FIVE FACEBOOK TIPS TO HELP YOU GET THE WORD OUT!
SHOW WE ARE “PEOPLE OF ACTION”
1. DECIDE YOUR AUDIENCE
Ø Is it your club members? – Create a Private Facebook Group
Ø Is it the community at large? – Create a public-facing “page”
Some clubs have both. They use their private group to advise club meeting details (upcoming and past); reminders about upcoming events; discussions and sharing of ideas amongst members etc. Their public page is used to promote club events/activities to the public or share an amazing achievement of their club, or Rotary in general (e.g., eradication of polio).
The following tips apply largely to public-facing pages:
2. SHOW WE ARE “PEOPLE OF ACTION”
The public wants to see and read about what you are doing in the community, not who got ‘fined” or won the raffle at your club meeting (post these in your private group if you wish). They need to know that we are a service organisation: they are not interested in your meetings.
3. BE CONCISE
When posting, provide enough information to tell “who, what, why, when, where”, but not too much – it is a Facebook post, not a book. On the other hand, don’t be too brief: a post that merely says “Here we are, all set up!” will not get people rushing to your event!
4. USE PHOTOS TO TELL YOUR STORY
· Make sure they are good quality photos – if the club invests in a reasonable camera, photos can be of a better quality than phone photos (especially of night-time events).
· Show action and smiling faces, rather than people sitting looking bored.
· Maximum of five photos per post: just enough to tell the story (if you held an event e.g. your club changeover, and you have multiple photos showing everyone who was there, post them in your private group).
· Caption every photo – telling who and what
5. TAG, TAG, TAG!
When creating your post, ‘tag’ project partners, venues, sponsors, name of event – whatever is relevant to your story. The admins of those pages will then also see your post, like it, share it etc – this is the way we get the word out! You never know, you might even attract new members! Don’t know how to tag? Contact me!
I am keen to connect with your club’s Facebook administrators so we can share more social media tips and support each other. Please send name, email address and club name to me via the email address below.
IPDG Merewyn Wright
District Social Media Coordinator