The OpenWater Blog

Social Media Series Part 1: Facebook

Last June Tim gave an overview of the Top 6 Social Networks for an Awards Program Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, & Youtube). The blog post gave quick insights into how each social network can be used to benefit your organization.

In this Social Media Series I’m going to dedicate a blog post to each of these 6 networks (maybe some new ones too – get excited) and take a closer look at how they can benefit you. First up: Facebook.

Tim calls it, “The first and most obvious choice.” I’m tempted to be more blunt and say, “duh.” Facebook is the largest social network with about 1.15 billion users. With such a large user base, you have the ability to reach a virtually limitless number of people. In fact, having a Facebook page has become crucial for organizations’ awards marketing and outreach efforts. So, if you haven’t already made a page for your organization, you should do so immediately. Check out Hubspot’s tutorial for more information on how to build a Facebook business page.

Once you have established your page keep it fresh, interesting, and most of all, current. When someone “likes” your page things you post will appear on their newsfeed. Update regularly with new information so that those who have liked your page are getting these updates, keeping your organization fresh in their minds. You can do this in various ways, for example:

• Reminders of submission deadlines – Posts can quickly get buried in the stream of newsfeed updates. Regular reminders will help keep it present in people’s minds.
• Photos of last year’s ceremony – Everyone loves looking at pictures. In fact, posts with photos get way more views than those without.
• Invite past winners to like your page if they haven’t – You want to maintain and foster relationships with people already involved in your organization.
• Encourage people to spread the word for you – They can do this by “sharing” a post so that it appears on their timeline and their friends’ newsfeeds. This is a simple and effective form of micro-volunteering.

It’s also important to make sure your organization feels like a group of real people to Facebook users. Facebook is a social network all about interacting with other people. If your organization just feels like a faceless logo it will be harder to engage people and get them excited about what you do. Post photos of your team (as they’re preparing for an event, for example), encourage your employees to be active on your page, if appropriate, and respond respond respond! If someone writes on your wall with questions or comments, write back, if it’s appropriate. Let them know you care and are interested in their contribution.

These are just a couple of tactics to employ on your Facebook page to start getting traffic for your organization. What tips and tricks do you use to attract people to your Facebook page?

Part 2 of the Social Media Series will be Twitter. Stay tuned!

Miriam Hancock

Miriam Hancock
Miriam is the Marketing Coordinator for OpenWater. When she isn't writing and designing content she paints and cooks for her own personal blog.

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