Social Media at LISC June 2012

LISC Social Media What is it? New ways to distribute our news and stories that engages, interacts and shares. Why do it? It’s where people go to get information. How are we doing it? Focus on content and best venues for distributing it.

Social Media is Important  Broad distribution – many more places on the Internet to show your work  Expand your audience - 23% of the time spent online is on social network sites & blogs (e.g., Facebook has 900 million users/1 trillion page views per month; YouTube has 800 million viewers/100 billion page views, etc.)  Influence - 60% of social media users say they are more likely to talk, review, recommend a company or product that they follow  Immediate – Fast and easy way to reach your audience  Free – Platforms are free but cost in staff time and organizational resources to create and maintain content

Social Media core part of LISC communications Social Media:  Facebook  Twitter  LinkedIn Social Content Sharing:  YouTube channel  Flickr photo site Online Foundation:  Website  e-Newsletters  Content

Website is still the Foundation  Website is the 24/7 information outlet  It drives traffic to and from other online media  Even among Facebook users, 85% will look to your website to learn about your organization  More complete information on the website  80,000 page views per month  Incorporate more social media functionality

LISC national website Multimedia and Featured Content Links to social media Opinion/Blog type Feature News, events, publications

LISC Facebook  2,600 “likes” or fans  Easy and immediate way to reach constituents  Drives viewers to our website  Post LISC and industry news, events, photos, videos, grant applications, etc.  Active users went up 600% per month over the past year  Feedback and comments up 90% in the past year  15 additional Facebook pages managed locally, linked nationally

LISC Twitter  1,300 followers (up 63% in 6 months)  Followers include many of our funders and industry organizations  Helps us monitor the industry  Linked to our Facebook page  Easy and immediate way to reach constituents  Drives viewers to our website  10 additional Twitter feeds managed locally

LISC YouTube  Great way to show the impact of our work.  Control the narrative  173 videos posted  Viewed 37,000 times  Embed videos into LISC family of websites  Easy platform for multimedia in websites

LISC Flickr (photos)  Great way to show the impact of our work  2,800 photos posted  Photos of projects, programs, events  Viewed 133,000 times  Embed slideshows into LISC family of websites  Funders use the site to select photos for their own publications and videos

LISC Blogging  Developing a plan for it  Contribute to industry blogs, Look to create our own  Way to generate our own news and commentary  Publicize our expertise in community development and specific topics such as housing, financial opportunity, retail and community facilities, safety, playing fields...  Traditional media outlets monitor industry blogs  Blogs are ranked highest for engaging an existing audience  Blogs are great for search engine optimization; easy to find using search engines.  Promote your website and other online resources

LISC Social Media Do’s & Don’ts  Be brief and conversational  Be real  Be relevant to your industry  Share  Be non-partisan  Post regularly but Do NOT spam  Be responsive

Social media integration  Publicize your social media pages  Links to social media sites on all of our electronic communications (websites, e-newsletters, , etc.)  Subscribe to other organizations social media pages  Share button on all web content  Publicize social media sites on print publications  Make sure staff knows

LISC Social Media  Steadily increasing followers and fans, commentary and engagement  Uptick in website traffic  Always a work in progress; social media is constantly evolving, adapting Is It Working?

Considering Social Media  Do you have an online foundation?  Staff time and resources... Two hours per week per social media channel (after set up)  Better to do one or two sites well than multiple channels poorly  Identify your social media goals (raise awareness, drive action)  Match your social media site with your content and goals

LISC Social Media Michael Tang Vice President, LISC Communications