1. Beyond the Like:
Using Social Media to reach a wider audience and engage them in the FNPS mission

2. Beyond the Like: Entertain, Educate & Engage
Facebook, U-Tube, Linked-In, Twitter, Blogs, and Websites are all forms of social media. Go beyond the “like” and use a variety of social media to entertain, educate, and most importantly, engage your audience, and encourage them to adopt the FNPS mission.

3. Plant the Seed
Most people view social media for news and entertainment. Provide entertaining and informative content to engage your audience. You can entertain while you educate.
People will spend more time reading posts that teach them something new and interesting. Create or share the greatest and latest stories relative to your mission, and post new content daily. Your fans should view our social media as the authority on native plants and related topics.
Engage people by asking questions, starting conversations (comments) and promoting an exchange of ideas. Share the posts of others, and invite others to share your posts. In social media, the greatest form of flattery is sharing.

4. Who’s Using Social Media? % of U.S. Adults (age 18 +) who:
Use Social Media
Get their news from Social Media

5. News and information habits of:
Millennials - ages 18-34
88% get news from Facebook regularly and more than half of them do so daily.
 On average, those surveyed got news from more than three social media platforms
83% YouTube
50% Instagram
Research conducted by the Media Insight Project — an initiative of the American Press Institute and the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research (pub. 3/16/2015)

6. Know your audience

7. Facebook
Anyone can setup a Facebook page, but once you start one, what do you do with it? The simple answer is to write or share posts, but what you write or share is the key to winning and keeping fans.

8. Facebook Content Your Content
60%
information
30 %
promotion
10%
entertainment
Create or share news and information that supports your mission (blogs, videos, plant profiles, conservation news, science news, landscaping how-to)
Provide information about your events and share the events of other chapters.
Even posts that are mostly entertaining, such as a photo or video, should be informative, and in line with the interest of your fans, while supporting the FNPS mission.

9. Facebook: Frequency vs Fresh
Not posting enough will make your social media account look barren. However, posting too much will make you look like a spammer and will most likely annoy your followers. So, how many posts should you aim for?
A good rule of thumb is no less than 1, but no more than 2 post(s) per day. This will put you at an average of 7-14 posts per week.
NOTE: Linking Facebook to Twitter: If you link your Facebook to your Twitter account, your first 113 characters of your Facebook post will be your tweet, so make it catchy!

10. Information Google Alerts:
Share news from reliable sources that supports the FNPS mission.
Google Alerts:
Sign up for google alerts on “Florida native plants” or imply “native plants” for a daily or weekly of web content with those “key words”.
Beware of unreliable results: Some links are spams, sales pitches and not on-message with out mission.

11. Information
SHARE news from reliable sources that supports the FNPS mission.
Not ALL of the content you share via social media should come directly from your organization. Content curation involves linking to and introducing interesting content (blogs, videos, etc.). Simply find content that relates to your organization and briefly tell your followers what the article is about and how it is relevant to their interests.
Sharing or “curating” content is an easy way to keep your social media feed active.

12. Promotion Post your events and share the events of others that your members will want to know about.
Here are two different events: An upcoming Clean-up Day posted on the Sarracenia page and a Wagon Tour shared from the Suncoast Page to the FNPS page.
Note how the Sarracenia post says “Mark Your Calendar and “Pass the Word.”
Don’t be afraid to ask others to share your posts, and remember, you need to share to be shared.

13. Promotion It’s OK to brag sometimes, and let everyone know the good you do
Don’t just post upcoming events, but write about them after they happen.
How many people attended? What did you accomplish? How much fun did they miss?
“Tag” people who were there so they see the post in their Facebook feed.
This post is a link to the Ixia Blog that highlights their great work in restoring Native Park to be truly a “native” park.
Note the appreciative comment by someone who used to live by the park and saw its demise.

14. Photos and Graphics Hook them with a great visual
Hook them with a great image! People retain information 6 times longer if an image is paired with the information.
Photos (and videos) get more likes and more shares than any other posts on Facebook.
You should ALWAYS use a visual when you post. In fact, your post may be centered around a visual. If so, Post relevant, visually interesting photos that engage users by asking a question or give a fact.
Roger Hammer never posts a photo without a story. This post of Spanish Moss reached 6,672 people, and had about 25 comments.

15. Tips Before You Post
Will your audience find it interesting? Funny? Creative? If not, don’t post it.
Check all the links in the post to make sure they work, and that they link to relevant content.
Communication is most effective when there is an entertainment value to it. Photos and videos are ways to add entertainment.
It is OK to ask your fans to share your posts, especially when you are posting original content and an action is required, such as attending an event.
Include links. Link to your chapter’s website or blog. Link to the FNPS website. Better yet, link to a specific page on the FNPS website relative to your post, such as a plant profile, the conference or a specific conference fieldtrip.

16. Linkedin 46% of Linkedin users are age 30-49
Linkedin, founded in 2002, is the world's largest professional network with hundreds of millions of members.
Linkedin Mission: To connect the world's professionals to make them more productive and successful. 
46% of Linkedin users are age 30-49

19. YouTube 38% of users are age 18-29 30% of users are age 30-49
Launched in May 2005, YouTube allows billions of people to discover, watch and share originally-created videos.
YouTube acts as a distribution platform for original content creators and advertisers large and small.
YouTube Mission: To provide fast and easy video access and the ability to share videos frequently.
38% of users are age 18-29
30% of users are age 30-49

21. Videos Tab

22. Playlists Tab

23. Channels Tab

24. Does your chapter have videos?
Do you want a YouTube Channel for your chapter?
We can create a Channel for you and grant management permission to those of your choice
Naples and The Villages have channels waiting for uploads
All Channels will be accessible from the main FNPS Channel and individually

25. BLOG Why Blog?
Blogs increase your credibility by providing relevant, reliable content
Blogs provide a platform to connect with like-minded people, building your community of supporters and potential volunteers
Blogs provide fresh content about your organization and cause, keeping people engaged
Blogs can help you reach more people.
Blogs can increase traffic to your website and other social media though the use of links and shares.

26. BLOG What do you blog about?
Record your accomplishments
Create a photo essay on your last fieldtrip or native plant garden installation.
Write about interesting people in your chapter or related field.
Write a “how-to” blog on a relevant topic
Do a book review
Repurpose a presentation
Write about a previous event or fieldtrip as sequel to promoting a future event.

27. BLOG What do you blog about?
Committee initiatives and accomplishments: Write about your initiatives, why you choose them and achieved or desired results.

28. BLOG Blogging: Tips
Blogs: words is a good target range, but new data says longer blogs, about 1,600 words, or 7 minutes to read, are better.
Post new blogs 3-4 times a week if possible.
Use excellent graphics and photos in your blog
Break up long content with bulleted lists
Use links to your information sources, FNPS, your chapter website or your other social media.
You can start a blog for your chapter for FREE with WordPress, Wix, Google Blogger OR you can contribute your blog material to the FNPS Blog.

29. Words and Character Count…. A moving target…
Your Blog Post should be as long, or short, as it needs to be, as long as it is relevant.
The length of your headline depends on what your goals are and where it will appear.
Do you want this post to rank really well in search? Then keep the title under 70 characters so it doesn't get cut off in search engine results, and put keywords near the front to make it more attractive in search results.
Are you trying to optimize your title for social sharing? For it to be tweetable, you won't want to exceed 116 characters. (That's the 140-character limit on Twitter, minus the 23 characters a URL takes up in a tweet, minus one for the space between the title and the link.)

30. Links to FNPS Web and Social Media Sites
FNPS Website
FNPS Facebook
FNPS Blog
FNPS Linkedin
FNPS Twitter
FNPS on YouTube
FNPS Flickr Photos
Questions?
Contact Donna Bollenbach, Social Media Director