Download - 10.17.12 Harnessing the Power of Social Media for Your Co-op

Harnessing the Power of Social Media for Your Co-op

How to Raise Your Co-op’s Profile Using Social MediaOctober 17, 2012

SpeakersColette Beyer

NCBAWendy Goldman Scherer

Cabot Creamery Cooperative

(Please check all that apply)

Facebook Twitter Pinterest/Instagram Blog None

Which social media platform is your organization using?

Objectives

• Setting Goals• Getting Started– Developing your value proposition– Identifying your core audience & their values– Choosing social media platforms– Listening to current conversations

• Gaining Influence– Crafting impactful, targeted messaging– Conversing in an authentic way

SETTING GOALS

Creating Social Media Goals

• What are you looking to achieve by creating and maintaining a social media presence?– Growth?– Influence?

• How will you define success using metrics?– Twitter: followers, retweets, replies– Facebook: likes, shares, comments– Pinterest: followers, likes, repins

Use Metrics to Measure Progress

• Measure yourself against yourself monthly

– Twitter• Number of Replies + Retweets / # Tweets /

Total Followers X 100

– Facebook• Likes + Comments + Shares / # Wall Posts /

Total Fans X 100

GETTING STARTED

What unique value do you deliver?

Identifying Your Audience

• Who are you trying to reach?

• What are your target audiences’ core values?• Tip: Utilize existing institutional knowledge on your target

and what they care about most

• Where do they look for valuable content?

• How do they like to receive information?

Choosing Platforms

• A crowded space: As of August 2011, 200 well known social networking sites existed online

• Concentrate on key platforms

• Tip: Create only what you can consistently maintain on a weekly basis

Listen to Current Conversations

• What are people saying about you?

• What are people saying about the area you’ve identified as a place where you can add value?

• Tool: HootSuite streams– Search for keywords and users– Create Twitter lists and monitor via HootSuite


Search can provide insight. For instance, this search (food OR grocery) AND (coop OR co-op OR cooperative) shows that visuals/photos are important to this target. Insight into keywords (for HootSuite or other) can be found, also.


• You’re already getting Google Alerts (aren’t you?) Watch for the social mentions and respond or make note for future strategies

• What are your competitors doing? Bookmark their social media pages and make a habit of scanning them– Facebook– Twitter– Pinterest– Blog

GAINING INFLUENCE

Crafting Impactful Messaging

• Be true to your brand• Tone and manner• You should be consistently identifiable

wherever you are – in person, online, in store, etc.

Tailoring Messaging

• Each platform is used differently• Don’t use the same message everywhere– ADAPT to the environment– Promotional messaging stands out – and not in a

good way– Don’t put the same message out exactly the same

repetitively (on any platform)

Authentic ConversationsTwitter

• Join the conversation and add value politely– Add value to show you’re not just interrupting a

conversation in progress– Answer questions, re-post others’ content– Share or retweet someone’s content with a small

piece of commentary at the front• Tip: keep updates to 130 characters or less with spaces

so others can retweet your message without having to truncate or heavily modify the content

Authentic ConversationsFacebook

• Provide entertaining or useful information • Promotion is okay, but don’t let it be the star• Messages ‘live’ longer • Visuals are key• Like, comment, share• Respond to customer/consumer questions in a

timely manner• Be human/set guidelines for team and fans

Authentic ConversationsPinterest

• Visuals! Don’t clutter nice visuals with a lot of words

• Slightly longer descriptions have been shown effective

• Photos have a long shelf life• Link back to your site when it makes sense• Like, comment, re-pin, follow back

Now What?

• Start listening• Choose 1-2 platforms that your co-op can

contribute to consistently• Listen to your audience• Talk with your audience• Help your audience• Measure and test for continuous

improvement