1. CL201 Using Social Media
to Build Community

2. I’m Alexandra
I do digital media, including social
media,
for NeighborWorks America

3. Goals for Today
1. Understand the value of communications
planning
2. Evaluate if social media is right for your goals
3. Plan your next steps

4. Setting Expectations
My goal is not to convert you all to using
social media
My goal is to help you understand the
possibilities of social media usage in your
community

5. Agenda
Introductions
• Part 1: Communications Planning
• Part 2: Social Media Overview
Break
• Part 3: Making Decisions
• Part 4: Planning session

6. Break into groups
Hello my name is:
1. Your name
2. Where you’re from
3. Why you’re in this class

7. Part 1: Community engagement

8. What does
community engagement
look like in your neighborhood?

9. Engaging means two-way
communication

10. Does your action plan have a
communications plan for:
– Starting the project
– Continuing the project
– Announcing completion of the project
?

11. Who do you need to reach to make
your project successful?
1. Fill out the profile in your folder
2. Review profiles
3. How should you adjust
communication to adjust for
different people?
4. What do they have in common?

12. What actions
should these
people take as a
result of your
communications?

13. What is your communications
strategy?
What do you need to say?
When do you need to say it?
How will you spread the message?

14. Part 2: Social Media Overview
Creative Commons license:
Jason A. Howie

15. Time for
Social
Media
Bingo!
Creative Commons license: Darwin Bell

16. What is social
media?

17. My definition of social media
A two-way form of digital communication
between:
1. Peers
2. People and organizations
3. People and government

18. The Social in Social Media
Source: Neil Perkins, “What’s Next in Media” via SlideShare

19. Why is this so important?

20. People are more invested
when their opinions and
contributions are valued

21. How have you
done outreach in
the past?
Have you used
online tools?

22. Which of those tools enable
two way communication?
•
•
•
•
•
Knocking on doors
Posters
Leaflets
Telephone tree
Local events
Yes
No

23. “Social media”
doesn’t just mean
Facebook and
Twitter

24. Source: Creative Commons, Yoel Ben Avraham

26. Some tools are
specifically for
community
engagement

27. What social media can do
What social media can do
• Enable real-time, two-way communication
between neighbors
• Help build momentum for change
• Track progress or concerns on issues
• Include people who are shy or physically
disabled

28. Example Success: GivingTuesday
Case study: Debra Askanse, The Power of the NetWork Weaver, slide 35

29. Example 2: NeighborWorks Week

30. NeighborWorks Week on Twitter

31. NWW Photo
Contest 2013
75 photos entered
955 votes
263 new Facebook
fans

32. Example 3: Community Interviews

33. Key Social
Media Facts
#1: Mobile is continuing
to grow
The number of people
accessing the internet via
a mobile phone has
increased 60.3% to
818.4 million in the
last two years.
Creative Commons

34. Key Social Media Facts
#2 Older users are getting into social media
On Twitter the 55-64 year age bracket is the
fastest growing demographic with
79% growth rate since 2012.
The fastest growing demographic on
Facebook’s and Google+ are the
45 to 54 year age bracket at 46%
and 56% respectively.
Source: GlobalWebIndex study via JeffBullas.com

35. It’s not just the kids
http://www.nw.org/network/SocialTechResour
ces/tgordonaarp.wmv

36. Who’s using what social media?
Source: Pew Center for Internet Research, via DocStoc

37. Caution:
Social
media is not
magic

38. Social media pitfalls
Some things to keep
in mind before
getting started

39. Social media pitfall #1
It requires internet or a data plan
- People with lower incomes are less likely
to use most social media
- When they do use it, it’s often on a
mobile phone.

40. Social media pitfall #2
Social media doesn’t replace
face-to-face interactions
or shared experiences

41. Social media pitfall #3
• People need to be using it already for it
to work
– Don’t talk into the void
– Join the party

42. “Communities already exist. Instead
[of creating a new one], think about
how you can help that community
do what it wants to do.”
Creative Commons

43. Social media pitfall #4
It only works if you’re working it!
– You or someone on your team needs to
monitor your social presence and be
responsible for regular updates
– Social outreach needs to be a part of your
overall communications strategy

44. Part 3: Making Decisions

45. Let’s take a step back.
Creative Commons license

46. What tools will actually
for your project?
work

47. Who are you trying to reach?

48. Source: Waggener Edstrom

49. The Social Media Funnel
Copyright 2013 CommunityOrganizer2.0

50. Engagement and Trust
It’s not
about you

51. Engagement and Trust
It’s about the community

52. Engagement and Trust
Listen
Participate in their conversations
Involve them in the cause

53. Love your supporters – respond quickly

54. What actions
should people take?

55. What tools
will you
use?

57. Select the tool(s) based on your goals
Source: FrogLoop.com via Allyson Kapin “Which Social Media Platforms Are Worth Your Time and Energy?”

58. Select the tool(s) based on your audience
Source: Pew Center for Internet Research, via DocStoc

59. Part 4: Planning time
Creative Commons license

60. Get out your Communications Planning
Worksheet
List which tools match to which of your
action plan communications needs

61. How will you divide your
time?

62. Listen, Communicate, Create, Track
Time on Social Media
15%
30%
Listening
Communicating
25%
Creating/Experimenting
30%
Tracking
Source: Danielle Brigida, National Wildlife Fund, Portland NTI symposium

63. 1. Listening Tools
Search hashtags
and trending topics
Google Alerts
Comprehensive blog
searches on topics or
organization names
More resources on
bethkanter.org

64. 2a. Communicating by participating
Go to where your
people are
Join the discussions
on your topic
Balance your
storytelling with
responding to others

65. 2b. Communicating
with effective messages
A
Attract attention
People are flooded with information. Your message should
attract attention quickly
I
Generate interest
Get your audience to relate to and care about your
message or issue.
D
Encourage a
desire to respond
Your communication needs to motivate and persuade
people to act by convincing them that what you say is true
and important.
A
Prompt action
Recommend a clear, specific action and be sure it is
something your audiences feel they are able to do.
Source: Adapted from: Kingham, T. & Coe, J. (2005) The Good Campaigns Guide: Campaigning for Impact, NCVO Publications, London.

66. 3a. Experiment with Messaging
What messages work well?
-Are you sure? Did you test them?
-Do some groups of people respond differently?

67. Experiment with Messaging: Example
Oxfam International wanted to create a message that would encourage people to
pressure their governments to invest in education in developing countries.
"Basic education helps break the
cycle of poverty“
Vs.
"Education is every child's right"
Source: Message in a Box Tactical Tech

68. Group huddle: practice your core
messaging

69. 3b. Communicating experiments
Try posting similar messages at different times of
day or different days in the week
Try slight changes to your message depending on
the tool you are using to distribute the information
(Twitter vs. Facebook vs. flyers vs. blog)

70. Listen, Communicate, Create, Track
Time on Social Media
We are here
15%
30%
Listening
Communicating
25%
Creating/Experimenting
30%
Tracking
Source: Danielle Brigida, National Wildlife Fund, Portland NTI symposium

71. 4. Tracking
Twitonomy
TweetReach
Facebook
Insights
Internal
metrics
Hootsuite

72. Criteria for effective social media
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Frequent posts
Posts promote core business activity
Posts thank partners
Post engage followers
Channel shows regular growth

73. Effective social media
1. Frequent posts:
Posts should occur at least twice a week
Ideally:
• Once/day for Facebook
• 2-3 times/day for Twitter

74. Effective social media
2. Promotion
Posts should mention what your cause will
offer the community
Why?
• Show your cause/organization’s value

75. Effective social media
3. Partners
Posts should acknowledge/thank partners
and funders – build the relationship online
and offline

76. Effective social media
4. Engagement
Proof of audience through a
like, comment, retweets, mentions, etc.

77. Effective social media
5. Growth
Number of followers should increase
regularly
Tip: Growth may be slow until you hit a
critical mass. It will relate closely to how
often and how well you use social media.

78. Final
section:
Recap and
closing
thoughts

79. Sample Plan: Pocket Parks in St. Paul, MN

80. Goals for today – How did we do?
1. Understand the value of communications
planning
2. Evaluate if social media is right for your goals
3. Plan your next steps

81. How
can we
make
time for
social
media?

82. Good
luck!
Send me any questions at:
achaikin@nw.org
Follow NeighborWorks America social
media on:

83. Further Reading/Resources
Online
Resources
• NTEN – nten.org
• Beth Kanter – bethkanter.org
• Debra Askanase – communityorganzer20.com
Books
• Social Tech Symposium – bit.ly/SocialTechNTI
• The Networked Nonprofit
• Measuring the Networked Nonprofit