Monday 15th September 2014 Presenter: Hannah Slater Basic Social Media Skills and Strategy for the VCS

Objectives for this workshop Participants will: Develop and improve their social media skills to support them in local engagement, online networking and collaboration Understand best practice in social media networking, engagement and marketing Develop a social media strategy that will enhance their organisational business plan and aim to make it more effective and sustainable

What is social media? A constantly evolving collection of online tools for: 1. Creating, sharing and exchanging information 2. Communicating and interacting with communities – building relationships Platforms include Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, LinkedIn, Wordpress, Youtube, Vimeo, Tumblr, etc... There is no one-size-fits-all social media solution! Engage London

Social media for the voluntary and community sector & for your organisation Pros? Cons?

Social media for the voluntary and community sector & for your organisation Pros It’s free! Great for engaging young people Great for networking Web content can grow and spread organically Cons Some online skills are required Can be time-consuming Not everyone is online Out of your control

Successful social media from the VCS #ALSIceBucketChallenge Organisation: ALS Association Aim: To raise money Platforms: Youtube, Facebook, Twitter Achievements: Raised $112.4m Videos were viewed more than 10 billion times and reached 440 million people Engage London

Successful social media from the VCS Engage London #NoMakeUpSelfie Organisation: Cancer Research UK Aim: To raise money Platforms: Facebook, Twitter Achievements: Raised £8m to fund 10 clinical trials

Successful social media from the VCS The Underwear Rule Autism Guide Organisation: NSPCC Aim: To disseminate the guide to prevent child abuse Platforms: Facebook,Twitter Achievements: 1,024 shares on Facebook alone in 3 days

Successful social media from the VCS Syria Crisis Status Organisation: Save the Children Aim: To raise awareness of aid crisis in Syria Platforms: Twitter, Facebook Achievements: Thousands of shares

Successful social media from the VCS Everyday Sexism Project Organisation: Everyday sexism Aim: To raise awareness of everyday sexism Platforms: Twitter Achievements: Thousands of followers and shares

Facebook Engage London “Facebook pages help causes and non-profit groups start a conversation and foster a meaningful dialogue to engage supporters and inspire advocacy”

Have a go on Facebook! If you don’t have one already, create a page for your organisation or Log into your organisation’s account and try to develop it – post content, interact, explore insights, find new groups to join and friends

Twitter Engage London Tweet: A 140-character message Retweet (RT): Re-sharing or giving credit to someone else's tweet Feed: The stream of tweets you see on your homepage. It's comprised of updates from users you follow Handle: Your username Mention A way to reference another user by his username in a tweet Users are notified It's a way to conduct discussions with other users in a public realm Direct Message (DM): A private, 140-character message between two people. You can decide whether to accept a Direct Message from any Twitter user, or only from users you are following Hashtag (#): A way to denote a topic of conversation or participate in a larger linked discussion (e.g. #AmericanIdol, #Obama). A hashtag is a discovery tool that allows others to find your tweets, based on topics. You can also click on a hashtag to see all the tweets that mention it in real time — even from people you don't follow

10 Twitter Tips 1. Engage with your followers #FF 2. Retweet interesting posts 3. Don’t be afraid to ask people to retweet yours 4. Follow interesting, relevant accounts 5. Always follow your followers back 6. Make your tweets interesting, funny or useful 7. Use #hashtags 8. Tweet frequently 9. Send tweets at relevant times in the day/night 10. Don’t use all 140 characters if you want people to retweet 11. Use shortlinks for links e.g. Tinyurl.com

Have a go on Twitter! If you don’t have one already, create an account for you/ your organisation or Log into your organisation’s account Post content Interact Find new accounts to follow Explore new Twitter tools

Blogging – why blog? Fresh, relevant content drives engagement Provides content to post on Facebook, Twitter, etc Improves your search engine rankings Be an expert Free blogging platforms such as Wordpress.com, Blogger.com Use video blogs, guest blogs, interviews, etc

Creating content First rule of social media: Content is king! Quality content (not spam) is important Content should be: Engaging Informative Creative Funny Thought-provoking Controversial Trend-setting Remember that posts with an image are more attention-grabbing and more likely to be read, liked, shared, retweeted, etc...

Creative content for engagement A few ideas: Competitions Ask questions – on a scale of 1 – 10..., Fill in the blank, ask for opinions/ideas Share your experiences – thought-provoking, funny, etc Ask people to post pictures Share a “Did you know...” each week Tell a riddle Create and share infographics Polls and surveys Tips and tricks Interviews and photos

Social media tools Measuring Time-saving Automation Engage London

Building a Social Media Strategy How does social media fit into your organisation’s existing activities and business plan? Marketing your organisation and activities to existing users and new Disseminating information – anti-bullying charities, mental health awareness, etc Building brand awareness Fundraising Combination of some/all these Engage London

Your social media strategy Who are you engaging on social media What does your social media aim to do for your organisation? What social media platform (s) are you using and is it appropriate to your target audience and aim? Where and when will you be updating social media? How do you currently carry out marketing/ fundraising/ awareness raising? How can your social media complement it best? Consistency is important – build in some time each day / week for social media Will you need a social media safeguarding policy?

Some final tips! Post quality content Engage and interact Be human and personable Be creative Be consistent Be disciplined with your time Have a social media plan Take action! Please fill in the evaluation form! Engage London