usa today best practices
DESCRIPTION
Tips and tricks for creating engaging content. Presentation created for social media training in Russia, July 2014.TRANSCRIPT
SOCIAL MEDIA WORKSHOP
MOSCOW – ST. PETERSBURG
USA TODAY Best Practices
Mary Hartney Nahorniak
@maryvale
Social media editor, USA TODAY
July 2014
Approaching social as a platform
It’s an “edition” of USA TODAY, same as print, desktop or mobile
Key successes
Social media makes up 8-10% of digital traffic
12MM-plus social footprint
Reaching more than 1MM daily on Facebook
Facebook is overtaking Google search
Informing new people, in new ways
Engagement is second among competition
Picking social stories and crafting social posts
What's the message?Think: Is there a social way to write this?
What's the intent?The psychology of sharing, liking, clicking
Match the content to the network
Pick the right platform
(Or like it, or retweet it, or click it.)If not, rethink it.
Ask yourself: Would I share this?
What's the emotionyou want to drive?
Put yourself in their shoes
Plan ahead
Pick the right photo
Even the wacky ones.(Especially the wacky ones.)
Holidays are a win
Optimizing stories for social
A great headline goes a long way(on the Internet)
Common themesYou can’t win ‘em all --
but you will win with these no-fail topics
Nostalgia
Identity
Science (especially space)
Animals
… for the ‘bored at work’ network
Inspiration and good news
Breaking news
(And it’s the fun part)
Engagement is key
We’re social creatures
Your best asset: Your people
Let the crowd help
Use (the right) hashtags
They increase engagement 100% for journalists,
50% for brands
Share image, video, Vines
Tweets with photos / video get 3-4 times
the amount of engagement
Not everything needs a link
20% fewer URLs and 100% more @mentions
grows followers 17% more than expected
At the end of the day, we want to make a connection
Use what you know
Talk like yourself
Watch and learn
THANKS FOR ATTENDING
MOSCOW – ST. PETERSBURG
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