1. How to Make the Most of Your
Station’s Facebook and Twitter
Pages
November 15, 2012

2. Answer this question on your right 
What do you currently use your station
social media pages for?
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3.  Submit questions on the right 
 Tweet with #NPRKnight
 Archived at
http://bit.ly/nprknight11_15_12
 Sign up for Nov. 28 webinar on local
content that triggers engagement
 Email feedback to tgorman@npr.org
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4. What We’ll Talk About Today:
 Facebook and Twitter pages from a news
perspective
 Take a step back
• Assess your social media pages
• Use assessment to think about next steps and goals
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5. Why are we talking about this?
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6. Why are we talking about this?
Sharing Culture
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7. Why are we talking about this?
Stay Relevant to
Community
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8. Why are we talking about this?
Having a page and just posting
stories isn’t enough.
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9. Take a Step Back: Assess Your Pages
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10. What to look at when assessing a page
What to look at:
1. The Basics
2. Frequency
3. Content
4. Voice
5. Engagement
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11. What to look at when assessing a page
Go deeper: questions to ask after assessment
6. What are our goals and are we measuring successes
and failures?
7. Who is responsible for each platform?
8. What purpose does each social page serve?
9. Do we promote our social networks?
10. Are we able to easily adjust to social network changes?
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12. 1. The Basics
Is the page filled out?
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13. 1. The Basics
Is the page filled out?
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14. 1. The Basics
Is the page filled out?
Checklist:
 Username
 About section
 Profile photo
 Timeline photo
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15. 1. The Basics
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16. 1. The Basics
Don’t auto-connect Facebook and Twitter pages
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17. 1. The Basics
Each social media page is different
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18. 1. The Basics
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19. 2. Frequency
Frequency and timing matter
Via blog.hubspot.com 19

20. 2. Frequency
Times to try: When people are on their computers or phones
Facebook:
 Off-hours
 Weekends
 The lunch-time crowd: 12-3 p.m. ET
 Responsive to news
Twitter:
 Quick response to news: use your archives
 Schedule tweets for off hours and weekends
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21. 2. Frequency
How often to post:
Facebook:
 Try out 2-5 posts per day – pick a pace
 Don’t flood the feed
 Be consistent and reliable
 Experiment!
Twitter:
 Can post more often: more real time than Facebook
 Be consistent and reliable
 Experiment!
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22. 3. Content
Look overall at a period of time. Try a week.
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23. 3. Content
Choose a format that fits – and use a variety of them.
The 3 Popular Facebook Formats:
 Links
 Photos
 Status Updates
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24. 3. Content
Links:
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25. 3. Content
Links:
 A good image
 An interesting
headline
 An interesting intro in
the status field
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26. 3. Content
Photo:
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27. 3. Content
Photo:
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28. 3. Content
Photo:
 Photo posts often perform
better than link posts
 They pop on the news feed
 Share breaking news photos
 Photos from the field
 Photos with a link to a story
 Infographics
 Screen shots
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29. 3. Content
Status Updates:
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30. 3. Content
Status Updates:
 Conversation starters
 Breaking news
 Find sources
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31. 3. Content
Other ideas:
 Video
 Audio
 Events
 Live chats
 Experiment
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32. 3. Content
Choose a format that fits – and use a variety of them.
Types of Twitter posts:
 Links
 Status updates (no links)
 Photos, video, audio
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33. 3. Content
Links:
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34. 3. Content
Links:
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35. 3. Content
Status updates (no link):
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36. 3. Content
Status updates (no link):
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37. 3. Content
Photo, video or
audio:
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38. 3. Content
Other ideas:
 Twitter chats
 Tweet-ups
 Live tweet a show
 Experiment
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39. 4. Voice
Via Flickr user KB35
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40. 4. Voice
Via Flickr user cobdogblog
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41. 4. Voice
Insert
Your
Station
Here
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42. 4. Voice
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43. 4. Voice
Some examples:
 Conversational, reliable and personal, but not snarky: @WDET
 Curated feed sharing information on a topic: @OntheMedia
 Authoritative news voice with personality: @NewsHour
 Mix of news, engagement and promotion: http://www.facebook.com/stlpublicradio
 Mix of news, music and communication: http://www.facebook.com/kutradio
 Continues the conversation online: http://www.facebook.com/OnPointRadio
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44. 4. Voice
What is your tone and persona?
 Who is my audience now?
 Who do I want my audience to be?
 Who runs the accounts?
 Is the tone consistent?
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45. 4. Voice
Create a style guide to keep a consistent tone:
Ideas of what to include:
 AP Style-type Tips
 Photo Guidelines
 Breaking News/Big News/ Emergency Guide
 Corrections Policy
 Ethics Policy. Example: http://ethics.npr.org/tag/social-
media/
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46. 5. Engagement
Is someone
answering questions
and comments?
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47. 5. Engagement
Are pages asking interesting
questions that people want to
answer?
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48. 5. Engagement
Sometimes, questions can be confusing or patronizing.
Don’t overuse them.
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49. 5. Engagement
Is engagement meaningful: are answers used in stories?
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50. Next steps…
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51. What to look at when assessing a page
Go deeper: questions to ask after assessment
6. What are our goals and are we measuring successes
and failures?
7. Who is responsible for each platform?
8. What purpose does each social page serve?
9. Do we promote our social networks?
10. Are we able to easily adjust to social network changes?
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52. 6. Create goals and measure successes and failures
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53. 6. Create goals and measure successes and failures
Set goals for social media.
Measure those goals.
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54. 9. Create goals and measure successes and failures
Go beyond follows and likes:
When I post a story:
 How many people like, comment, share?
 Track instant traffic with Chartbeat
 Look later at Google Analytics
 Save links and screenshots
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55. 6. Create goals and measure successes and failures
Make sure goals and measurements are part of the conversation
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56. 7. Who is responsible for each platform?
 What happens during breaking news or emergency situations
 Who is checking in on what is working
 Who is interpreting the measurement, and adjusting goals
 Check in on the tone
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57. 8. What purpose does each social page serve?
Make a list of all your pages, what you use them for, and
who is responsible for them.
What goals do you have for each page?
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58. 8. What purpose does each social page serve?
Before you start a new page or profile, answer these:
We need to do a Facebook page for ____ because ______.
 Who will be in charge of it
 What will be unique here
 What will happen when the project is over
 Can we use our station page and existing resources
instead?
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59. 9. Do we promote our social networks?
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60. 9. Do we promote our social networks?
Tell guests/publicists about social media accounts
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61. 9. Do we promote our social networks?
Online:
Radio:
Offline:
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62. 10. Are we able to adjust to social changes?
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63. 10. Are we able to adjust to social changes?
High quality and shareable local
content is key.
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64. Next steps…
• Assess your social media page.
• Set up short and long-term social media page goals.
• Start measuring.
Don’t forget…
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65. Next steps…
• Assess your social media pages.
• Start following basic best practices.
• Set up short and long-term social media page goals.
• Start measuring
Don’t forget…
Have some fun!
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66. Questions?
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