders affiliate

Cathy Wilkins VP of Communications


Supports community managers and engagement strategies for Great Rivers affiliate

Brianne Harman Director of Communications


Supports community managers and engagement strategies for Greater Southeast affiliate

Matt Hooper Communications Director


Supports community managers and engagement strategies for Mid-Atlantic affiliate

Shannon Wright Director of Digital Communications and Social Media


Supports community managers and engagement strategies for Midwest affiliate

Lindsay Scheidell Communications Director


Supports community managers and engagement strategies for Southwest affiliate

Whitney Presley Senior Director of Digital Communications and New Media


Supports community managers and engagement strategies for Western States affiliate

Rebecca Fancher Director of Communications and Digital Strategies


Social Media Center of Excellence (CoE)

The Social Media Center of Excellence (CoE) is a community comprised of AHA social media community managers, relevant stakeholders involved with social media operations and anyone interested in learning more about social media. The CoE serves as the central authority for consistent messaging and management across AHA social media properties. The CoE has two overarching purposes: (1) ensuring alignment of social media activities with the overall AHA mission and (2) measuring and evaluating progress of these activities through the use of select KPIs to determine opportunities and areas for improvement.

Alignment

In order for AHA to most effectively tap into the collective intelligence of its most valuable asset, its people, it will be important that functions across the organization are represented in the CoE. Cross-functional participation will not only allow for greater sharing of insights and experiences, but also ensure that all relevant stakeholders are aware of AHA social media efforts.

The CoE should include, but is not limited to, the following functions:

Communications

The CoE serves as the central location for conversations between social media community managers in order to facilitate the flow of information that will help us improve upon our ability to accomplish AHA’s mission.

Social Media CoE

Communica0ons

Cause Marke0ng

Science

Legal

Human Resources Advocacy

Development

Outreach & Community Rela0ons

TCS & Web

Education/Training

The CoE is also used to help us shape and develop training programs to equip all members of the AHA with skills and knowledge needed to effectively use Social Media. We will continuously update these training programs in order to stay current with the latest tools, topics, and trends

Below some of the certification courses that reinforce AHA’s Social Media Guidelines and broadly support AHA’s overall social media strategy.

Social Media and Community University (SMaC U) social media certification includes mandatory classes and one platform of choice. We recommend and encourage you to use the Personal Development and Peer-to-Peer Learning platforms to further enhance your social media skills.

Social Media SharePoint

The Social Media SharePoint will serve as the central location for AHA’s social media resources, including governance documents, templates, best practices, crisis communications and success stories. It also serves as the hub for SMaC U.

Mandatory!

SMaC Principles

Get Started SMaCing

Building Brand on SMaC

Platform of Choice!

Facebook

TwiIer

LinkedIn

Google+

Photo-‐Sharing

Personal Development!

Listening on Radian6

Serving our Communi0es

Yammer

Blogging

Peer-‐to-‐Peer Learning

Yam Jams

Lunch and Learns

Media/Blogger Rela0ons

Establishing and Maintaining Official Social Media Presences

The following section contains the guidelines and governance framework for creating official social media accounts on behalf of the AHA in social media environments.

Official AHA Social Media Presences

Official AHA social media presences must be requested and approved by National Center Executive Sponsor and Social Media Strategist in order to ensure the following:

o Awareness of social media activities/properties (listed on Heart.org site and CoE) o Amplification of AHA broader organizational activities on social media o Consistency in look and feel across AHA’s social media properties o Certification for AHA employees directly engaging with others on social media

A request for an official AHA social media account must specify: o Type of account o Purpose o Intended audience o Platform o Strategy o Names and email addresses of individuals who will have account administrative rights. Must

list at least two administrators. (Please be sure to update this information regularly in order to ensure smooth coordination)

o Vice President who will oversee the presence

Contact Information and Access

At least two people must have access to each official AHA social media presence. In addition, please send access credentials to National Social Media Strategist, Krisleigh Hoermann. If there is an organization-wide crisis, National Center may need access to all official social media accounts immediately. This, or if you request administrative support from national, will be the only time the team will access the admin section of your property. All AHA community manangers should carefully review the section on Ownership of Official Social Media Presences in the Community Manager Guidelines below. Please note: Volunteers may contribute to an AHA presence as a volunteer, but cannot create and directly manage an AHA social media presence.

Account Organization

In an effort to ensure consistency and discovery across the AHA social media ecosystem, accounts should be organized using the following structure:

Most people will only follow 1-to-2 social media presences for a given brand. It’s better to offer our communities more robust communities than highly siloed ones. Please refer to “So You Want A Social Media Presence?” questionnaire in the Playbook.

Create events around pages, rather than pages around events, as this will help drive greater awareness and engagement through ongoing interaction.

The Digital Engagement Center will be the central point for AHA community managers to get capabilities and support relative to reporting and metrics. A new directory of all AHA social media presences is being developed and will be published on the main Heart.org site to make it easy for people to connect with AHA across social media channels.

Please note before creating an official account intended to represent AHA, you must obtain prior approval from National Center Social Media Strategist and Executive Sponsor. This is to ensure our ability to effectively orchestrate and cross-promote our collective social media efforts.

Start with Strategy

Once you’ve been approved, have established a purpose for your social media presence and have gotten SMaC-certified, it’s time to work on a content and engagement strategy. The purpose of a social media strategy is to build a community of advocates and share life-saving information with those advocates and their connections. A detailed social media content and engagement strategy will help you think through how you will build your community and keep your community coming back for more.

Develop a strategy that mixes messages with items your community finds interesting. Language should be conversational, fun and engaging. While social media should be in compliance with the organizational strategy, AHA community managers are ultimately responsible for their platforms and the content published on them.

In your strategy, be sure to include the personality for your social media presence. If you can answer the following questions, you’ll be off to a great start:

• Is your presence local, national or international? • What is your presence’s focus? Is it a gardener? Does it love to cook? Is it advocate? • What is your presence’s tone/voice? What generation does it speak to? Are emoticons or acronyms

(LOL) permitted? • What influences your presence? Friends? Family? Media? Industry? • What is your presence’s personal goals? • Why does your presence interact with others? What does your presence want from interacting? • Where does your presence find information? Please only curate from reputable sources. • What type of information does your presence want?

Na0onal • American Heart Associa0on • American Stroke Associa0on

Causes • Go Red For Women • Power To End Stroke • Advocacy • CPR

Affiliates • Local accounts such as American Heart Associa0on -‐ Dallas or @AHA_Dallas • Consist of major metropolitan areas and major suburbs (groups of smaller ci0es)

Community Manager Guidelines

The following section contains guidelines for all AHA community managers who are officially engaging on behalf of the AHA across social media channels. The information that follows is meant to serve as a guide for AHA’s social media efforts and will be updated as we expand our experiences and collective intelligence over time.

AHA Policies

In addition to this Playbook, the Social Media Guidelines also govern your conduct as an official AHA community manager as well as your personal use of social media.

Furthermore, many existing AHA policies extend to social media and should be carefully considered when speaking on behalf of the organization. Remember that in addition to those listed below, you are expected to comply with all other AHA rules and policies outlined in the AHA Employee Policy Manual.

For example, AHA employees are prohibited from using social media to:

• Violate AHA’s Acceptable Use Policy, Privacy Policy or Security Policy. • Violate AHA’s confidentiality and proprietary rights policies. Here are some examples of confidential and

proprietary information: trade secrets, embargoed information, personal and financial information of donors, vendors and suppliers and customers, health information, and information required to be kept confidential by contract.

• Infringe on AHA or third party trademarks, brands and copyrighted materials or use a social media site or its content in violation of its terms of use.

• Circumvent AHA’s Code of Conduct, Ethics and Conflict of Interest policies. • Engage in unlawful harassment of employees, volunteers, suppliers or vendors, donors, or customers.

Defame the AHA or its affiliates, employees, volunteers, suppliers or vendors, donors, customers. • Circumvent policies prohibiting unlawful discrimination against current employees or applicants for

employment. • Violate any other laws or ethical standards.

If you violate these policies when engaging in social media, you could face serious consequences, up to and including termination of employment. Nobody wants that to happen though, so please read over all AHA policies and make sure you understand them.

No Expectation of Privacy

Remember that, as an AHA employee, you have agreed to AHA’s Acceptable Use Policy. This means that your use of communication resources and accounts with access to the AHA’s systems and data will be monitored and tracked by AHA management at any time without any notice. It also means that all materials, whether personal or business related, created, sent, received, accessed, transmitted or stored over AHA’s systems are owned, and may be retrieved, by AHA. AHA also reserves the right to retrieve or delete any data on AHA or personally owned devices that sync with AHA systems.

AHA will use, as it deems appropriate, software or other methods, that make it possible to identify and block access to Internet sites or other sources of materials deemed inappropriate or unnecessary in the workplace or that may compromise the security of the AHA’s communications systems and networks. Ownership of Official Social Media Presences If you participate in social media activities as part of your job at AHA, that account may be considered AHA property. If that account is AHA property, you don’t get to take it with you if you leave the company – meaning you will not try to change the password or the account name or create a similar sounding account or have any ownership of the contacts and connections you have gained through the account. This doesn’t apply to personal accounts that you may access at work, but would certainly apply to all AHA-branded accounts created as part of your job. If you have any questions about an account you operate, please reach out to the SMaC team to discuss the account. Passwords and Entitlement Reviews

In January, April, July and October (once per quarter), all passwords for social media accounts should be changed and administrators must be reviewed to ensure access is up-to-date and accurate. Once changed, please send a completion email to [email protected] for the archive. For entitlement reviews (like Facebook – where there is no password, just access to the page via another account), please include a screenshot of before and after the review takes place.

Participation Guidelines

Each social media presence must include participation guidelines that explain what is expected of the presence and its community. The participation guidelines should include a general disclaimer, medical disclaimer, privacy and security disclaimer and moderated presence disclaimer, like the approved version here: Participation Guidelines.

Disclosure If you talk about AHA on social media – for example, if you promote any AHA news, programs or events – make sure to disclose that you work for AHA and be clear about your role. Please include your workplace in your profile or bio as well as in the post itself.

Don’t speak on behalf of AHA if you’re not giving an official AHA response, and make sure your audience knows the difference. It’s best to use a disclaimer like the following: “The postings on this site are my own and don’t necessarily represent AHA positions, strategies or opinions.”

Here are some examples of acceptable disclosures and disclaimers that you can use on social media:

Additional Guidelines for AHA Community Managers The following are guidelines to consider as you engage in social media on behalf of the AHA. Remember to follow AHA’s Social Media Guidelines too, as they apply to both your official use of social media as well as your personal use. Training: All employees who wish to officially represent AHA online must complete social media training prior to beginning or continuing these activities. Add Value: Focus on enhancing the strength of your community by sharing insightful thoughts, solving problems and contributing to the conversation in a way that brings value to our constituents, volunteers, and all members of the AHA community. Protect Information: When sharing content on social media channels, make sure not to disclose non-public or proprietary information relating to AHA or its partners. Be sure to always follow copyright and trademark laws and not to post or share without the appropriate consent. Do not claim authorship of something that is not yours. If you are using another party’s content, make certain that they are credited for it in your post and that they approve of you utilizing their content. Pick the Right Tool: Familiarize yourself with the many social media platforms that exist. The purpose and audience varies for each platform, so spend time determining which the best is for you based on your goals and key audiences. Respect Your Audience: Always be mindful of how you present yourself when acting on behalf of AHA on social media. Respect other’s opinions and politely disagree when appropriate. Always remember to reflect AHA Core Values when engaging on behalf of the organization. How you conduct yourself in the online social media space not only reflects on you – it is a direct reflection on the AHA.

Own Up to Your Mistakes: If you make a mistake, be open and admit it. Be the first person to fix it and be upfront about any changes or updates you make. It may be appropriate in some circumstances to modify an earlier post – just make it clear that you have done so. Be Transparent: When engaging on behalf of the organization, be sure to disclose your identity and affiliation to AHA. State your relationship with AHA from the outset. This disclosure is equally important for any third party, such as a blogger, who is representing AHA online. Refer to AHA Policies: If you have any hesitation about publishing something online, refer to existing policies or ask for clarification in the Social Media Center of Excellence. Familiarize yourself with existing AHA policies as many extend to social media use. Ignite Conversation: Post content that is engaging and encourages participation. Consider using questions and comments that are open-ended and invite feedback. Share stories, highlights, and goals – and invite others to do the same. Focus on talking with your audience, not at them. Adopt an Approachable Tone: Maintaining a friendly and approachable tone will help strengthen the AHA brand image. Be open and invite conversation. Remember, as an official community manager, you have the ability to impact how the community views AHA. Tend the Community Garden: Communities need to be nurtured in order to grow and develop – don’t just post, spend time listening to your fans and followers. It is your responsibility to monitor your community for inappropriate content or activities. If you come across any content that is detrimental to your community or violates AHA policies, take action as necessary and/or report your concern accordingly. Enter a Disclaimer: Be clear when expressing personal views or opinions – please use the following disclaimer: "The postings on this site are my own and don't necessarily represent AHA's positions, strategies or opinions." Remember that you are solely responsible for the content you share online. When in Doubt, Do Not Post: Employees are personally responsible for their words and actions, wherever they are. As online spokespeople, you must ensure that your posts are completely accurate and not misleading, and that they do not release non-public information of AHA. Exercise sound judgment and common sense, and if there is any doubt, DO NOT POST IT.

Listening

Defining Listening

Social media is powerful in its numbers, influential in its reach and has given us the opportunity to move the AHA forward as a thought leader, not to mention help us meet our aggressive 2020 goals. The AHA, our causes and our programs receive hundreds of thousands of mentions in social media each week. Sometimes, the mentions are good. Other times, they aren’t quite as flattering. It is our job to know what they are saying and know when and how it’s appropriate to engage.

Listen Before You Leap

Social media is a lot of fun, and when done right, it can be extremely rewarding. But before we jump in, we must listen before we begin to understand our community. They may or may not be the same community we see at AHA events, on boards and in person. It’s vitally important that we take a step back to hear from our online constituents before stepping into social media to engage them. Without listening first, we run the risk of making wrong assumptions and losing credibility with our community. Only after listening may we earn their trust.

National Center does most of the listening and reputation management for you. We read and respond to thousands of mentions of the AHA on various social media platforms. Each week, we provide a social media listening report that reports on what our constituents are talking about, as well as relevant industry information and organizational social media messaging. If you would like to sign up to receive the weekly SoMe Update, please do the following:

• Send a blank email to [email protected] • Subject: Please add me to the SoMe Update

If you would like to submit messaging or a case study for the update, please email [email protected] for details. In the subject, include: “Content for Consideration. The SoMe Update.”

Using simple searches in free programs, like Hootsuite or Social Mention, you can easily see what constituents are currently saying about the AHA. This is a great option if you’re looking for niche information not covered by the weekly reports.

Engagement

Defining Engagement

Engagement is much more than commenting on a fan’s Facebook post or saying you are constiuent-centric. It is both an art and a science, logical and emotional, business and personal. It is first and foremost connecting with people in your market or niche in a sincere way that demonstrates a strong belief in being genuinely concerned for the well-being of the customer AND the overall health of the market. It is about creating and strengthening relationships between people who represent your organization and those outside of it that are aligned with you around your mission.

Engagement is what happens between two or more people when they are both investing their attention (time) and genuine interest towards mutually beneficial interactions. The most powerful of these outcomes is where shared value is created not just for the participants in the engagement but also for many others.

Social media is where engagement takes place. Social, where people interact; and Media, how people communicate, learn, entertain, inform and so much more. It’s really about the socializing of media, a verb, instead of the noun of a tweet, a post, or a video.

Engagement done right creates a tremendous flow of value in terms of capital (donations), labor (volunteers), information (word of mouth) and attention (time opening/consuming your messages and media). What it also does is strengthen the relationship between the AHA and the public on a personal level. This in turn deepens the trust the market has for us in a virtuous viral loop.

Ultimately, it is about being proactive to the market by using the social media tools that are available and empowering our people to properly, smartly and optimally engage on the topics and with the people that are important to achieving our mission.

Creating Optimal Engagement

The general principle of engagement is to respond as prudently as possible, but the need to understand the full context of the message is critical prior to replying. Always pause and take a breath before replying; avoid responding on impulse and take time to evaluate the best course of action. It’s important to never respond when angry, as even the most minimal existence of negative sentiment can impact how your message is interpreted on the receiving end. Maintaining a positive state of mind, even in the midst of negativity or distraction, will drastically impact the outcome of your engagement efforts.

Whether online or offline, the philosophy of our engagement should be the same – to be helpful, to provide people with education and information that empowers them to save lives (whether their own, a loved one, or someone in their care). It is important to remember this as you encounter different engagement types, such as compliments of AHA or inquiries on how to become a volunteer.

The charts that follow outline examples of the engagement types you may encounter as well as a recommended process for determining how to best respond. Both are meant to be updated as experiences expand and as new engagement types are encountered.

Engagement Type

Illustrative Example Autonomous Community

Manager Response

Management Notification

Management Response

Response Urgency

Recommended Action

General Statement You can find the latest report on AHA’s website.

Yes No No 1 business day

Let stand or respond with confirmation

Compliment/ Success Story

Being an AHA volunteer has changed my life!

Yes No No 1 business day

Amplify and share story

Question/ Information Seeking

Where can I go to donate? Yes No No 1 business day

Respond and provide information

Competitive Claim

National Stroke Association has a way better program than ASA.

Yes Yes No 1 business day

Assess legitimacy and respond if deemed necessary

Complaint Tell your telemarketers to stop calling me.

Yes Yes (If similar posts on the topic appear)

No ASAP Respond and rectify the situation if legitimate

Misinformation Incorrect stat in a post referencing a recent study by AHA.

Yes No No ASAP Provide the correct information in a timely manner to avoid it spreading further

Medical Emergency

I think I’m having a heart attack, how would I know?

Yes Yes No Immediate Refer to approved response guidance for sensitive issues

Threat of Harm to Oneself or Someone Else

I’m thinking about committing suicide.

Yes Yes No Immediate Escalate to National Center social media and legal teams

Imminent Threat

Prominent “mommy blogger” bashes AHA.

No Yes Yes Immediate Escalate to management for response

Moderation Moderation plays a significant role in ensuring the development and sustainment of successful online communities. This requires a dedicated effort to not only listen to the conversation online, but to be an active participant and role model for your community. It’s important to note that while every community manager is responsible for making their own communities thrive, there is a shared responsibility in monitoring the overall AHA community. As you participate online, we ask that everyone help in identifying any posts or activities that could be harmful or damaging to AHA. Inevitably, there will be situations where you will encounter posts or comments that may require you to take action as a community manager. Your actions will vary depending on the nature of the post and may range from guiding a conversation that has gone off-track to removing a post that degrades a member of your community or, in some cases, you’ll determine no response is the best course of action as it may only fuel the fire.

Be sure to take time to consider the context of the post and/or the perspective of its author. Additionally, it’s important to be mindful of the channel the post is located on as this will impact your ability to moderate – i.e. platforms such as Twitter do not offer the ability to moderate.

If you have any questions please reach out to the Social Media Center of Excellence. Here are a few things to consider if you encounter negative or adverse comments:

Is this something that will ultimately be detrimental to my community?

Is this person trolling, link-baiting, spamming or harassing someone on my page?

Will responding lead to positive engagement? Or is no response the best course?

What platform is the post located on?

If you have a blog or allow comments on your website, you should moderate comments before they are published to your site. We must approve all comments that meet the criteria set forth in the Participation Guidelines and be consistent in removing comments that do not meet them. If you have removed a comment, you may use the following approved language to let the author know, if possible:

“American Heart Association | American Stroke Association social communities are intended to provide a forum for discussion. All viewpoints are welcome, but we request that they are constructive. To keep with our family-friendly culture, we reserve the right to remove any posts that are offensive or inappropriate. We will leave your posts as they relate to subjects on this page.”

National Center has set up a page on SharePoint to serve as the central repository for issues identified, whether they are on national or local social media properties. This will allow for enhanced tracking and reporting on issues, as well as create a central point where community managers can learn about issues that have been encountered, and more importantly, how they were managed and resolved. The process below provides guidance on moderation, but should be updated as experiences and operations evolve over time. In addition, please refer to the Participation Guidelines and approved language for responding to posts that contain sensitive issues for additional guidance. If you have read the guidelines and are still unsure if a post should be removed, please reach out to the Social Media Center of Excellence.

Crisis Communications Social media enables news to be transmitted at an unprecedented rate, enhancing our ability to disseminate information, but also meaning that negative publicity can quickly escalate into a crisis scenario. An organization must be agile and able to respond quickly in order to keep pace with the expectations of social media channels. Having a clear plan and educating staff on the recommended procedures will be critical in ensuring the organization is prepared for a crisis situation.

Start Early

Build your community early. The time to start using social media isn’t in the middle of crisis – that might be too late. In order to build credibility, you need to establish your presence before a crisis occurs. Just like a relationship with a close friend, trust doesn’t happen overnight – it takes time. The better you are at providing good information and engaging your community, the faster your following will grow.

Promote Your Community

Tell people you are there. Include your social media presences on all press materials, email signatures,

business cards and in conversations with the media, volunteers, donors and other constituents. The more people you tell, the faster your community will grow.

Engage Often

In a crisis, a stagnant platform will not help you. Community members lose interest quickly and will stop paying attention to your page. The more often you post, the better off you’ll be. We recommend posting about once a day, depending on the platform. You can use stories, photos, videos, links, tips, etc.

The following section provides a framework for social media crisis management as well as example crisis scenarios provided in the AHA Social Media Crisis Communications Plan. Please refer to this document and the crisis response document for additional guidance on approved procedures and practices.

Please refer to Social Media Crisis Communications Plan and the crisis response process for additional guidance.

Build trust and credibility with your community as they will be your biggest asset

Scenario Severity* Description Reporting Timeframe Active Participants

Threat of Crime or Suicide

H Someone says they are planning to commit a crime or suicide

Immediate National: Social Media Team and Legal

Medical Emergency H Someone believes they are having a medical emergency (heart attack, stroke, etc.)

Immediate Community Manager

Embargo Break M Pre-embargoed information is posted on an AHA social media site by AHA staff

Immediate; this category is for AHA internal use only

CMC Your Comm. Director

Unauthorized Access/Hacking

M/H A person gains access to an AHA social media account without permission

Immediate Community Manager to report issue to appropriate social media platform

Spamming or Unwanted Advertising

M A person or company violates a community’s acceptable use policies by trying to promote or sell a product or service

N/A – this does not need to be reported inside the AHA

Community Manager

Spoof sites M Act of impersonating or masquerading as the AHA By the close of business day. Determine if they are trying to sell/advertise as a third party or just loyal to our brand

CMC Legal

Critical Post/ Comment

H A post that criticizes/contradicts the AHA’s programs, positions, services or statements

Within 30 minutes to one hour. Watch the conversation. Is the community regulating itself? Does this fall into a “pre-identified” topic area?

National: CMC Local: EVP of Communications

Controversial Post/Comment

A post or comment that stirs up controversy, or is factually incorrect ** Could overlap with “sensitive issues” area

Immediate; correct factual errors as necessary; monitor controversy to ensure it doesn’t become crisis level

National: CMC Local: EVP of Communications --Legal/Science/HR as needed on a national level

Crisis Level Post/Comment

H Social media conversation that could potentially result in a crisis for the AHA organization.

Immediate All levels: CMC

Sensitive Issues M Issues pre-identified by the organization to spur critical or controversial posts/comments and discussions

Immediate Community Manager – may have to notify CMC

Inappropriate Content H Any post, comment or discussion that contains profanity or nudity

Immediate Community Manager

*Severity of incident: H= High; M= Medium; L= Low

So You Want A Social Media Presence?

Social media can help us communicate with our constituents, as well as build passionate advocates for our cause. But it is both a constant and long-term commitment that not everyone does effectively. Most social media failures can be attributed to brands or business units rushing into social media before determining what exactly they want to achieve with social media platforms. Just because something is the “latest platform” or “everyone else is doing it” are not good reasons to start a social media presence. Using social media effectively is a process that requires, time, resources, strategy, goals and foresight.

Are you ready? Below are a few steps to get your started. The checklists on the following pages will help you as you develop your social media presence.

STEP 1

Determine the purpose of your page. Can you collaborate with a social media presence that is already in existence? Set your goals. Decide how you plan on communicating with your constituents.

STEP 2

Review the social media content that is already available. Start with this Playbook and get SMaC certified. Check out the information in the Social Media Center of Excellence and on the Social Media SharePoint. This will help you understand the guidelines and governance surrounding social media use.

STEP 3

Now that you’ve done research, work with your team to develop a social media strategy. This helps you refine your focus. Look at how other AHA business units are using social media. What is working? What is not?

STEP 4

Go to “Establishing and Maintaining Official Social Media Presences” in this Playbook and request an official social media presence.

STEP 5

Don’t stop here. Once your page is live, engage often – at least once a day.

Creating a Presence Checklist

PRIOR TO ESTABLISHING AN OFFICIAL SOCIAL MEDIA PRESENCE, CONSIDER THESE ITEMS: Study policies, Guidelines and this Playbook – See the Social Media Center of Excellence and Social Media SharePoint for resources. Get SMaC certified Determine your goals – What do you want to achieve/communicate? Determine your stakeholders – Identify the community you want to communicate with. Research and select social media platform(s) – Not all platforms are for everyone. Which one will communicate with your community the best? Go to where your audience already is. Select your name and branding – Read the AHA branding guidelines listed on http://heart.org/branding.

Draft a persona and content strategy

Determine a management strategy – Identify the community managers on your team. Make sure all Community Managers are SMaC certified.

REQUIREMENTS FOR AN OFFICIAL PUBLIC-FACING SOCIAL MEDIA PRESENCE (this does not include internal social media groups, like Yammer).

National approval – the Social Media strategist and Executive Sponsor should approve a presence so it may be registered.

The main point of contact must be associated with a valid heart.org email address – This is to ensure someone within the AHA is ultimately responsible for the presence.

The presence should include participation guidelines – The disclaimer must identify the page as an official AHA social media presence and disclaim any endorsement.

Tools and Resources The following section is meant to serve as a guide for those thinking of using, or already using, the following tools, technologies, and channels for official AHA purposes. Please note before creating an official account intended to represent AHA, you must obtain prior approval from National Center Social Media Strategist and Executive Sponsor. This is to ensure our ability to effectively orchestrate and cross-promote our collective social media efforts.

At National Center, we have building a database of content for us by community managers. If you are looking for something specific, please reach out to the National Center Social Media Strategist.

This list contains several examples of approved social media platforms; and will be updated over time as AHA deploys new tools, technologies and channels.

Facebook Twitter Blogs YouTube Pinterest Flickr Instagram Vine Google+ Foursquare Kintera (fundraising Facebook/Twitter widget) Animoto Bit.ly Radian6

Facebook Page Account Usage

Before you create a Facebook page, we encourage you to spend time looking at how other AHA community managers have used Facebook pages as well as external examples of organizations who have used Facebook successfully. Below are a few examples of accounts to look at as you determine how you will use Facebook for your community:

Key AHA accounts to follow:

American Heart Association American Stroke Association Go Red For Women CPR & First Aid

External examples of successful accounts:

Livestrong Coca Cola Manchester United

When creating an official account for your community, please include the field or region name in the account title, such as American Heart Association - Dallas. Please set your vanity URL with the local tag, like AmericanHeartDallas. This will help your followers easily identify the AHA brand, assist with search engine visibility, and ensure your community is following the correct account. Ensure that the presence adheres to the social media structure mentioned earlier in the Playbook.

A few other important points to note in relation to the set up of your Facebook page:

You may change your Facebook page name if you have fewer than 200 Likes. However, the vanity URL may not be changed.

You can change your Facebook page details at any point, (simply click “About” on your Facebook page, and click “Edit.”); however, it’s best to get it correct from the start since you are, in essence, building your Facebook brand

Don’t forget about Edgerank. Your posts will only show up to a percentage of your overall community. Facebook’s edgerank algorithm is based on:

o Affinity score between viewing user and edge creator o Weight for this edge type (status, comment, like, tag, etc.) o Time decay factor based on how long ago the edge was created

You may change your Facebook cover photo and icon at any time. The dimensions are as follows: o Cover photo (big picture for Facebook’s timeline): 851px X 315 px o Profile photo: 180px X 180px scaled down to 32px X 32px for icon use o Application icon (tab icons, like photos, videos, etc.): 111px X 74px; 5MB maximum size o Milestone image: 843px X 403px o Thumbnail: 90px X 90px o Facebook page (usable area of your page): 779px X unlimited o Uploaded image: 2048px X 2048px o Pinned post image: 403px X 403px o Pictures displayed in Facebook: 960px X 720px o Ad image: 110px X 80px; 5MB maximum size o Ad text: Header – 25 characters; body: 135 characters o Status update: 63,206 characters; comment length – unlimited o Video: Maximum 1024MB, 20 minutes in length

Purpose

Facebook is all about community. Facebook uses the Edgerank algorithm to decide if a post will show up on a fan’s Wall. The algorithm is based on affinity, weight and time. Your focus should be on driving active conversation with your community and sharing information that is interesting to them. Keep straight promotion to a minimum as these posts may hurt your Edgerank. To this point, some of the activities you could use Facebook include:

Sharing news about upcoming AHA/ASA events or activities in your community Promoting local stories of volunteers, followers, and others Sharing pictures/videos/etc. from events, conferences, and community initiatives (and inviting fans to do

the same) Asking open-ended questions and seek feedback from your followers Sharing quotes/infographics that are meaningful to your community

Where possible and relevant, each of AHA’s Facebook pages should reference one another to help amplification and cross-promotion of our collective activities.

Dos and Don’ts

Do’s

o Be familiar, and comply with, Facebook’s Promotion Guidelines. The Promotion Guidelines impose restrictions and requirements on organizations conducting promotions, such as contests, on Facebook.

o Highlight useful content, e.g. articles, links, blog posts, and explain what you’re linking to rather than just providing a link. Make sure all links comply with AHA’s Linking Policy.

o Respond to questions, Wall posts and comments in a timely manner. o Sign off comments with your initials if you have multiple staff posting on behalf of one account, so

fans know who’s posting (e.g. ^KH). o Use Facebook to capture opinions from your audience by asking your followers what they think

and using Facebook Questions. o Post multimedia content, share photos and video; ensure they are in line with existing policies. o Add other AHA pages to your page’s favorites. o Learn from top Facebook streams, look at the type of content they share and how they interact

with their followers. o Use the approved Participation Guidelines either in your description or on a Heart Rules/Stroke

Rules app to ensure the community knows the expectations of the page. o Take advantage of Facebook Places.

Dont’s

o Post mundane Wall posts that are of no interest. People will stop “liking” your posts if they are irrelevant, pointless or boring.

o Over promote, as this runs the risk of losing followers. If you’re worried followers may have missed your post, present the information in a different way.

o Post sensitive, confidential or embargoed details when communicating with your audience. o Turn off your user comments function. That defeats the purpose of Facebook.

Resources for Success

External Resources o Facebook Help o Facebook for Newbies o Facebook Shortcuts

o 2012 Nonprofit Social Network Benchmark Report o Terms and Policies

Twitter

Account Usage

Before you begin tweeting, we encourage you to spend time looking at how other AHA community managers have used Twitter as well as external examples of organizations who have used Twitter successfully. Below are a few examples of accounts to look at as you determine how you will use Twitter for your community:


@American_Heart @NancyAtHeart @AmHeartAdvocacy


@Starbucks @Dell @Ford

When creating an official account for your community, please include the field or region name in the account title, such as @AHA_Dallas. This will help your followers easily identify the AHA brand, assist with search engine visibility, and ensure your community is following the correct account. Ensure that the presence adheres to the social media structure mentioned earlier in the Playbook. A few other points to note relative to naming your account:

The Twitter username is restricted to 15 characters You can change your Twitter profile details at any point (simply go to the settings page via your Twitter

homepage); however, it’s best to get it correct from the start since you are, in essence, building your Twitter brand

The ‘name’ and ‘location’ field provide you with additional space to describe who you are, as well as the bio, which is restricted to 160 characters. Be sure to include relevant keywords in your bio for discovery

Purpose

It’s important to remember Twitter is a platform for conversation, not solely promotion. While it provides a great mechanism to quickly share items such as press releases or studies, the focus should be on driving active conversation with your followers. To this point, some of the activities you could use Twitter for include:

Sharing news about upcoming AHA events or activities in your community Promoting local stories of volunteers, followers, and others Sharing pictures/videos/etc. from events, conferences, and community initiatives (and inviting followers to

do the same) Asking open-ended questions and seek feedback from your followers

Where possible and relevant, each of AHA’s Twitter accounts should reference one another to help amplification and cross-promotion of our collective activities.

Dos and Don’ts

Do’s

o Highlight useful content e.g. articles, links, blog posts, and explain what you’re linking to rather than just providing a link. Make sure all links comply with AHA’s Linking Policy.

o Sign off tweets with your initials if you have multiple staff tweeting on behalf of one account, so followers know who’s tweeting (e.g. ^KH).

o Use Twitter to capture opinions from your audience, asking your followers what they think. o Post multimedia content, share photos and video; ensure they are in line with existing policies. o Learn from top Twitter streams, look at the type of content they share and how they interact with

their followers. Dont’s

o Post mundane Tweets that are of no interest. People will unfollow if your Tweets are irrelevant and pointless.

o Set-up automated Tweets in response to keywords, new followers etc. or repeatedly post the same tweets, as this looks lazy, isn’t personal, can make you look like a spammer, and violates Twitter’s official policies.

o Over-promote, as this runs the risk of losing followers. If you’re worried followers may have missed your Tweet, present the information in a different way.

o Publish or post others’ private and confidential information without express authorization and permission. Follow spammers; you can determine if they’re a spammer by looking at their timeline.

Guidelines for Contests on Twitter

• May offer prizes for tweeting update, following user, or posting updates with specific hashtag • Include rule that anyone found to use multiple accounts to enter will be ineligible • Discourage posting the same tweet repeatedly (“Whoever retweets this the most wins”) • Ask users to include @reply to you in update to see all entries • Hashtag topics must be relevant to contest


External Resources o Terms of Service o Twitter for Business o Twitter Help o Beth Kanter's Twitter Primer o Twitter for Activism o Mashable Twitter Guidebook o Twitter 101 for Nonprofits

Sample Hashtags

o #heartdisease o #hearthealth o #gored o #brainhealth o #stroke

YouTube

Account Usage

Before you request to set up a YouTube account, we encourage you to spend time looking at how other AHA community managers have used YouTube as well as external examples of organizations who have used YouTube successfully. It is important to note that our main channel (AmericanHeartAssoc) is already designated as a nonprofit channel and accepted in the YouTube Non-Profit Program. In most cases, we suggest creating playlists for business units instead of separate channels. Below are a few examples of accounts to look at as you determine how you will use YouTube for your community:


AmericanHeartAssoc OfficialGoRed4Women AmericanHeartFDA


Nike Wal-Mart Pepsi

If you you have been approved to create a YouTube channel for your community, please include the field or region name in the account title, such as /AHA_Dallas. This will help your followers easily identify the AHA brand, assist with search engine visibility, and ensure your community is following the correct account. Your brand channel provides an opportunity to connect and create persistent relationships with your consumers. Your channel page can show featured videos, playlists, and channels that you have selected. It can also show an activity feed that highlights recent activity in your channel. And, of course, it provides a way for users to easily find your uploaded videos, playlists, and favorite videos. A few other points to note relative to creating a new YouTube account:

If you use an AHA-affiliated Google account, you can sign in with your Google sign-in information. If you don’t have a Google account, visit http://youtube.com and click “create account,” where you’ll enter some basic information to create your Google/YouTube account. This will link all Google accounts associated with the email address.

Channel names can be up to 30 characters long and may only include alphanumeric characters (letters A-Z and numbers 0-9) with no spaces and can contain capital and lowercase letters. Enter it correctly, exactly how you want it displayed. Once the channel name is established, it cannot be changed.

The ‘name’ and ‘location’ field provide you with additional space to describe who you are, as well as the bio, which is restricted to 160 characters. Be sure to include relevant keywords in your bio for discovery.

Purpose

Brand and non-profit channels offer a number of features that are not available on standard channels. Please note the AHA masterbrand channel is the non-profit channel. Brand channels can be acquired for a fee.

• Custom images • Content playback and accessibility

o You can specify demographic filters that restrict access to a brand channel based on a user’s language, geographic location, age or gender.

• Tracking capabilities o Google analytics lets you track user actions on your channel page, traffic referral data and much

more. o A tracking image URL lets you collect statistics for views of your channel page or video pages.

Dos and Don’ts

Do’s

o YouTube needs a lot of time to produce content. Think about how much time you can allocate to keep it updated bi-weekly. If not, consider creating a playlist on the masterbrand YouTube channel.

o Create useful, informative content that’s relevant to your audience. o For short, educational videos, try to keep them between 60-90 seconds in length. For more full-

feature videos, try to keep them less than 10 minutes. o Capture the audience within the first 3-5 seconds of the video. o If you’re recording yourself, a volunteer, a donor, or another individual, we encourage you to

make good eye contact with the camera and have high energy. o Title your video appropriately – make it searchable both with the title and the keywords. o YouTube can accept almost any video format for upload, but most users use the following

settings to give it the best results: WebM files .MPEG4, 3GPP and MOV files .AVI .MPEGPS .WMV .FLV

• Resolution: 640x480 pixels, Audio Format: MP3, Frames per second: 30 o Send the video form along with breadcrumbs to your footage to [email protected] to have it

uploaded to the national YouTube channel.

Dont’s

o Post videos that are of little interest, are too long, are poor quality (audio and video), and/or have low energy.

o Mark your video as public if it is meant to be internal only (e.g., internal team meeting, etc.). Likewise, don’t mark your video as private or unlisted if you would like to make it searchable and viewable by the public. If you want internal review before making it public, schedule the video to post at a later date. Changing a video from private/unlisted to public hurts your SEO.

o Poorly title your video or give it irrelevant keywords. o Upload videos longer that 15 minutes or larger than 2 GB.


External Resources o Terms of Service o YouTube Nonprofit Program o Mashable: 5 Ways Nonprofits Can Increase Engagement o Chronicle of Philanthropy

Nonprofit Best Practices

o Mark Horvath: Invisible People o World Wildlife Fund o American Red Cross o charity: water

Blog

Account Usage

Blogging can be a critical communications tool for the AHA. It is an effective way to tell our story and build a consistent emotional connection with constituents. Before you get started, check out a few examples of accounts to look at as you determine how you will use blogging for your community:


AHA/ASA National You’re the Cure Nancy’s Volunteer Blog


Feeding America Salvation Army American Red Cross - Oregon

It is recommend that you set up a blog on Wordpress because of its ease of use, its robust functionality and consistency across AHA blog properties. Please be sure to include the local or region name clearly, such as American Heart Association - Dallas. This will help your followers easily identify the AHA brand, assist with search engine visibility, and ensure your community is following the correct blog.

Purpose

Nonprofits have more active blogs than any other category, according to research by the University of Massachusetts. It makes sense. We can tell compelling stories, deliver lifesaving information, drive donations, empower volunteers and inspire social change. As with all social media, this is about bringing about engagement, not over-promotion. To this point, some of the activities you could use blogs for include:

Sharing news about upcoming AHA events or activities in your community Promoting local stories of volunteers, survivors, and others Sharing pictures/videos/etc. from events, conferences, and community initiatives (and inviting followers to

do the same) Giving behind-the-scenes look into the AHA

Where possible and relevant, each of AHA’s blogs should reference one another to help amplification and cross-promotion of our collective activities.

Dos and Don’ts

Do’s

o Include participation guidelines o Highlight useful content e.g. articles, links, blog posts, and explain what you’re linking to rather

than just providing a link. Make sure all links comply with AHA’s Linking Policy. o Show off your personality. Blogs take off because they have plenty of it! o Ask questions and engage your community. Give them a safe space for discussion. o Blog multimedia content, share photos and video; ensure they are in line with existing policies. o Add convenient social sharing. o Learn from top bloggers, look at the type of content they share and how they interact with their

followers.

Dont’s

o Write a blog post like you would write a press release or marketing material. o Over-promote, as this runs the risk of losing subscribers. o Publish or post others’ private and confidential information without express authorization and

permission. o Allow spammers to break through; you can determine if they’re a spammer by looking at their

timeline. o Forget to make each post SEO-friendly.


External Resources o Nonprofit Technology Network Blog o Wordpress Blog

Key Influencers/Communities

o Beth Kanter o Amy Sample Ward o A. Fine Blog o Katya’s Nonprofit Marketing Blog o Nonprofit Tech 2.0

Pinterest Account Usage

Before you begin pinning, we encourage you to spend time looking at how other AHA community managers have used Pinterest as well as external examples of organizations who have used Pinterest successfully. Below are a few examples of accounts to look at as you determine how you will use Pinterest for your community:

The AHA account:

American Heart Association


Amnesty International USA charity: water Whole Foods

According to some recommendations from the field and best practices across other nonprofits, consider suggesting boards and pins for the national page. In the past, it has been difficult to make the page different from the other national pages and keep them fresh with local content. It’s easy to create a board, so please email [email protected] to set it up.

Purpose

Pinterest is meant to be a curation of beautiful images. Nonprofits have used it as an extension of their organizations, using photography, inforgraphics and other visuals to drive their mission. The most successful nonprofits repin and highlight other nonprofits, thought leaders and information that is valuable to its audience. Think: Lifestyle. To this point, you may want to consider some of the following boards and pins:

Recipes Articles PSAs Infographics Survivor stories Heart-healthy kids stuff Healthy food Shop Heart products Seasonal Gardening tips/Beautiful gardens Beautiful walking paths Inspirational quotes

Where possible and relevant, share a board with other AHA accounts or other like-minded nonprofits to help amplification and cross-promotion of our collective activities.

Dos and Don’ts

Do’s

o Promote a lifestyle. o Consider group boards and allow other users to pin content to some of your boards. o Update your boards on a regular basis. o Use eye-catching images. o Add links and hashtags to your images. Make sure all links comply with AHA’s Linking Policy. o Make pins and pinboards searchable.

Dont’s

o Forget about copyright infringement. Ask permission and credit the original source. o Over-promote, as this runs the risk of losing followers. If you’re worried followers may have

missed your pin, present the information in a different way. o Publish or post others’ private and confidential information without express authorization and

permission. o Follow spammers; you can determine if they’re a spammer by looking at their timeline


External Resources o Terms of Service o Privacy Policy o Acceptable Use Policy o Beginners Guide to Pinterest o Beth Kanter's Pinterest Tips o John Haydon’s Pinterest for Nonprofits

Sample Hashtags


Photo-Sharing

Flickr, Instagram, Picasa, Deviantart, etc. Account Usage

Before you begin sharing photos, we encourage you to spend time looking at how other AHA community managers have used sites like Instagram and Flickr as well as external examples of organizations who have used the platforms successfully. Below are a few examples of accounts to look at as you determine how you will use photo sharing for your community:

Key AHA account to follow:

American_Heart


Starbucks Red Bull American Red Cross

After reviewing best practices across brands for Instagram, we’d like to keep the Instagram channel brand-centric, and use a #hashtag approach for our diverse communities. When creating a different official account for your community, please include the field or region name in the account title, such as AHADallas, depending on the platform. This will help your followers easily identify the AHA brand, assist with search engine visibility, and ensure your community is following the correct account. A few other points to note relative to your account:

You can change your Flickr profile details at any point (simply go to the settings page via your Flickr homepage or app); however, it’s best to get it correct from the start since you are, in essence, building your photo-sharing brand

Be sure to include relevant keywords in your bio for discovery

Purpose

Everyone knows “a picture is worth a thousand words” and for the AHA, this hold true. It’s a powerful way to tell our story, get our message across and engage our constituents. It’s important to remember photo-sharing sites were created for virality, not solely promotion. While it provides a great mechanism to quickly share items such as press releases or studies, the focus should be on driving active conversation with your followers. To this point, some of the activities you could use photo-sharing sites for include:

Share sneak peeks and teases with your community for events and announcements Promote local stories through photos of volunteers, followers, and others Share pictures from AHA events, conferences, and community initiatives (and invite followers to do the

same) Show your community what it’s like behind-the-scenes of the AHA That’s so AHA! Show them photos from around your office, staff, volunteers, hearts – hard at work, saving

lives Make it unique!

Where possible and relevant, each of AHA’s photo-sharing accounts should reference one another to help amplification and cross-promotion of our collective activities.

Dos and Don’ts

Do’s

o Promote your photo-sharing account on your other social media properties. o Use #hashtags to organize submissions. o Come up with a photo series. o Learn from top photo-sharing streams, look at the type of content they share and how they

interact with their followers.

Dont’s

o Post mundane photos that are of no interest. People will unfollow if your presence is irrelevant and pointless.

o Over-promote, as this runs the risk of losing followers. o Publish or post others’ private and confidential information without express authorization and

permission. o Post out-of-focus photos or photos without attribution and/or permission.


External Resources o Getting Started on Instagram o Nonprofits on Instagram o How to view your photos on the web o Beginners Guide to Getting Your Cause on Instagram o Instagram Terms of Use o Flickr Community Guidelines

Sample Hashtags


Media Production and Promotion Editorial Strategy & Calendar Editorial calendars should be prioritized based

on the monthly messaging platform, seasonality, industry events, conferences, etc.

By the 15th of the month, set the editorial calendar for the next month – previous calendars can be found here

In as near real-time as possible, update the calendar during the month based on news that adds real value to our key audiences

Leverage SEO strategy to support AHA ability to be found as a leading provider of reputable information, education, and inspiration o This will require assigning tasks to identify

news and content most relevant to the mission

The following tools can be leveraged: o Bit.ly - to track the broad outreach of

promotional campaigns o Hootsuite - to schedule posts/tweets in

advance, based on timing of the original messaging

o Social bookmarking apps, such as Reddit – to collect and tag relevant articles to be used for news feeds

Provide stakeholders advance notice of upcoming content and encourage them to create related content thus amplifying collective efforts o At the beginning of the month, notify staff via

internal Social Media Center of Excellence and email of the content to be published

o Provide pre-approved posts/tweets that can be easily shared by community managers

Please refer to the AHA editorial calendars for additional guidance and information

Content Promotion The key to socializing media is to make it

shareable o All content should have “share this” buttons

to make it easy for users to share content Channels should be created for top

audiences/intersections in the engagment model

(i.e. multicultural + hypertension) through the expansion of current channels on heart.org (i.e. channel RSS feeds) o A content strategy should be developed for

each of the key archetypes to establish an ongoing source of information and engagement materials for them

When a piece of content is developed for an archetype, it will be important to determine which other audiences are certain to be interested in this item as not every article should be cross-promoted

Submitting Content to be Published

Often, you capture photos, stories and have successes that we may not hear about unless you tell us. Let us promote you. To submit content to be considered for the weekly SoMe Update, please email [email protected] with the subject: Content for Consideration: SoMe Update. The weekly SoMe Update is sent every Wednesday. Content should be submitted by end of day Tuesday to ensure it is included in that week’s messaging.

Given the dependency in messaging (i.e. stakeholders scheduling certain posts/tweets in advance), the promotional calendar must adhere to a tight schedule o If a post slips or is rescheduled, all

community managers should be alerted through internal channels (i.e. email, Yammer, etc.) as quickly as possible

Blogger Requests

Treat requests from bloggers as a media request and coordinate with the National Communications team. If the blogger is a local-only blogger, please contact your local communications team. Due to the nature of our 501(c)3 status, we cannot accept payment for a blog post that promotes another organization or product.

Measurement

Measurement is required to determine where social media is impacting the organization’s strategic goals. It provides direction to increase engagement causing positive results and decreases activities that are not driving constituent behavioral change. The following graphic outlines the recommended process for which the organization can most effectively report on social media efforts as well as collaborate through the sharing of best practices and success stories. Outlined below are several select key performance indicators to be leveraged in measuring the effectiveness of our social media efforts to accomplish our mission.

Share of Voice Sentiment towards organization, program, and campaign over time Mentions over time Inquiries received for support Net Trust Score Net Promoter Score Brand/Campaign Awareness Survey’s Number of advocates Number of detractors Average time to response Fans (Facebook) Followers (Twitter) Shared/Re-posted messages Subscribers (YouTube, Blogs, etc.) Contacts (Flickr) Klout score Kred score Donations through social channels Lives Saved New Supporters Recruited Earned Media Reduction in call/email volume to call center

The Social Media Center of Excellence will serve as the central repository for all reports and in the future, couple with all customer data for additional analysis and integration into CRM system.

Frequently Asked Questions

Should I respond to comments or mentions I see on other blogs or Social Media?

We often respond to comments and mentions on social media outside of our official presences. Many times, you will see them located in our social media update. When needed, we will seek the counsel of subject matter experts at both national and local offices to craft a well informed and accurate response. If you see a mention that needs to be addressed or you would like to respond to, please let us know.

Should I use Social Media platforms to fundraise?

As a rule of thumb, many use social media because it is free from corporate marketing. We offer our communities valuable information, resources and support, free from corporate-speak and fundraising jargon. Since it is often tricky, please tread lightly.

With that said, as a nonprofit, it is expected that users will have easy access to donate. We should make it as easy as possible for supporters to fundraise for us. For example, we can provide them with banners, buttons and widgets to link to online fundraising portals, like Kintera. When working with corporate sponsors of AHA programs or events, refer to the Guidelines on Sponsorships and Social Media.

Should I use social media platforms to promote a corporate sponsor?

There may be circumstances in which it is appropriate for you to acknowledge a sponsor or promotion on social media, but make sure you adhere to the Guidelines on Sponsorships and Social Media. If you have a question or are not sure if a post is acceptable, please consult AHA Legal or National Social Media Strategist.

How do I run a contest on a social media platform?

First, read the terms of service for the social media platform where you plan to host the contest. For example, Facebook ONLY allows contests on third-party applications, and the contest must not require a like, comment or share to win. However, on Twitter, you just need to make the terms clear to the participants to host a contest.

If you are interested in hosting a contest and have read the terms for your platform, please reach out to the Social Media Center of Excellence.

What if someone is mean to us on our properties?

If you follow our social media philosophy and guidelines, this will not occur frequently. We will, however, remove comments that do not meet the AHA Participation Guidelines. Please see the “Moderation” section above for more details. If you must remove a post, please take a screenshot and save it in the “Crisis/Sensitive Issues” folder on Social Media SharePoint.

What happens if someone is impersonating the AHA or me?

Report the impersonation to the social media platform by clicking on the report button or email the platform directly. If the platform is unresponsive, contact the social media strategist at National Center.

I’m transferring my duties as a community manager. What should I do?

If you need to transfer your duties as a community manager, please be sure to turn over the login and password to the social media presence. Don’t forget to notify National Center with the new community manager’s contact information.

Additional Resources

AHA/ASA Employee Policy Manual Acceptable Use Policy Social Media Guidelines Branding Guidelines Editorial Calendar Template Social Media Center of Excellence Participation Guidelines Guest Blogging Guidelines Guidance on Social Media and Sponsorships

SOCIAL MEDIA PLAYBOOK - localheart.orgwcm/@cmc/documents/...Media Guidelines and Social Media...

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