Webinar on How to Raise Your Co-op's Profile Using Social Media Does your co-op have a presence on one or more of the popular social platforms? Do you feel that you could gain greater influence in the space but you don't know where to start? In this webinar, NCBA's Colette Beyer and Wendy Goldman Scherer, Social Media Manager for Cabot Creamery Cooperative, will provide an overview of social media best practices, provide quick tips for getting started and involving a team, and focus on how to create influence with individuals and organizations outside the co-op. Highlights - How to identify your core audience and analyze their needs for information - Ways to listen and monitor conversations already taking place using free, easy to use tools - Engagement strategies that provide meaningful value on major social platforms - Tips for crafting tailored messages to leverage each platform’s strengths Who Should Participate? - Individuals interested in promoting their co-ops via social media channels

1. Harnessing the Power of
Social Media for Your Co-op
How to Raise Your Co-op’s Profile
Using Social Media
October 17, 2012

2. Speakers
Colette Beyer Wendy Goldman Scherer
NCBA Cabot Creamery Cooperative

3. Which social media platform
is your organization using?
(Please check all that apply)
 Facebook
 Twitter
 Pinterest/Instagram
 Blog
 None

4. Objectives
• Setting Goals
• Getting Started
– Developing your value proposition
– Identifying your core audience & their values
– Choosing social media platforms
– Listening to current conversations
• Gaining Influence
– Crafting impactful, targeted messaging
– Conversing in an authentic way

5. SETTING GOALS

6. Creating Social Media Goals
• What are you looking to achieve by creating
and maintaining a social media presence?
– Growth?
– Influence?
• How will you define success using metrics?
– Twitter: followers, retweets, replies
– Facebook: likes, shares, comments
– Pinterest: followers, likes, repins

7. Use Metrics to Measure Progress
• Measure yourself against yourself monthly
– Twitter
• Number of Replies + Retweets / # Tweets /
Total Followers X 100
– Facebook
• Likes + Comments + Shares / # Wall Posts /
Total Fans X 100

8. GETTING STARTED

9. What unique value
do you deliver?

10. Identifying Your Audience
• Who are you trying to reach?
• What are your target audiences’ core values?
• Tip: Utilize existing institutional knowledge on your target
and what they care about most
• Where do they look for valuable content?
• How do they like to receive information?

11. Choosing Platforms
• A crowded space: As of August 2011, 200 well
known social networking sites existed online
• Concentrate on key platforms
• Tip: Create only what you can consistently
maintain on a weekly basis

12. Listen to Current Conversations
• What are people saying about you?
• What are people saying about the area you’ve
identified as a place where you can add value?
• Tool: HootSuite streams
– Search for keywords and users
– Create Twitter lists and monitor via HootSuite

13. Listen to Current Conversations

14. Listen to Current Conversations

15. Listen to Current Conversations
Search can provide insight. For instance, this search (food OR grocery) AND
(coop OR co-op OR cooperative) shows that visuals/photos are important to this
target. Insight into keywords (for HootSuite or other) can be found, also.

16. Listen to Current Conversations

17. Listen to Current Conversations

18. Listen to Current Conversations
• You’re already getting Google Alerts (aren’t you?)
Watch for the social mentions and respond or
make note for future strategies
• What are your competitors doing? Bookmark
their social media pages and make a habit of
scanning them
– Facebook
– Twitter
– Pinterest
– Blog

19. GAINING INFLUENCE

20. Crafting Impactful Messaging
• Be true to your brand
• Tone and manner
• You should be consistently identifiable
wherever you are – in person, online, in store,
etc.

21. Tailoring Messaging
• Each platform is used differently
• Don’t use the same message everywhere
– ADAPT to the environment
– Promotional messaging stands out – and not in a
good way
– Don’t put the same message out exactly the same
repetitively (on any platform)

22. Authentic Conversations
Twitter
• Join the conversation and add value politely
– Add value to show you’re not just interrupting a
conversation in progress
– Answer questions, re-post others’ content
– Share or retweet someone’s content with a small
piece of commentary at the front
• Tip: keep updates to 130 characters or less with spaces
so others can retweet your message without having to
truncate or heavily modify the content

23. Authentic Conversations
Facebook
• Provide entertaining or useful information
• Promotion is okay, but don’t let it be the star
• Messages ‘live’ longer
• Visuals are key
• Like, comment, share
• Respond to customer/consumer questions in a
timely manner
• Be human/set guidelines for team and fans

25. Authentic Conversations
Pinterest
• Visuals! Don’t clutter nice visuals with a lot of
words
• Slightly longer descriptions have been shown
effective
• Photos have a long shelf life
• Link back to your site when it makes sense
• Like, comment, re-pin, follow back

26. Now What?
• Start listening
• Choose 1-2 platforms that your co-op can
contribute to consistently
• Listen to your audience
• Talk with your audience
• Help your audience
• Measure and test for continuous
improvement