Jodi Gersh, director of social media and engagement for Gannett, spoke at AZIMA's February event. Take-aways from the night's event: - What emotions drive people to spread your posts - What types of information people share with their connections - How to position your content to maximize its reach on social networks - Real life case studies on successful social media campaigns - Competitive strategies for maximizing the effectiveness of your social media campaigns

7. Contagious

9. S
Status by association. People like to
look smart, funny, and in-the-know,
so they talk about things that help
them portray a positive image.
People want things that make them
look good rather than bad.

10. T
People talk about things that are topof-mind. Using subtle reminders to
help them think about your idea will
make them more likely to share.

11. E
When we care, we share. High arousal
emotions—like excitement, anger, and awe -fire people up. This activation, in turn, drives
them to share.

12. P
People often imitate others. But you can’t
imitate what you can’t observe. Making
behavior more public enables social influence.

13. News you can use.
People share things
to help others,
whether it is advice
on saving time,
saving money, or
making them
healthier.
P

14. Stories are like Trojan Horses:
Information travels under the guise of
idle chatter. People are more likely to
share a memorable story than a list of
technical facts and features about a
product.
S

17. 1
Every city has traits, quirks and habits that are
begging to be dissected. These characteristics
are well-known to locals, but no one ever stops
to explain why they even exist in the first place.
Place Explainers investigate, answer and explain
these questions.

18. 2
We all love to brag every once in a
while about the area we call home.
Crowd Pleasers zero in on that
feeling of pride. These stories
provide an opportunity to
celebrate everything
from beautiful weather in the
Pacific Northwest to the athletic
prowess of California athletes who
won 93 Olympic gold medals.

19. 3
You know those stories you come across that you can’t turn down? The
ones that have you hooked at the headline? It’s the type of story that
captures a geeky or quirky side of a city.

20. 4
Event-based stories chronicle the news of a city. This
bill was passed. This person was hired. That person
was fired. News Explainers make sense of the news.
Rather than just telling you what happened, News
Explainers dissect why or how it happened.

21. 5
Cities are saturated with everyday news stories such as
traffic jams and fires. But Major Breaking News has a much
bigger impact on a city or a region. Massive storms are an
easy example of this because they tend to make life difficult
for entire regions. But Major Breaking News doesn’t
happen often.

22. 6
Think “awww,” think “awesome,” think “hilarious.” Most of all,
think positive: this category is made up of happy stories.
Humor, which tends to make people feel good, also plays a
role in Feel-Good Smiler content.

23. 7
A Topical Buzzer is the story of the moment
that everyone’s talking about locally. The key
to deploying a Topical Buzzer on your site:
knowing when something is beginning to
buzz.

24. 8
Have you ever come across a story about your city
and you could feel your blood beginning to boil?
That’s usually what happens when people encounter
a Provocative Controversy – they get ticked off and
highly opinionated.

25. 9
“Whoa...” You know that feeling?
We already know people like to gaze at beautiful images.
People love to goggle at beautiful images of their city.
Awe-Inspiring Visuals capture that wonderment through
photos and videos.

39. o Think about your audience
o Think about their day/schedule
o Use tools to determine when your audience is
active on social media
– Facebook Insights, PageLever Now
– Tweriod, TweetWhen, WhenToTweet
– Timing+ (for Google+)