Social Media 101 FBU 401
Social media is a culture changer F A C E B O K 150 million users nearly 3X a cell phone 2/3 of users being beyond college age Women over 50
Trust in Media Sources
1 Billion users- Half of users are active and log in every day
500 million tweets per day-last year 58 million
(tubed.com Dec. 2013)
Mark Lynus Environmental Activist
Connect with friends and family Largest social platform Limited visibility reduces the potential for reach
Facebook Posting Guidelines No more than once every 4 hours, unless there is a special circumstance Staggering posts prevents spamming Do not link your Facebook and Twitter accounts 45, 602
Conversational short platform, driven by news and celebrities Allows content to spread rapidly Need to be reactive and real-time to stay relevant
Twitter 1. It is best to have short messages and explain *Shorten your URLs with https://bitly.com 2. Tweet as much as you want 3. Try to @ (reply) & commenting on other 4. No more than 3 # per tweet—Use hashtags
Video sharing site, also the world’s second largest search engine Hosting and embedding video for use on other platforms Traditional content struggles to get traction
YouTube Create a scene Find your voice Keep it simple Have a hook Use tags
Water and Poo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SAUw9GO6tgE
Fast-growing and exclusively mobile picture sharing Feeding low-cost, high-impact pictures
See the world in Squares: 1×1 crop Pay attention to details Capture the moment Use borders Be creative
Virtual pin boards with a heavy creative and visual focus Can be a great source of inspiration and content Limited adoption, female-focused within US (male dominated outside US)
Note the 500 character limit on your descriptions
Social Communications Principles Audiences Objectives Strategies--What do you currently post about and share with your networks?
Through Social Media You Can… 1. Personal conversations 2. Engaging and educated 3. Share proactive content without getting confrontational
Social Media Sharing Guidelines 1. Be Transparent 2. Be Truthful 3. Be Respectful 4. Be Inquisitive—seek to understand the questions and concerns others have
Tone on Social Media Your tone should be: Informative Professional Approachable Knowledgeable Conversational
Social Media on the Hill 64% congressional staff think Facebook is important tool to communicate with constituents. 42% Twitter 72% of staffers believe they reach people they had previously not communicated with.
Advocating from your tractor seat Tweet/Post/Blog Regularly Use Relevant and compelling content Use hashtags Talk about specific legislation/issues Re-tweet others Be creative Be strategic
What to post/tweet about… Tell people about what you are doing on your farm/ranch Promote upcoming events Share interesting news articles Pretty pictures/Interesting videos Start or join controversial issues affecting agriculture
Why do it?