Social Media for Extension Professionals by Ashley Nickole Andrews. Visit www.ashleynickole.com.

1. SOCIAL MEDIA
FOR EXTENSION PROFESSIONALS

2.  My name is Ashley Andrews.
 I have worked for Cooperative Extension since August 2006.
 I am just like you.
FIRST, INTRODUCTIONS:

3.  My mom is the
heart and soul of our
family.
I HAVE A FAMILY

4.  My dad and brother, both volunteer
firefighters, are the entertainment.
I HAVE A FAMILY

5. I HAVE A FAMILY

6. I HAVE A FAMILY
 My husband is the accident-
prone one of the bunch.

7. I HAVE A FAMILY

8. I HAVE HOBBIES
 I’m the nerd.
 I like to figure out how things work.
 I like the challenges of computer-building,

9. I HAVE HOBBIES
 motorcycle-riding (I’ve always managed
to stay shiny-side up),

10. I HAVE HOBBIES
 and gardening in
Nevada’s high desert
climate.

11. I KNOW WHAT YOU’RE
GOING THROUGH
 Because I’m just like you, I understand the challenges Extension
professionals face. For us,
• Work-life balance is suffering.
• We’re doing more with less.
• It’s hard to keep up.
• We’re burning out.

12. I KNOW WHAT YOU’RE
GOING THROUGH
 To survive as an
organization and as
individuals, something has
got to give. Something has
got to change.

13. WHY EXTENSION SHOULD
USE SOCIAL MEDIA
 Imagine that you’ve been diagnosed with a life-
threatening disease and that saving your life will
involve adopting a series of far-reaching lifestyle
changes. Would you adopt these changes?
- Jim Langcuster, Mission Extension: The Weblog

14. THE PAST
 For 100 years, Cooperative Extension has been “an important player
in American life” (USDA, National Institute of Food and Agriculture).

15. THE PAST
 “During the Depression, Claude ‘Mud’ Townsend dispensed
education where the clients were– in saloons (Cooperative Extension).
Nevada Cooperative
Extension Poultry
Specialist V.E. Scott goes
to great lengths to reach
constituents in the early
1920s.

16. THE PRESENT
 Extension’s knowledge landscape monopoly is gone.
 Only 27% of US adults know Cooperative Extension exists (2008 Copernicus Survey).
 The public’s need for credible, science-based information has not subsided.

17. THE FUTURE
 To help others, to continue to exist,
the organization must “adopt a series of
far-reaching” changes: go online, listen,
communicate and community-build
(Mission Extension).

18. THE FUTURE
 Extension has always gone great lengths to
reach those who need them. Today, Extension
must go online.
 This is Cooperative Extension’s chance to add
value to current programs, expand outreach efforts
and reach audiences in impactful new ways.

19. GE TTING STARTE D WITH SOCIAL ME DIA
FOR EXTENSION OUTREACH
 Cooperative Extension focuses on
people, not profit and consequently
operates with limited resources.
 Social media is a great way for
Extension to provide increased
visibility and marketing on a budget.

20. STEP 1: ID YOUR TARGET MARKET
 Are they female or male?
 How old are they?
 Where do the live?
 What languages do they speak?

21. STEP 2: FIND OUT WHERE THEY
HANG OUT ONLINE
 Facebook is popular across a diverse mix of demographic
groups. Pinterest holds particular appeal to female users.
LinkedIn is popular among college graduates and in higher
income households. Twitter and Instagram appeal to younger
adults, urban dwellers, and non-whites.
- (Pew Research)

22. STEP 3: PICK 1-2 PLATFORMS
 You don’t have to use them all, and you
will be more effective if you don’t.
 Pick the top one or two platforms for
your constituents and sign up to use them.

23. STEP 4: CREATE AND CURATE
 Suggested posting schedules:
• Facebook: 3-10 times per week.
• Twitter: 5-??? times per week.
• Linked in: 2-5 times per week.
• Pinterest: 5-10 times per week.
• Google+: 3-10 times per week.
• Instagram: 2-10 times per week.
-Constant Contact

24. STEP 4: CREATE AND CURATE
 Social media is social.
 Seek out quality content and share it to save time, educate your
audience and inspire reciprocal sharing.
 Follow other Extension colleges, offices and programs and
visit eXtension.org to discover content worth curating.

25. STEP 5: PROMOTE
 Tell friends, family,
colleagues, volunteers, program
participants, etc.
 Include social links in anything
and everything you do.
 Drive traffic to your website
from your social media posts.

26. FACEBOOK COMMUNITY BUILDING
FOR EXTENSION PROFESSIONALS
 Your effective use of social media
influences Extension’s outreach
impact and fiscal future.

27. FACEBOOK COMMUNITY BUILDING
FOR EXTENSION PROFESSIONALS
 Foster an online community to:
• Help others: Assess needs,
respond with programs and
monitor program impacts.
• Continue to exist: Nurture
relationships with those who
provide and control Extension
funding.

28. BE NICE
 Internet users are accustomed to pervasive
and often misleading advertising.
 Be polite, honest, consistent and genuine in
your communications.

29. BE ACTIVE
 Continually post updates to have an impact.
 Post on weekends, holidays and during your
audience’s peak Facebook use hours.
 Schedule evening, weekend and holiday
posts.

30. FACEBOOK INSIGHTS FOR
EXTENSION PROFESSIONALS
 We need data, and there is a
goldmine of it available through
Facebook Insights.
 The information can be used to
determine program need and impact.

31. DEMOGRAPHICS AND NEEDS
ASSESSMENT
 Facebook Insights provides
gender, age range, country,
language and city demographic
data to administrators of
Facebook pages with more than
30 likes.

32. DEMOGRAPHICS AND NEEDS
ASSESSMENT
 Assess audience
needs in real-time.
 Discover who
wants to interact with
which program, when,
where and in what
language.

33. REACH, ENGAGEMENT AND
PROGRAM IMPACT
 When you post
information on
Facebook, your impact is
multiplied to deliver
much-needed research-
based information to
more clients using fewer
labor hours.

34. REACH, ENGAGEMENT AND
PROGRAM IMPACT
 Facebook Insights lets you see how much
your impact is increased.

35. REACH, ENGAGEMENT AND
PROGRAM IMPACT
 One recent Grow Your Own, Nevada! post on
vegetable gardening reached 55 people out of 139 total
fans. The post inspired 9 post clicks and 7
likes/comments.
 One recent UNCE Master Gardener post on caring
for trees during drought reached 131 people out of 352
fans, and inspired 21 post clicks and 3 likes/comments.

36. SO HOW ARE WE DOING?
 Now that we
know what we
should do and
how to do it, let’s
see how well
we’re doing.

37. COOPERATIVE EXTENSION
OFFERS OUTREACH
 All universities engage in research and teaching, but the nation’s
more than 100 land-grant colleges and universities, have a third
critical mission—extension. ‘Extension’ means ‘reaching out’…,
solving public needs with college or university resources through non-
formal, non-credit programs.
-USDA, National Institute of Food and Agriculture

38. BUT DOES IT REACH OUT?
 83% love Extension, but
only 27% know it exists (2008
Copernicus Survey).
 Extension offers great
outreach programs, but it is
not effectively reaching out.

39. WEBSITE PERFORMANCE

40. INBOUND LINKS
 Incoming links have a direct effect on search results, an effective
way to reach new customers.
• Nevada- F: 73/278= 26.25%
• Idaho- F: 95/278= 34.17%
• Utah- A: 274/278= 98.56%
• Colorado- A: 278/278= 100%

41. WEB ANALYTICS
 One single free tool cannot analyze all four sites due to
their differing site structures.
 Since the same tool cannot be used to analyze all four
sites, and since all four sites rank low on whichever tool is
used, no one wins this round.

42. SOCIAL MEDIA PERFORMANCE

43. FACEBOOK LIKES
 Some use Facebook pages more effectively than others.
• Idaho- F: 296/1,365= 21.68%
• Nevada- F: 584/1,365= 42.78%
• Utah- F: 694/1,365= 50.84%
• Colorado- A: 1,365/1,365= 100%.

44. FACEBOOK LIKEALYZER RESULTS
 According to LikeAlyzer, Colorado is in jeopardy of losing its
social media advantage over Utah, Nevada and Idaho.
• Colorado- F: 4/67= 0.05%
• Nevada- F: 28/67= 41.79%
• Utah- B: 54/67= 80.59%
• Idaho- A: 67/67= 100%

45. OVERALL WEB PERFORMANCE
 Extension once again proves that while it offers great outreach
programs, it is not effectively reaching out.
• Nevada- F: (26.25%+42.78%+41.79%)/3= 36.94%
• Idaho- F: (34.17%+21.68%+100%)/3= 51.95%
• Colorado- D: (100%+100%+0.05%)/3= 66.68%
• Utah- C: (98.56%+50.84%+80.59%)/3= 76.66%

46. SO LET’S GET BETTER
 Resources:
• eXtension.org Social Media Strategist Anne Adrian’s blog,
http://blog.anneadrian.com/
• Beginners Guide to Social Media in Extension,
http://collaborate.extension.org/wiki/Beginners_Guide_to_Social_
Media_in_Extension.
• Twitter and Facebook Marketing: Building Engaged Communities,
http://www.ignitesocialmedia.com/facebook-marketing/twitter-and-
facebook-marketing-building-engaged-communities/

47. LET’S COLLABORATE
 ashalee.andrews
 ashaleeandrews
 ashaleeandrews
 ashaleeandrews
 ashaleeandrews
 ashaleeandrews
www.ashleynickole.com