It's all about four key things: - Telling a story - Asking or answering questions - Giving your opinion - Telling your friends (share)

Social Media: The lay of the land More than 1.4 billion people globally use Facebook1.4 billion people The vast majority of American adults use Facebook, especially people under 30people under 30 Forty-one percent of all American adults get news on Facebook

% of users talking about Politics

4 Elements of a social media strategy Set yourself goals Carry out a social media audit Your strategy in practice (i.e. implementation) Measuring your success

Key Strategic Objectives Improved/Increased engagement with, and representation of, Americans living abroad Increased capacity to mobilize quickly on issue-based campaigns Policy and Advocacy messages have a Global slant and are creatively disseminated Able to evidence our organizational impact via our digital platforms and translate into investment resources (both human and financial) Increased Awareness & Support (financial, mentions, engagement) for DA Cross-cutting, strategic communication goals embedded in the Advocacy, Finance/Fundraising, Technology, Voter Registration and Volunteer/Membership Engagement divisions. Communication Goals Solidify Democrats Abroad’s online and social media “voice” in three ways: Engage core audience: Engage a broader audience of supporters, by keeping the interest of our current “clients” while piquing the interest of new supporters. Develop new relationships: Connect with sister State Parties and Democratic politicians/candidates digitally in order to form wider online “links” with those in our circle. This must be predicated on our existing ‘hard’ relationships and transferring these over online. Path to thought leadership: Begin intertwining our niche leadership role on policy and issues related to Americans living abroad and embedding it in our digital voice and outputs. Choose 2-3 relevant topics and policy issues to develop policy briefs and talking points around that would make good outputs for social media and the website (i.e. infographics, factographs, quizzes, quote captures etc.) Long-term, put Democrats Abroad on a path to become a source that news, media, activists and other sister State Parties turn to for global opinions on relevant current events. To be the “megaphone” for the voices of our members and the Democratic Party/Americans overseas. We share the stories within Democrats Abroad for other Democrats and/or Americans abroad. We engage and hear the voices of our members and have a strong, easily identified social media ‘voice’.

Common barriers to using social media - Find it hard to get team enthusiastic - The ‘boss’ doesn't get it - Lack of training - Not enough staff/volunteers/time - Our website isn't up to the job - Knowing what to invest in, technology is constantly changing - Unsure how we measure effectiveness - Understanding how we can integrate it in to our workload - We need a social media policy - We need a social media strategy - We'd be losing control

So, where are we: FacebookThe EMEA Leader Board: LikesCountryCommentsTwitter 1958UK3 1068France 760Belgium Ireland2 accounts205, Switzerland2 accounts143, Spain2 accounts37, Sweden The Netherlands 442Italy2 accounts40, Greece 411Austria2 accounts162, Germany 336Norway 299Egypt15 277Luxembourg 258Ukraine 206Israel30 205Czech Republic 191Denmark 156Hungary5 107Russia16 97UAE9 29Poland 26Turkey 24KenyaHas 2 FBs 16Finland 13Romania 11Nigeria 1Portugal 0ZambiaNo FB 0AfghanistanNo FB 0South AfricaNo FB

Facebook Pages best practices 1. Find your Facebook voice 2. Always share a link, photo or video in status updates 3. Post no more than one or two status updates per day 4. Do not sync Facebook to other social media channels to automate content 5. Encourage members and volunteers to be active on your Page 6. Have more than one page administrator 7. ‘Tag’ other pages to build partnerships 8. Integrate your Facebook Page into your website, e-newsletter, blog, print materials and s

Ideas for effective status updates Ask questions Fill in the blank/complete the sentence e.g. I am a member of Democrats Abroad because … Post photos Talk about topical issues that are in the news Acknowledge milestones Talk about Facebook! Talk about today – use key dates to start conversations e.g. mother’s day, Easter, Valentines, etc

Twitter Best Practice 1. Find your Twitter voice 2. Track your links 3. Don’t Tweet only your own content 4. Retweet and reply often 5. Follow often and follow on a 1:1 ratio 6. Create ‘lists’ to organise the chaos 7. Use #hashtags well 8. Tweet four to six times a day 9. Use Twitter to build your e-newsletter list, Facebook Likes, YouTube views Design your Twitter profile to match your branding

Content ideas 1. Share and comment on breaking news 2. Post calls to action 3. Share stories, photos and videos from events 4. Provide Country Committee updates 5. Tell your members’ stories 6. Interview experts 7. Allow guest posters to share their expertise 8. Share resources and useful tips 9. Ask for feedback 10. Lists...people love a top ten 11. Highlight special donors, customers, staff members and volunteers