Social MediaBEST PRACTICES

your starter guide to postingengaging content

CONTENTSOrientation

Social Media in CanadaSocial Media GloballyTakeawaysSocial Media InsightsEngagement SecretsGo MobileContent is KingRule of ThirdsExamplesThe Most Important Tip

References

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ORIENTATIONWelcome to the world of Social Media – one of thefastest growing and increasingly more effective waysof communicating with a general audience. Thisquick guide is intended to familiarize you with bestpractices of using social media as an organizationalcommunication tool. Before we get into the details,let’s set the scene for Social Media.

In order to understand how important yourmessaging is on Social Media, we should firstunderstand the reach and impact of social media.

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IN CANADA

Canadians visit Twitter about 5times a week

31% of those residing in thePrairies use this social network

18% of college graduates preferTwitter

Top Social Media network, withover 50% of Canadians using thesite

Canadians visit the site about 9times a week

68% of college graduates preferFacebook

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GLOBAL SNAPSHOT

2.078 Billion1.65 Billion

72%93%

Active Social Media Accounts

Active Mobile Social Media Accounts

of Canadianpopulation uses

Internet

of web trafficis mobile

1 in 3 peopleglobally hasan account

on SocialMedia

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WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR US?

GO WHERE YOUR AUDIENCE IS

Based on these statistics, we can draw someindicative conclusions about the way we shouldstructure and publish our social media posts.

For a lot of organizations, their audience is onFacebook. For others, Twitter is more effective tocommunicate with customer.

In either case, remember that Facebook content ≠Twitter content when you prepare your posts. This isbecause Facebook posts have a different structure,purpose and content than Twitter (otherwise wewouldn’t have two networks).

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Useful, interesting and retweetablecontent (statistics, facts, graphics for statsand quotes)

Clear concise language – avoidabbreviations and always use properpunctuation (colons, semicolons). Askingfollowers to ‘retweet’ works 23X betterthan asking to ‘RT’ (which is still 10X betterthan nothing)

Curate your content using appropriate andengaging retweets and shares. Make yourTwitter an engaging and interesting placeto be

Tweeting consistently and oftenthroughout the day helps you breakthrough the clutter

Weekend tweets have less competition, butalmost the same audience size

Include links, but do not over-hashtag.Search a hashtag before including it tomake sure you are reaching the properaudience

Visual posts (photos, infographics,graphics, posters, etc)

Questions – to be able to generatediscussion on posts, bumping it higherin the newsfeeds

NOT hashtags – even though Facebooksupports hashtags, they are rarely usedon the platform

Unless a video is short and engaging, itmay not receive the attention itdeserves

Photo Galleries engage audiences inyour process and build relationships

Surveys can increase the virality of your posts by 139%

What Works on TwitterWhat Works on Facebook

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SOCIAL MEDIA INSIGHTS

UNDERSTAND WHAT ENGAGES PEOPLE

A few things have been known to promote virality ofposts on Facebook. In descending order of effect, thefollowing properties ensure your Facebook posts arewell-received:

Posts should be easily andquickly read andunderstood. Think aboutthe core of your message,and highlight it, buildingthe post around the keytakeaway.

Stay practical andsuccinct. Avoidabstract phrases orwords that mayconfuse the readerand make themuncomfortable.

Emotionally charged (but not inflated – stick to the facts) postsare able to evoke sentiment and an emotional connection in thereader, making them more likely to like, share and comment.

simple

CONCISE

emotional8

THINK MOBILE

Mobile social media is a huge audience, and thatmeans we have to think about the way our postsshow up on phones.

Share links to mobile-friendly pages

Avoid links that lead to document downloadsdirectly

Make sure your Facebook posts display properly onFacebook mobile (you can check by testing your poston your own Facebook page, setting the visibility to“Only Me”)

Shareable content means it’s bite-sized, it’svisual, and it’s fun to share (social contentthat other people might find interesting).

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SOCIAL MEDIA ROYALTY

SPICE IT UP

CONTENT IS KING

If you read any blog dedicated to social media, thissentiment will come up over and over again –content is the most important part of socialmedia. After all, if you have nothing to say, no onewill listen.

In curating and choosing content to put on socialmedia, a metaphor can be useful – think of socialmedia as a live conversation, taking place over adifferent medium (online). You would not enjoytalking to someone who only talked about him orherself. Nor would you be engaged by constantadvertising. The conversations we most enjoyhaving are those we can understand, those we canrelate to and those we can easily contribute to.

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RULE OF THIRDSIn social media, it is helpful to follow a rule of thirds. Dividingyour content in this way is an easy way to add variety to yourposts.

When you think about your posts, ask yourself if you would be interested inreading more about the post. Would you share it? If not, consider revising.

Keep social media content synchronized with your key messages and publicperception. Your audience should have a strong grasp of your brand acrossnetworks.

Much like you would not expect a consumer brand chiming in on a medicalissue, make sure your content is aligned with your mission and theway your audience perceives you.

Posts about theauthoringorganizations(links to website,PR and otherupdates)

Posts about currentevents relevant tothe organization’sfield (developmentsin the field, debates,issue updates)

Shared contentfrom similarsources

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30% 30% 30%

TRY THIS

Here are examples of four types of messages that frequentlyshow up on Social Media:

Chronic diseases represent 90% of the disease burden yetAlberta invests only 3% of the health care budget on prevention.

Check out how our neighbours to the South are approachingsugar-sweetened beverages taxes: http://bit.ly/RJNOUx

Spring is here! Have you tuned up your bike? Activetransportation is good for your health and the environment.

Retweet: do you want to be part of creating Alberta’s newculture of wellness? Show your support and sign uptoday: http://bit.ly/QDtz9S

Key Messages

Recent News/Evidence

Invitation to Engage

Call to Action

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BE GENUINE

Social Media is a conversation with a friend. Wevalue friends who are honest, interesting, relevantand most importantly, genuine. Social Media is anopportunity to curate an experience between yourorganization and your audience. While creativity isimportant, being genuinely committed to carrying aconversation is even more important.

There are 27,000,000 pieces of content on SocialMedia every day . The key to stand out is to becommitted, consistent, genuine and relevant. And tohave fun.

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REFERENCES

2015 Canadian Social Media Usage Statistics, Forum Research

James Scherer, 5 Ways to Optimize Your Social Media Content toCombat Content Shock, Content Marketing Institute,http://contentmarketinginstitute.com/2014/02/optimize-social-media-content-combat-content-shock/

Nonprofit Tech for Good, 2015,http://www.nptechforgood.com/2015/02/08/10-twitter-best-practices-for-nonprofits/

Social Media Examiner, 2013, http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/new-facebook-marketing-research/

We Are Social’s new Digital, Social and Mobile in 2015 report,

Which content works on Facebook, We Are Social, 2012,http://wearesocial.net/blog/2012/10/content-works-facebook/

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Social MediaBEST PRACTICES

www.promohack.com

Facebook is visited9 times a week

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