Writing for Social Media

Eric Melin@SceneStealrEric@Spiral16

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Why Use Social Media?

Engaging regularly through social media can:

• Increase awareness• Build trust and loyalty• Increase web traffic• Build relationships• Help stay up on trends• Help generate content ideas

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Before You Start

• Identify your target audience• Demographics, needs, wants

• Find out where they live online• Websites, social channels

• Choose which channels to focus on• List your goal(s)• Figure out time/budget constraints

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Hitting the Relevancy Bullseye

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Hitting the Relevancy Bullseye

Time-relevant – holidays, newsjacking, trending, seasonal

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Hitting the Relevancy Bullseye• Geography-relevant – include geography

if that is key

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Hitting the Relevancy Bullseye

• Audience/interest-relevant – identify, speak to them in as few words as possible

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Hitting the Relevancy Bullseye

• Helpful/useful-relevant – tips, resources

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Twitter TacticsFollow people and organizations that are interesting to you/your audience.

Your Twitter account will become a real-time news feed of the issues and topics you care about.

This is content that you can share. Make sure it’s something your audience cares about.

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Twitter Tactics

60% of content should be from other sources, always with full credit

30% should be conversation, thank yous, adding your opinion

10% should be your own content.

Some say 70/20/10 – either way, you get the idea!

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Twitter TacticsRemember to @ people and give them credit (via @username) when sharing links.

Compliment the source, ask a question, or add discussion.

If @ is the 1st character of your tweet, only that person will see it, so if not a direct response, use “.@”

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#EWBUSA2013

Twitter TacticsFollow local and cause-related hashtags and join in on the conversation. Create your own hashtag for your events.

#activism#advocacy#causes#charity#charitytuesday#csr – corporate social responsibility#donate#fundraising#ngo – nongovernmental organization#nonprofit#nonprofits#npcons – nonprofit consultants

#nptech – nonprofit tech#philanthropy #sm4sg – social media for social good#socent – social entrepreneur or social enterprise#socialgood#video4change#volunteer#volunteersCHATS#nptalk – nonprofit talk #ynpchat – young nonprofit professionals #npcons – nonprofit consultants #socentchant – social entrepreneurs #smNPchat – small nonprofits http://www.companykmedia.com/2011/05/18/30-super-useful-nonprofit-hashtags-twitter-chats-too/#sthash.O3ixBOLE.dpuf

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Twitter TacticsLive tweet during events.

Follow others using the hashtag.

Meeting people in the real world and following them on Twitter can cement relationships.

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Twitter TacticsEstablish your “voice.”

Be authentic and friendly.

Use plain-spoken language, not industry jargon.

Ask questions.

Answer others.

Retweet and favorite.

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A Good Tweet• Is 120 characters or

under – use numbers, eliminate non-essential characters, maximize ease of reading

• Uses a link shortener

• Includes a hashtag or two to expand reach (research for the optimal one)

• Includes an image

• Includes a link

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Statistics• Tweets using Twitter’s

uploader are 94% more likely to be retweeted

• Tweets with hashtags are twice as likely to be retweeted, but only up to two

• 70% of RTs contain a link

• Tweets asking for retweets are 40-50% more likely to be retweeted

http://

http://shopify.com/blog/9511075-the-science-of-retweets-10-steps-to-going-viral-on-twitter#axzz2tIijRgCxhttp://mashable.com/2013/04/25/nestivity-engaged-brands/

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StatisticsFrequency• Trial and error – find the frequency

your audience responds to best• Look at competitors

Timing• Response rates are highest

between lunch – end of work day• Take time zones into consideration• Take industry into consideration• Trial and error

http://mashable.com/2013/04/25/nestivity-engaged-brands/

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Look at Twitter AnalyticsTells you • How many clicks the link has

received from Twitter• How many favorites• Retweets• Replies• Special box for tweets with more

than 2X the normal reach

Also gives you a monthly time-line for mentions, follows, unfollows.

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Become an Expert

Branden Hampton, @Notebook = 40 percent more engagement

than any other brand:

“The secret to success as a business on Twitter is conveying the industry’s message, not your business’. When your followers learn that you’re an industry expert, they’ll trust your business when they look for a product in that industry.”  “A jeweler, for example, shouldn’t tweet all day about their latest collections or newest diamonds. Instead, they should tweet checklists for brides, awesome proposal videos and tips on handling wedding stress. Their followers will see them as an expert, and are more likely to trust – and purchase from – them when they’re ready to take the plunge.”

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Blogging Subjects

• How-tos• Tips/resources/whitepapers• Infographics• Research/reports/surveys• Trends• Different verticals• Personal reflections and how they relate to the

bigger picture• Tangentially related fun stuff

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HeadlinesA catchy headline is the top influencer on Americans' likelihood to read an online or print article in full (54%) – Harris Interactive

“It’s not just about finding great stories. You also need to choose a compelling angle and write a great headline.”

“If something can be sensationalized in a certain way to provoke a certain feeling in the reader that tends to do the best.” 

- Neetzan Zimmerman, authored 9 of Top 10 Gawker posts from 2013

• Appeal to human interest; inspire• Evoke primal emotion

http://www.slideshare.net/HubSpot/9-tips-viralcontentslideshare “Study data and improve!”

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Humor

Funny posts and pictures of animals are the most popular Facebook posts on the planet.

Just make sure your post fits in somehow with your mission/story.

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Questions?

Thanks!

@SceneStealrEric@Spiral16