Leveraging Social Media: Blogs

Generally, chapters and state organizations rely on volunteers to develop and maintain social media. For this reason, it is wise to focus on no more than three social media tools. Get experience and then expand the use of the social media platform from there. And many believe that a blog is a good starting point.

Why a Blog?

• Your blog will enable you to deepen relationships with your members. They will find fresh, relevant content that is useful to them and have a place where they can feel heard as they respond with comments.

• Blogs are easy to use and maintain.

• Blogs get more search engine results than traditional, static websites.

• Blogs are less expensive to host and manage than traditional websites.

• Blogs provide a more “human voice.”

• Blogger (Google) is a free way to construct your blog; however, having a WordPress.Org blog (the gold standard) includes access to tons of free (yes, free) software ( i.e. ways to increase traffic, community features, auto sign-up, etc.) for your blog.

• You’ll be able to learn more about social media by just jumping in and starting a blog.

A Few Tips for Your Blog

• Titles are King - people see your title first and anticipate reading your blog. Titles are always the largest factor when search engines are indexing. Keep them short.

• Each blog post should have one category and many tags.

• Trim the fat - People don’t like to scroll...and scroll... and scroll.

• Add subheadings

• Add an image near the top; images help visitors stick around longer.

• Incorporate clickable links to Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc.
  
  
  
  
  

Are you ready to take a step into Social Media?Are you ready to start a blog? Could a chapter blog help connect your members and keep all members informed of issues and events?

Plan, Plan, Promote

Getting someone else to tell your story is what publicity is all about. It is usually at no cost and effective. The media are willing to promote a non-profit.

General Tips

• Recognize that your group must constantly work to communicate with the outside world.
• Ask what can you do without much (or any) cost.
• Set short-term goals to become more visible to community groups.
• Set more general, long-term goals that will reach beyond your immediate group.
• Collaborate as a team, make a master list of the best ideas and work these into your goals.
• List ways to bolster your PR, i.e. press releases, promotional events, Internet marketing ideas, etc.
• Designate who is responsible for what, including a time frame for each campaign.

Basic Publicity Tools

• The News Release: This should present your story/event after it occurs and include the 5 W’s. There should be a “hook” at the very beginning, much like the lead paragraph in a news story. Including quotes from an expert, board member or keynote speaker lends credibility and puts a human face on the subject.

• Backgrounder: This is an overview of your group (mission, etc.) and would be included with press releases to provide additional information.

• Media Advisory/Media Alert: An advisory is like an invitation to the media to attend your event. The alert is used to promote an event and is sent out a week or so before the event. In both instances, the 5 W’s are always included.
  
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