TELLING YOUR STORY CREATING COMPELLING CONTENT

THINK COMMUNITIES, NOT AUDIENCES WHO IS YOUR COMMUNITY? WHAT PLATFORMS ARE USED BY THAT COMMUNITY? FACEBOOK, TWITTER, INSTAGRAM, LINKEDIN, PINTEREST, YOUTUBE, VIMEO, ETC. GO WHERE YOUR COMMUNITY IS ALREADY. CREATE ACCOUNTS ON ALL MAJOR PLATFORMS. CREATE CONTENT APPROPRIATE FOR EACH PLATFORM.

BRANDING IS ESSENTIAL KNOW YOUR BRAND. BE CONSISTENT. USE YOUR LOGO AS YOUR PROFILE PICTURE, BUT MAKE SURE IT FITS PROPERLY. MAKE PROFILE IMAGES CONSISTENT TO GENERATE TRUST IN CONTENT. HAVE MORE THAN ONE ACCOUNT MANAGER. DEFINE INDIVIDUAL CAMPAIGNS. WATCH THE COMPETITION.

CREATING A CAMPAIGN START WITH A GOAL. MAKE A PLAN FOR SUCCESS. CREATE A TIMELINE. (EDITORIAL CALENDAR) PLAN POSTS FOR EACH PLATFORM. BE CREATIVE. BRAINSTORM IDEAS EARLY. LEARN AND ITERATE. GATHER CONTENT BASED ON YOUR TIMELINE. CONTENT SHOULD BE UNIQUE FOR EACH PLATFORM. SOME OVERLAP IS OKAY, BUT DON’T JUST REPEAT POSTS ACROSS ALL PLATFORMS.

WHAT IS YOUR GOAL? SET GOALS THAT ARE RELEVANT TO YOUR OVERALL MISSION. MEASURE BASED ON GOALS. TRYING TO GENERATE TRAFFIC? MEASURE UNIQUE VISITORS. TRYING TO INCREASE FUNDRAISING? MEASURE DONATIONS GENERATED. DON’T FOCUS JUST ON “LIKES” AND “FOLLOWS”. A SMALLER FOLLOWING THAT IS MORE ENGAGED IS BETTER THAN A LARGE FOLLOWING THAT IS UNENGAGED.

BE CONVERSATIONAL LISTEN TO THE VOICE OF YOUR COMMUNITY. SPEAK IN A SIMILAR VOICE. COMMUNICATE WITH PERSONALITY. BE AUTHENTIC.

ASK QUESTIONS ASKING QUESTIONS GENERATES RESPONSES. RESPONSES INCREASE THE VISIBILITY OF YOUR POST. BUT DON’T ASK MEANINGLESS QUESTIONS. GATHER GENUINE FEEDBACK AND USE IT WHENEVER POSSIBLE. ENGAGE YOUR COMMUNITY, DON’T TRY TO SELL THEM.

PLANNING FOR AN EVENT CREATE AN EVENT PAGE ON FACEBOOK. WRITE A GREAT DESCRIPTION OF THE EVENT. MAKE GREAT PHOTOS TO PROMOTE THE EVENT. LIST IT ON COMMUNITY CALENDARS LIKE OVATIONS365.COM, 13WMAZ, THE TELEGRAPH, ETC. IF THE EVENT IS TICKETED, SELL THEM ONLINE. MERCER TICKETING. EVENTBRITE.COM

TYPES OF CONTENT A STRONG, CONCISE EVENT DESCRIPTION IS IMPORTANT. COMPELLING PHOTOS AND OTHER IMAGERY DO WELL ON SOCIAL MEDIA. BLOG POSTS, PRESS RELEASES, ETC. VIDEO IS GETTING MORE AND MORE IMPORTANT. TWEETS, FACEBOOK POSTS, ETC. USE A HASHTAG #MACONMADE #MACONARTS #FIRSTWELISTEN

LEADING UP TO AN EVENT ENGAGE EARLY. ASK THE COMMUNITY FOR FEEDBACK AS YOU PLAN THE EVENT. SHOW WHAT’S HAPPENING “BEHIND THE SCENES”. SPREAD OUT BIG ANNOUNCEMENTS ACROSS THE DAYS LEADING UP TO AN EVENT. SPREAD OUT POSTS ON DIFFERENT PLATFORMS THROUGHOUT THE DAY. POST TO FACEBOOK OFTEN, POST TO TWITTER MORE OFTEN…

THINK MOBILE FIRST ONLINE CONTENT, ESPECIALLY SOCIAL MEDIA, IS CONSUMED PRIMARILY ON MOBILE DEVICES. WEBSITES SHOULD BE MOBILE RESPONSIVE. IT SHOULD BE EASY TO PURCHASE TICKETS FROM A SMARTPHONE. GREAT PHOTOS. VIDEO. VIDEO. VIDEO.

RESOURCES TO LEARN MORE SETH GODIN MASHABLE.COM NETWORKFORGOOD.COM HOOTSUITE

WORDS OF WISDOM THE MOST IMPORTANT THING YOU CAN DO IS BE WORTH TALKING ABOUT.

BURNING QUESTIONS IS BUYING ADS FOR SOCIAL MEDIA REALLY NECESSARY? HOW DO YOU GET YOUR MESSAGE TO SOCIAL MEDIA "STRANGERS" (SAFELY) RATHER THAN JUST YOUR "FRIENDS/FOLLOWERS"? WHAT IS THE BEST WAY TO COORDINATE POSTS BETWEEN MULTIPLE TYPES OF SOCIAL MEDIA? CAN YOU USE THE SAME POST ON TWITTER AND FACEBOOK OR SHOULD THEY ALWAYS BE DIFFERENT? WHAT KEY FACTORS DO YOU SUGGEST INCLUDING TO MAKE THE STORY POWERFUL? WONDERING HOW TO GET PAST THE NEGATIVE WHEN TALKING ABOUT SEXUAL ASSAULT AND DOMESTIC VIOLENCE. THESE ARE NOT EASY TOPICS AND MANY PEOPLE ARE VERY UNCOMFORTABLE DISCUSSING THEM.