Do you think social media isn't necessary for your career or company? Are you tired of making Facebook posts, tweeting, or posting on LinkedIn and feeling as if no one is listening? This is the presentation for you! It's time for you to learn why it's necessary to have a strong PERSONAL presence on social media and how to make that presence become a reality. Presented by: Marchae Grair United Church of Christ Social Media Associate

1. Is Anyone Listening?
How to get people to listen up on your social media networks
Presented by:
Marchae Grair
Social Media Associate
United Church of Christ
Publishing, Identity, and Communication

2. What is your social media
personality?
Publishing, Identity, and Communication
United Church of Christ

3. Who’s a social media
influencer?
Influencers have:
• Reach
• Number of followers
• Resonance
• Potential to go viral,
long-lasting posts, likes,
shares, retweets, etc.
• Relevance
• Professional or social
communities respect the
source
Source: digitialinformationworld.com
Publishing, Identity, and Communication
United Church of Christ

4. The Social Media Test
Does your profile say you are an influencer?
Choose the social media account that best represents you
professionally and open it on your smart phone or tablet.
Get ready to find out if you’re ready to be an influencer.
1. Does your bio list where you work?
2. Does your bio list what you do?
3. Does your bio link to a professional or personal website?
4. Does your bio feature a fun fact or something relatable about you?
5. Have you posted at least 2-3 times in the last week? (Facebook, LinkedIn)
6. Have you posted at least once each day in the last week? (Twitter)
7. If you look at your last 10 posts, have you linked to a useful article?
8. If you look at your last 10 posts, have you tagged a social influencer?
9. If you look at your last 10 posts, have you used a well-known hashtag?
10. If you look at your last 10 posts, have commented on a viral trend, video, or article?
Publishing, Identity, and Communication
United Church of Christ

5. How did you do?
 Social Media Introvert (0-2): Your profile is probably
intended for friends and family. If you’re interested in
expanding to new circles, today is your day!
 Social Climber (3-5): You have some work to do, but
you have a basic understanding about using social
media to get noticed.
 Social Expert (6-8): You understand what it takes to get
noticed, and a few tips will help you get there.
 Social Influencer (9-10): Keep up the good work. You’re
ready to be a social media influencer!
Publishing, Identity, and Communication
United Church of Christ

6. Why is social media influence
important?
 Many organizations and professionals believe a vibrant
social media presence validates authority.
 Many brands are investing in “influencer marketing”
because of its success. Marketing-inspired word-of-
mouth generates more than twice the sales of paid
advertising, and these customers have a 37% retention
rate.
 Even if you aren’t selling a product, you are “selling” a
message of your company or your personal brand. And
that brand requires social media enforcement.
Publishing, Identity, and Communication
United Church of Christ
Source: Forbes.com

7. How to “ beef up” your profiles to get noticed
 Share useful content pertaining to
your field or intended social media
audience.
 Make your social media bio tight,
bright writing with a touch of
personality.
 Consider having few friends or
colleagues to do a social media
evaluation of your profile and
content.
 Pay attention to what’s trending
and provide commentary related to
your field or current projects.
Publishing, Identity, and Communication.
United Church of Christ
How many of these hashtags
do you recognize?
• #BringBackOurGirls
• #BlackLivesMatter
• #CrimingWhileWhite
• #Gamergate
• #IfTheyGunnedMeDown
• #NotOneMore
• #NotInMyName
• #NotYourAsianSidekick
• #WhyIStayed
• #YesAllWomen

8. Writing well for social media
 Talk the talk. Each platform has
an insider language. Do you speak
it? (Know when to use hashtags,
what common abbreviations mean,
etc.)
 Write conversationally. Write very
short sentences and paragraphs.
Talk to insiders without using
insider language. Shorten links.
 Mix it up. Balance text, graphics,
and videos.
Publishing, Identity, and Communication.
United Church of Christ

9. No one likes a…
Your social media should have more to offer than…
 Constant Complaining.
 Taking a stance without providing solutions.
 Self-promotion without providing an obvious benefit for
followers.
Publishing, Identity, and Communication.
United Church of Christ
Debbie Downer

10. Groups, groups, groups
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United Church of Christ
Example:
Tribber: A Twitter-based site allowing
social media influencers with similar
interests to share each other’s
content.
• You can’t grow a lasting audience without having the support of influencer
groups.
• These groups can include:
• Bloggers
• Facebook Groups
• Online Professional Organizations
• Twitter Lists

11. Influencer apps
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United Church of Christ
Sprout Social:
Use the social
media inbox to track
all notifications from
multiple platforms.
Feedly:
Keep track of your
favorite blogs and
websites with an
easy RSS feed
system. Post to
social media from
Feedly.
Hootsuite:
Post to many popular
social media
platforms from one
website. Schedule
posts ahead of time.

12. Facebook best practices
 Share original articles with tags
opposed to sharing posts from
others. The Facebook algorithm
does not favor these posts.
 Make sure you make professional
posts public, even if your default
privacy setting is private.
 Do not post links in the text of your
posts. It isn’t the “language” of
Facebook
Publishing, Identity, and Communication
United Church of Christ

13. Twitter best practices
 If you want to catch an
influencer’s eye, add her to a
well-established Twitter list.
 Never EVER start a tweet with
someone’s username. EVER.
Include them conversationally in
the tweet or at the end of the
tweet.
 Don’t automatically link your
Facebook to post to Twitter.
Publishing, Identity, and Communication
United Church of Christ

14. LinkedIn best practices
 Post professional
presentations, papers, and
accomplishments on a regular
basis.
 Join groups that reflect your
interests and your area of
expertise.
 Endorse others on a regular
basis. This encourages them
to endorse you without much
effort on your part.
Publishing, Identity, and Communication
United Church of Christ

15. Other places for influencers
 Pinterest: Major place for influencers to aggregate
content. Boards equate to areas of expertise. Great
place to keep professional articles with infographics.
 Instagram: A place where millennial influencers “hang
out.” MUST speak the language (#instagood, #ootd,
etc.). Followers usually come from an already
established brand awareness, good use of hashtags,
or promoted posts.
 YouTube: Replacing traditional television and
advertising. Amateur shooting styles and humor reign.
Individuals promote themselves through simple
webcam vlogging styles.
Publishing, Identity, and Communication
United Church of Christ

16. Being a trendsetter doesn’t
mean following every trend
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United Church of Christ
Do you woo woo?

17. Micro vs. Macro
 Networking and advertising used to focus on large
campaigns and idea concepts on a macro level.
 Social media changed that completely. Now, the idea is
to reach a very niche audience with a niche idea in
order to contribute to larger campaigns.
 Every campaign can have a macro mission with a
single micro approach OR a macro mission with
complimentary micro approaches.
Publishing, Identity, and Communication.
United Church of Christ

18. Micro Strategy Example
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My organization supports LGBT
rights.
Same-sex
marriage
Transgender
Rights
LGBT
discrimination
laws
Same-sex
adoption
Legalization of name
changes for trans
people in all states

19. Recruit Other Social Influencers
 Social media makes everyone,
even large-scale influences, more
reachable.
 BUT this doesn’t mean you should
tag people in stuff so they will read
it. Join in THEIR conversations
first before you attempt to contact
them to self-promote or cross
promote.
 Instead of tagging people for
attention, engage them with
thoughtful questions about your
shared interests or add
commentary about their popular
hashtags and links.
Publishing, Identity, and Communication
United Church of Christ

20. Why Webinar?
 Webinars are great for
professional and social
media portfolios.
 Free webinars are a great
way to engage people in
your industry to establish
yourself as an expert.
 Most social media
influencers recycle content.
Webinars can be reposted
and shared many times
and will probably find a
new audience each time.
Publishing, Identity, and Communication.
United Church of Christ

21. Summary
Publishing, Identity, and Communication
United Church of Christ
 A social media influencer is the
newest way to be a professional
authority in one’s field. Social
influencing marketing is the
fastest growing ad and marketing
industry.
 Anyone can be a social media
influencer, but you must invest
time, speak the language of the
social site you want to conquer,
and reach out to other social
media influencers in the process.
 Invest times in tools that help
schedule social media ahead of
time or monitor social media
trends with minimal effort.

22. Questions
Publishing, Identity, and Communication
United Church of Christ
Don’t be shy!
Who posted or tweeted something they
learned from this session?
Now you’re ready to be an influencer!