SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING – Using Facebook, Twitter, and Blogs to Promote Your Community

1. SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING –Using Facebook, Twitter, and Blogs to Promote Your Community Carla Pendergraft Associates Web Design www.carlapendergraft.com

2. What We’ll Cover • Why communities and businesses use Facebook and Twitter. • How a blog can be used to initiate conversations with your market. • Characteristics of Social Media… statistics • How to Listen – setting up alerts • Intro to Facebook • Intro to Twitter

3. Social Media Characteristics • It’s about conversations and communities • It requires a new way of thinking. • Push vs. Pull; Telling vs. Asking • Allows your audience to connect with you and with each other.

4. U.S. Social Media Communities Facebook – 200 million users, top 10 website MySpace – 110 million users LinkedIn – about 30 million users Twitter – 54 million visits per month YouTube – 70 million videos Flickr – hosts over 2 billion images Blogs – over 200 million And new social communities are added every day.

5. Reasons to Use Social Media • Promote your community’s events • Make announcements, broadcast news • Recruit new employees • Ask for opinions before you do something • Drive traffic to your main website • …And other reasons you haven’t even thought of yet, but you will—once you start using it. • You’ll see some great examples of effective use of social media in action this afternoon!

6. You Can’t Do it All… • Just choose a couple of tools to begin with • Don’t let it take over your life • Share the duties with others

7. My Recommendations • Start by listening – we’ll show you how • Create a personal Facebook page • Build your business Facebook page • Start a Twitter feed • As time permits, work with YouTube, Flickr and the rest • Don’t neglect your core website

8. Blogs • Use a blog if you need to explain things in greater detail. • Who will commit to post on the blog? • CVB or Chamber – a team of people – marketing, sales, Director • Municipality – Public information officer, ED, marketing • Museum/Attraction – Marketing, Director • Businesses – Marketing, sales • Google loves blogs • wordpress.com - 5 minute setup

9. Blogs Some customers prefer to post a question on a blog rather than call or email.

10. Facebook Profiles, Groups and Pages • Profiles refer to personal profiles • Facebook Groups are for groups of people with some interest in common – biking, Star Trek, etc. • Facebook Pages are for businesses, including non-profits. • Pages are visible to everyone, even those who are not a member of Facebook • Pages allow you to view statistics on page usage (“Insights”)

11. Facebook – City of Georgetown

12. Creating a Facebook Page

13. Creating a Facebook Page • Go to facebook.com/pages/create.php • If you are part of a municipality: • Brand, Product or Organization • Subcategory - Government • If you are a non profit: • Brand, Product or Organization • Subcategory - Non-profit • If you are a museum/attraction: • Local • Subcategory – Museum/Attraction

14. Creating a Facebook Page • If you are a business: • Local or Brand, Product or Organization • Subcategory: choose the appropriate business • On Facebook, use the actual name of your entity • “City of Hutto, Texas” • “Athens Chamber of Commerce” • “Fredericksburg Convention & Visitors Bureau”

15. Facebook • Upload your logo – approx. 200 x 200 • Fill in your business details on the Info tab • Look at what others in your industry are posting, and follow their style and lead. • CVBs talk about attractions, events, exhibits, new restaurants and hotels, specials • Cities give mini-updates, often daily • Museums/Attractions talk about exhibits and events • Chambers talk about new businesses, events

16. Facebook's Main Tabs • Wall – mini press releases, announcements • Info – static information about your business. Overview, mission, etc. • Photos – multiple photo albums • Many other possible tabs; start with these 3 and build. • You can even add custom tabs!

17. Facebook • When you have as much information loaded in as possible, you will “publish” the page. • To go to your Page, the easiest way is to search for it by its name, using the Facebook search box. • To edit your Page, click on “edit page” underneath your logo. • In the administrative interface, you can add other admins, change settings, add special tabs, and so on.

18. Promoting Your Facebook Page • Put a Facebook icon on your website’s home page. • For the link, go to your new Page, and copy it from the address bar. • Promote your Facebook page in your communications such as newsletters. • Encourage your fans to share the Page with their friends when you send out Updates.

19. Facebook Insights • Facebook wants your fans to interact with your Page: • Wall posts • Likes • Comments • Ask questions of your fans • Use humor where appropriate • Post items that provoke comments

20. Twitter

21. Why listen to Twitter?

22. Tweetdeck.com – manage Twitter

23. Twellow.com – find people on Twitter Good way to search for a Twitter name you can use!

24. Typical Twitter Names • Municipal Gov’s: • Killeenweb • CarrolltonTX • HuttoTX • CVB’s: • BeaumontCVB • PadreDude • Chambers: • SAChamber (San Ant.) • AthensCoC • LufkinChamber

25. Twitter Tips • Decide what your voice and theme will be before you start. Don’t tweet about your breakfast! • Dialog with other Twitterers. You address another person on Twitter by using their username and the “@” sign. Example: “@carlawaco”. • Post interesting articles you find.

26. Twitter Tips (Continued) • It’s not a competition to get the highest number of followers. • Follow people who criticize you. • “Retweet” interesting posts from others – use RT and the other poster’s Twitter ID. Example: • RT @carlawaco: [original post goes here]

27. Twitter Tips • Hashtags (#) are used to group posts into topics (example: #festival). Go to hashtags.org or wefollow.com to see the most popular hashtags. • Use Tinyurl.com to shorten the URLs that you post. • Download a Tweetdeck (www.tweetdeck.com) to manage Twitter.

28. Other Social Media Tools • YouTube – upload some videos and display them on your website and/or Facebook page. • Flickr – Create a photo gallery of pictures from the various events you conduct. Put a link to the gallery from your website or FB page. • LinkedIn – Use this to create your personal brand. • Blogs – Create one at Wordpress.com and put a link to it on your website. • MySpace – in decline except for music/bands

29. Questions?Let's get started creating our Facebook Page, Twitter feed, and Blog!

30. Facebook • Login to your personal Facebook account. • If you do not yet have one, go to facebook.com and follow the steps. • Let me know when you are ready! • My Facebook logo is 200x150

31. Twitter • Choose a name. • Create your account if you have not already done so. • Start downloading a Tweetdeck (www.tweetdeck.com) • My Twitter logo is 185x185 • Or go here for downloadable templates: http://tinyurl.com/5sk5mm

32. A WordPress Blog • Wordpress.com – the gold standard of blogging • Blog is free • Various upgrades are available • Custom domain names • No ads (very occasional anyway) • My custom masthead is 760x200