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Leveraging Social Media as a Communications Tool
This document discusses leveraging social media as a communications tool for public libraries. It begins by explaining the basics of social networking and how social media can benefit public relations efforts by allowing for better interaction with audiences. It then discusses how libraries can use social media to reduce barriers to information, invite participation from users, and create online communities. The document provides guidance on preparing a social media strategy and choosing initial platforms like Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter. It stresses the importance of participating in conversations, being authentic, and promoting content across networks. Finally, it outlines successes the Houston Public Library has seen from social media and lessons learned.
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Leveraging Social Media as a Communications Tool
- 1. Leveraging Social Mediaas a Communications Tool Sandra Fernandez Manager of Public Relations Houston Public Library
- 2. Old Media toNew Leveraging Social Media
- 3. New Ways ofConnecting Leveraging Social Media
- 4. Social Media isa conversation… Leveraging Social Media
- 5. …between actual humans Leveraging Social Media
- 6. Basics of socialnetworking Online communities Members feel a sense of belonging Users create “profiles” They look for and add friends Receive recommendations from their network Easy for members to share creatively: photos, videos, music, etc Leveraging Social Media
- 7. Social Media in PublicRelations The purpose of PR hasn’t changed – we build relationships Social Media creates better opportunities to interact with customers/audiences No longer filtering information through traditional media Leveraging Social Media
- 8. Libraries The libraryhas no barriers – available to everyone The library brings down the walls surrounding information – everyone can access everything Leveraging Social Media
- 9. Libraries The libraryinvites participation – we want YOU! The library creates community – spaces and groups Leveraging Social Media
- 10. Libraries The libraryis human – connects with real people at all levels of service Leveraging Social Media
- 11. Library 2.0 –social media in libraries Reduces barriers – updates are available 24/7 Brings down the walls surrounding information – can be accessed from anywhere (Internet) Invites participation – we want to hear from YOU! Creates community – spaces and groups online to extend real life Leveraging Social Media
- 12. Getting Started So… where do you start? Leveraging Social Media
- 13. 4 Ps ofSocial Media Prepare Pick your starting point Pay attention Participate Leveraging Social Media
- 14. Prepare Convince others Why use social media? Word of mouth communication is the oldest and most powerful form of communication We trust what our friends tell us We trust what our friend’s friends tell us We trust anything enough people tell us From Lach Mullen, Fort Bend County Office of Emergency Management Leveraging Social Media
- 15. Prepare Goals &strategy What is success? What are your social media goals? Examples: Return on Engagement (ROE) Promotion Build rapport Make it part of your overall communications plan: Integrate social media into daily activity Make sure your updates are in line with the priorities and messages of your organization Leveraging Social Media
- 16. Prepare Resources Money most things are free, but not everything do you have a budget for accounts, equipment, access? People Who is going to monitor/participate social media? Will this need to be added to their job descriptions? employee evaluations? Leveraging Social Media
- 17. Prepare Resources, cont. Equipment Are you behind a firewall? Can you access the networks needed? Do you have a digital camera? video camera? web enabled mobile phone? computer that will allow you to install tools such as TweetDeck? Do you have mobile internet access? Leveraging Social Media
- 18. Prepare Policies &procedures Time issues How quickly can you respond? How much time will this take? Do you need official policy? Who is empowered to respond? Which departments/personnel need to be brought into the project? IT PR Customer Service Leveraging Social Media
- 19. Prepare Target Who are you trying to reach? Residents Businesses/Industry Media Other government officials Know your target Networks Language Direct communication Leveraging Social Media
- 20. Prepare Other items Make sure you have master file of access logins, with others aware of its existence and location Leveraging Social Media
- 21. Pick your startingpoint Choose your social media networks Pick one based on your targets Social Networks – Facebook Meeting, finding, connecting, promoting, discussing Multimedia – YouTube, Slideshare Sharing, learning Bookmarking – Delicious, Diigo Link sharing, “the cloud” News – Digg News sharing, opinion sharing Leveraging Social Media
- 22. Pick your startingpoint Pick one based on your targets, cont. Reviews – Yelp Sharing reviews of companies, services Blogs – Blogger, Wordpress Opinion sharing, news sources Microblogs – Twitter, Yammer Sharing short updates Wikis – Wikipedia Collaboration Location based social media (newest trend) Foursquare, Gowalla Leveraging Social Media
- 23. Pick your startingpoint Recommendations FACEBOOK More than 500 million active users 50% of our active users log on to Facebook in any given day Average user has 130 friends People spend over 700 billion minutes per month on Facebook Fastest Growing Demographic on Facebook: Women Over 55 Leveraging Social Media
- 24. Pick your startingpoint Recommendations YouTube Second most used search engine online Share your videos Favorite recommended videos Embed on your site Free hosting City Channel Leveraging Social Media
- 25. Pick your startingpoint Recommendations Twitter Micropublishing Free opt-in SMS and Mobile updates As easy to use as texting Clean, simple, fast Can be tied into PIER Lots of buzz! Leveraging Social Media
- 26. Pick your startingpoint Recommendations WordPress Popular blogging tool Set up a blog in 15 minutes Lets you control message informally Gives you a personal touch Leveraging Social Media
- 27. Pick your startingpoint Open personal account Get comfortable Start! Create plan for your organization Open organizational account. Start! If your resources are available, pick another and start there. Leveraging Social Media
- 28. Pick your startingpoint Build your network Friends Colleagues Directories: Twellow Industry listings Leveraging Social Media
- 29. Pick your startingpoint Start Today! Leveraging Social Media
- 30. Pay attention Listento what’s being said about your organization, your city Twitter Search Google Search (blogs & news) Social Mention Read what others are writing RSS Feeds Google Reader Bloglines Leveraging Social Media
- 31. Pay attention Whoare others following, talking about Friend your friend’s friends What is being said about your topic Are other blogs linking to yours? Watch the trends Technology & tools Topics and discussions Leveraging Social Media
- 32. Houston Public Library Participation Leveraging Social Media
- 33. Houston Public Library Updates Leveraging Social Media
- 34. Houston Public Library PROMOTE PROMOTE PROMOTE Leveraging Social Media
- 35. Houston Public Library PROMOTE PROMOTE PROMOTE www.twitter.com/houstonlibrary www.facebook.com/houstonlibrary Leveraging Social Media
- 36. Participate Be authentic Be honest Spend time to build trust Contribute to the conversation Respond to questions, clarify, add more info Press releases aren’t enough Promote via your non-social networks Stay engaged Leveraging Social Media
- 37. Participate How touse Facebook Set up a page for your organization http://www.facebook.com/pages/create.php Address, Hours, Website Advertise your Page Get a “vanity url” for your page Monitor results Leveraging Social Media
- 38. Participate How touse Twitter Post short recaps of News Releases Post quirky things: show your personality Post data Chat with people Virtual police scanner “Hashtag” yourself and use Hashtags Leveraging Social Media
- 39. Participate How touse YouTube Load “backgrounder” videos Load informal commentary on News Releases Load relevant breaking news as appropriate Capture video of interviews and post unedited Favorite other relevant videos Comment, comment, comment! Leveraging Social Media
- 40. Houston Public Library Successes Created strong online communities for library customers Increased customer participation, support and actions in response to social media updates Effective use of social networks to reach influencers and “publishers” Leveraging Social Media
- 41. Things I’ve learned The tool isn’t what’s important, what’s important is how you use it. Be aware of what you’re trying to do. It’s important to have a goal when approaching these tools. Be aware of your limitations. Social media can be time intensive, and most of us have limited resources, so don’t try to do everything at once. Leveraging Social Media
- 42. Things I’ve learned Get everyone on the same page. If you begin engaging your audiences, then be prepared to start receiving complaints, suggestions and questions via those new channels, whether that’s your intent or not. You will need to have public relations or community relations, information technology, and your organization’s customer service department all aware of the activities, and have made decisions on how you’re going to handle inquiries before you receive them. Leveraging Social Media
- 43. Things I’ve learned Traditional media is reaching less and less Social media can help you Take it slow Invest the time Build trust Learn from others Get started LEARN FROM WHAT YOU’VE DONE, & ADJUST. Leveraging Social Media
- 44.