Social Media 101

I’m currently helping a non-profit organization to get acquainted with the fabulous world of social media. It’s a new company so they’re not behind, but the owner of the organization does not have much prior social media experience. I wrote her a lengthy email about how to get people to “like” her business’s page and thought it may be useful to other people as well. I'll call the company "ABC" for now.

In response to your question about how to get people to like the ABC page [as well as follow the Twitter page], here are some ideas:

-          Include links on the company’s website to the Facebook and Twitter pages. Whoever created the website should know how to do this. The buttons on the top right-hand side of Oprah.com’s page are nice because they’re easy to find.

-          If a person employed by the company or the owner of the company have a lot of connections on their own personal Facebook or LinkedIn pages who would be interested in “liking” the company page, post a status about it on both websites. For example, “The ABC page is up and running, I’d appreciate it if you “liked” it and also follow us on Twitter @ABC!” Post that status maybe every 3 days to your Facebook and also post it as a status on your LinkedIn page every few days so that it stays current and in people’s minds.

-          Whenever a press release is sent out regarding ABC, include “More information about ABC can be found on our Facebook page, www.facebook.com/________ and follow us on Twitter @ABC.” This will go on the boilerplate of the press release, and a PR person will know more about that.

-          If your company is promoted on local news channels or newspapers, mention the page and Twitter.

-          On the company’s Facebook page, “like” some other pages that are relevant to your cause- for example if your company has to do with animals, “like” the SPCA. Go to the SPCA’s page and write a brief post about how you appreciate the work that the SPCA does and then write about your company describing your cause, the event, and invite people to like your page. Do that maybe every other week so that it stays current.

-          And finally, when both are up and running and have received some attention, cross promote the two. On Twitter, mention the Facebook page and vice versa.

I realize a lot of this sounds super time consuming but in order for social media efforts to pay off, you definitely have to put some time into it! + It’ll be the most time consuming at the beginning. After the original posts it’s just keeping up with it and staying current on other’s pages too.

Be sure to monitor the Facebook page too in case people have questions, and just comment on their post with the answer so other people can see it too. The most successful companies Facebook pages are ones where the company is actively involved and engaging with their customers. Comment back to people whenever they say something, even if it’s a simple “Thanks for liking us!”