a guide to

GLOSSARYOFTERMSUSEDINTHISGUIDE

Term DefinitionChannel

Character

Follower

Hashtag

Meme

Post

Tagging

Tweet

@tag

Thesocialmediamediumyouareusing(ieTwitter,Facebook)

Aletter,symbolorspace-usedtomeasurethelengthofapost

Someonewhoisconnectedtoyoursocialmediachannel

Akeywordusedinapostthatisprecededwiththe#symbol

Animage/video/pieceoftextcopiedandspreadviasocialmedia

Themessage/itemsharedonyoursocialmediachannel

Includinganotheruser

Thetermusedforpostson Twitter

Taggingapersonororganisationwithinapostbyusingtheirusername

precededbythe@symbol

©TheseresourcesmustnotbecopiedordistributedunlesspermissionhasbeengivenbyParenttoParentNewZealandInc.

Contents SOCIALMEDIA 4SOCIALMEDIACHANNELS 5GENERALRULES 6INCREASINGPOSTINTERACTION 7IMAGESIZES 9HASHTAGS(#) 11POSTINGFREQUENCY 12SCHEDULINGPOSTS 13CREATINGACONTENTSCHEDULE 14SOCIALMEDIAPLAN 15

social media Socialmediaisarelativelynewphenomenonthat,likeitornot,ishereforthelongterm.Ithasbecomeanessentialtoolforbusinessestohaveinthe2010s-simplyhavingawebsitedoesnotmeanthatyouwillgetwebbasedinteractionwithyouraudiences.

Socialmediaisadifferentwayofoperatingfromyourtraditionalstaticadvertisingmethods(print,radio,television)becauseitisinteractive.Itrequiresconstantattentionanduptodateandtopicalcontent.Simplypostingsomethingonasocialmediasitedoesnotguaranteeanyengagement-itneedstoberelevantand interactive.

Itisgenerallyacceptednowthatbusinessesneedtohavesocialmedia,butcreatingaFacebookpageorTwitteraccountrequireswork.Itcanbemoredetrimentaltoyourorganisationtohaveasocialmediaaccountthatisstaleandnotupdated,thanitistonothaveoneatall.

Businessesneedtothinkaboutwhatmessagetheywanttogetout,whotheywanttotargetandwhatresultstheywanttogetfromtheirsocialmediacampaigns.Havingaplanwillensurethataconsistentmessageisbeingsentouttotheworld,andwillensurethatsocialmediachannelsarekeptuptodateandrelevant.Thisguideisatooltohelpyoualongthewaywithmanagingyoursocialmediachannels.

Theguidegivetipsaboutusingthechannelswell,planningacampaignandusinguptodateandrelevantcontent.

social media channels Choosingtherightchannelisimportantifyouwanttoreachyourtargetedaudience.Asageneralrule,pickoneortwochannelsandfocusyourtimeonthese-themorechannelsyouhavethemoretimeyouwillhavetospendmaintainingthem.

FacebookisbyfarthemostwidelyusedchannelinNewZealand,andisusedbythewidestnumberofagegroups.ThefastestgrowingagergroupofFacebookusersispeopleaged50-60.Facebookhasrecentlybuiltinahashtagfunction.

TwitterhasnottakenoffinNewZealandasmuchasithasinothercountries.ItisusedmainlybypublicfiguresandorganisationsinNewZealand,butisagreatwaytoconnectwithgroupsandindividualswithahighprofile.TwitterisearmarkedtogrowinpopularityinNewZealand.

Instagramhasbeenearmarkedasthenextbigsocialmediaplatform.Theplatformisusedmainlybyayoungeraudience.

Linkedinisgreatforbuildingupaprofessionalnetworkandisalsousedbyjobseekersandtalentseekers.Thechannelisalsousedasawaytodrivesales.Usedbyanthe30+agedprofessionals.

Pinterestisavirtual‘pin-board’andallowsyoutopostvisualitemssuchasphotosandinfographics.Thischannelisgrowingveryfastandisusedbyamoreaffluentagegroup.

Google+wasearmarkedasthe‘nextbigthing’insocialmedia,butfailedtotakeoff.Manyorganisationscreatedanaccountinanticipationofthischanneltakingoff,butveryfewactuallyuseit.Someonlineblogsrefertothischannelas‘thewalking dead.’

General Rules MODERATEYOURCHANNELS

Don’tleaveyoursocialmediachannelstotheirowndevices.Checkthemdaily-rememberanyonecanwritematerialonsocialmedia,andanegativemessageleftunattendedcancausedamagetotheorganisation’sreputation.

THINKBEFOREYOUDELETE

Sometimesnegativemessagescanbepostedbypeopleonyourchannels,butdeletingthesecanbeworse than leaving themunattended.Wherepossible,writeapositively framed response to thecomment.

DON’TCREATEMORECHANNELS

Themorechannelsyouhave,themoreworkisrequiredtokeepthemcurrentanduptodate.Everytimeyoucreateanewchannel,youalsoneedtobuildanewaudience.Wherepossible,usethechannelsthatareavailabletoexecuteyoursocialmediaplan.Thesehavepre-establishedfollowingsandassociatedreputationyoucanbuildfrom.

USETHECHANNESTHATSUITYOURAUDIENCE

Pickingachannelthatsuitsyouraudienceisimportant,asdifferentchannelshaveadifferenttypeoffollowing.

• 50years+areunlikelytouseTwitterorInstagram,keepcampaignsforthisagegrouptoFacebook.

• TeensaremorelikelytoengagewithInstagram,usingthiswillsuityourmarketandupyourengagementlevel.

• TwitterismostlyusedbycelebritiesororganisationsinNewZealand,butitsuseisrising.GettingaTwitterfollowingisgoodfutureproofing.

WHEREPOSSIBLE,POSTWITHAPHOTOORVIDEO

Statisticallyspeaking,poststhatincludeaphotoget39%moreinteractionthanpoststhatonlyhavetext.Ensurethatanyphotosyoupostadheretothechannel’simageguidetoensurethattheintegrityofyourimageismaintained,andtheimageisdisplayedinitsentirety.

KEEPITSHORT

Shorterpostsgetmoreinteraction.Keepitbetween70and140characterslong(thisisalsothesamelengthasatweet-thislengthwillalsoensurethatyourentirepostisviableonlinkedpoststoTwitterfromanotherchannl’saccount).

ASKAQUESTIONINYOURTPOST

Questionpostsget100%moreinteractionthannon-questionposts.Youcanincludeaquestionwithinformativematerialandstillkeepthepostsshort.

Usingquestionsstartingwithshould,wouldorwhowillgetmoreinteractionthanwhere,whenorhow.

PICKTHEBESTDAYTOPOST

Postslaterintheweekgetmoreinteractionthanpostsearlierintheweek.Ifyouhaveapostthatisparticularlyimportanttogetnoticed,postitonaThursdayofFriday.

Themorepeopledon’twanttobeatwork,themorelikelytheyaretochecktheirsocialmediaaccount-thewinddowntotheweekendisaclassic example.

PICKTHEBESTTIMETOPOST

Postsmadebetween3pmand7pmaremorelikelytohaveinteractionthatpostsoutsideofthesehours.

9

Editingyourimagestothecorrectsizeforthesocialmediachannelyourareusingisimportant,asthiswillensuretheentireimageisvisible.Allsocialmediaplatformshavetheirimagespecificationsonline,butforthepurposeofthisguide,wewillprovideyouwithFacebookandTwitterimagesizes.

FACEBOOKCOVERANDPROFILEIMAGES854pixels

160pixelsThecoverphotoshouldbe845X315pixels.Theresolutionshouldbesetto150dpitomaintainthequalityofthephotowhenFacebookcompressesit.

Takenoteofwheretheprofilephoto,the‘Like’and‘Follow’buttons,andthepagenameandcategoryare.Youdonotwanttoputelementsin

POSTINGPHOTOS/IMAGES

yourcoverphotothataregoingtobehiddenbythese.

Theprofilepictureis160X160pixels.Uploadat150dpisothequalityismaintainedwhentheimageiscompressed.Facebookautomaticallyaddsawhiteborderaroundthe image.

WhenyoupostaphotoorimageonFacebookitcreatesa‘preview’imageinthetimeline.Iftheimageyoupostisnotthecorrectsize,thepreviewwillnotdisplaytheentirephoto.

Whilepeoplecanclickthephototoseeitinitsentirety,you’remorelikelytogetinteractionifthephotoisdisplayedwhole.

Uploadyourimages/photosat1200X1200at150dpi-thiswillensuretheimagequalityismaintainedwhenFacebookcompressestheimage.

Don’tforgetthe70-140characterrulewiththecaptionyouputwiththephoto.

10

TWITTERPROFILEANDBACKGROUNDIMAGE

1500pixels

TheimagefortheTwitterbackgroundmustbenomorethan5MBin size.

TWITTERSHAREDIMAGE

590pixels

11

Hash Tags (#) Hashtagsareawaytocategoriseyourtweetsandpostsbykeywords.Thehashtagmakesthekeywordahyperlink,andwhenclickeditwilldisplayalltweets/poststhecontainthatkeyword.

HashtagsoriginatedinTwitter,butFacebookandInstagramhaveopenedtheirapplicationstoincludeahashtagfunction.

Theyareusefulbecausetheyopenupanotherwaythatpeoplecanfindyouandinteractwithyouoryoursubjectmatter,butthereafewrulesthatshouldbefollowedwhenusingthehashtag.

Don’tputtoomanywordstogetherunnecessarily

#ihadahorribledaytodayisabadwaytouseahashtag.Nooneisgoingtoclickonitandnooneisgoingtoreadit.Plus,theychancesofanotherpersonusingthesamehashtagareveryslim,soyouwon’tachieveanyinterconnectedness.Analternativehashtagwouldbe#badday.

Don’tusetoomanyhashtagsinonepostortweet

Oneortwoarefine,asthesecanrefineyoursubjectmatter,suchas#hamiltonnz#sportswillrefinesubjectmattertosportsinHamilton.Ifyouwanttousemorethantwo,makesuretheyareinthebodyofthemessagesuchas

“Agreatdayin#hamiltonnzforthe#golf#sportstournament.”Ifyoufinishoffyourtweet/postwithawholebunchofhashtags,peoplewillnotreadthem.

Donothashtagunrelatedmatter

Thisisbadetiquetteandcanbeseenashijackinganotherperson’sconversation,anddefeatsthepurposeofthehashtagandthelinkingofsubjectmatter.

Trends

Atrendisjustatermusedforwhathashtagsarepopularrightnow(what’s‘trending’onTwitter).Itistheultimategoaloftweeterstohavetheirhashtagtrending,asitwillmeantheirprofilewillgetalotmoreattention.

Usingatrendinghashtagtoreachmorepeople

Youcanbroadenyourpost’sreachbyusingahashtagthatiscurrentlytrending(ifitisrelevantofcourse).Visitwww.hashtags.org/analyticstocheckwhatthetophashtagsare,andtocheckthetrendsoftheyhashtagyouwanttouseoverthepast24hours.

Forexample,totheleftyouwillseethehashtag#justinbieberwasenteredintohashtags.organdtheuseofthehashtagisgraphed.

12

Posting Frequency Thereisafinelinebetweenbeinginformativeandannoying.Ifyoudon’tpostoftenenoughyoucanloseconnections,andifyouposttoooftenyoucanannoypeopleandlostaconnection.

Thepostingfrequencydiffersforeachsocialmediaplatform-thelifeofapostonInstagramandFacebookisalotlongerthanthatofTwitter.

Facebook

Ideally,youwanttopostsomethingeverydayonFacebook-butnomorethantwiceaday.Anymorethantwoadayandyouwillannoypeople.Attheveryleast,therewillneedtobeatleast5pointsmadeaweek.Makesureyouusetheidealpostingtimeguideandscheduleyourpostsfortheoptimumviewingtime/days.

Instagram

ContrarytoFacebook,researchshowsthatthemoreimagesyoupostonInstagramthemoreyoupostthebettertheengagementrate.Mostbrandswithagoodlevelofpostengagementpost1.5timesadayonaverage.

Twitter

Theminimumnumberoftweetsyouneedtosendformaximumengagementisatleastthreetweetsaday,andideallyfivetweetsperday.

5-7tweetsadaywillcorrelatetothegreatestnumberofretweetsandresponses.Keepinmind,ittakesonly18minutesforatweettobecomeoldorswallowedupbythenumberofotherpeopletweeting.

13

schedualing posts

TheschedulingfeatureonFacebookisagreatwaytomanagethischannel,andtokeepitfreshwithoutspendingtoomuchtimeonit.FreeschedulingisnotyetavailableforTwitterinNewZealand.

Facebook

Createyourpostasnormal,addingimagesand/ortext.Clickthebluearrownextto‘posts’inthebottomrightcorner,andselect‘schedulepost.’

Choosethetimeanddateyouwanttheposttobeposted.

Clickschedule.

Thescheduledpostwilldisplaylikethisuntilitsscheduledtime.Click‘seepost’toedit

Clickthedropdownarrowtoeditthetime,deletethepostorpublishimmediately.

14

Creating a Content schedule

Acontentscheduleisaplanforwhatisgoingtogouponyoursocialmediachannelsoveraperiodoftime.Theseareusefulbecause:

• Youcanthinkstrategicallyaboutwhatyouwanttopost,andgetmoreinteractionfromyouraudience

• Ensuresthatyourchannelsaremorelikelytobekeptfreshand up-to-date

• Mutliplepeoplecanbeinvolvedinmaintainingthechannel,whilenotaffectingthecontinuity

• Youcanhyperlinktheimages/URLsyouwanttouseinyourpost

Thecontentschedulewilllooksomethinglike this:

ChannelFacebook Twitter

11-17August Monday4pm:Highlightsfromtheweekend’sconference.Question:“Whodoyouthinkwasthebestspeakerattheconference?”Link:www.conference.co.nzWednesday10am:Eventpost“AgreatworkshopthisweekendinDunedinforsiblingsofpeoplewithdisabilities.Checkoutwww.weblink.co.nzformoreinfo”Photo:s:/photos/workshop/anna

Monday:Greatconferenceon#disabilityissuesin#aucklandlastweek.Wonderfultohear@personnamespeaksowellWednesday:#siblingworkshopin#Dunedinthisweekendwww.weblink.comformoreinfo

ETC.....

Usethisscheduleinconjunctionwithyoursocialmediastrategytoensureyouaremeetingyourobjectivesintheplan.

15

Social media plan

Simply posting information on your socialmedia channels does not guarantee that youwill use yourchannelseffectively.Creatingaplanfirstwillensurethatyouarereachingyourtargetaudience,andgettingyourdesiredmessageacross.

• Keymessages(i.e.“Peoplewithdisabilitiescanlivegoodeveryday lives”)

• Defineyouraudience:Age:Peopleaged30-50Haveafamilymemberwithadisability,workwithpeoplewithdisabilities,influentialmembersofthecommunity,potentialemployers

• ChooseyourcontentArticlesfromtrustedsourcestobackupkeymessages,testimonialsandsuccessstories,imagesofpeoplewithdisabilitiesdoingeverydayactivities,videosofsuccessfullyemployedpeoplethatalsohavedisabilities,advertisementsforupcomingevents

• MemesCreateorfindmemesthatsellyourmessage.Thesearesmallimageswithmessagesthatareeasilysharedonyoursocialmediachannels.

• ChooseyourchannelE.g.Facebook,TwitterandInstagram

• ChoosehowoftenyouwillpostOnceadayonFacebookbetween4pmand8pmTwiceadayonTwitter(includingTwitterpostsoriginatingfromFacebook)

• Timeline1August-30November2014

• Assignapersontomanagethecampaignandmoderatethepage

• Assignpeopletoprovidecontentforthecampaign

• SponsoredAdvertisingConsiderallocatingabudgettosponsoredadvertising.Thiswillincreasetheengagementlevelsandnotrelyentirelyonorganicinteractions.

Havingaplanmakesfindingcontenttopushyourmessageandincreaseyourengagementeasier.Remember,socialmediaisnotastaticadvertisingtool-itisaninteractivemediumthatrequiresconstantattentionandrefreshing.