This playbook was designed for The Women's Center. For official use only.

1. How to use social media to increase Your brand
reputation and enhance your digital presence.
1
December 2012

2. Introduction: Playbook…………….3
Who is this Playbook for?................4
Who will you reach?..........................5
Objectives………………………………...6
Overall messaging…………………….6
General tips: Dos & Don’t’s………..7
Table of Contents:
“We don’t have a choice on whether we do social media. The question is how
well we do it.”
- Erik Qualman, American author of socialnomics
Social Media Platforms…………….8
Twitter…………………………………9
Facebook……………………………14
YouTube…………………………….18
Google Grants..……………………21
Blog……………………………………22
Ideal Updating Frequency……….29
Extra Tips………………………………31
Social Media Icons………………31
Photo
Editing……………………...32
2

3. Intoday’s quickly evolving digital world, it is
imperative to create a unique space for The
Women’s Center. Hearing the conversations about
you, as well as having a clear engagement strategy
and well-defined messaging, will strengthen the
Center’s brand.
The main question, however, is where to begin?
The answer lies with a Social Media Playbook. This
Playbook will act as a guide to help the Center create
and maintain a consistent, clear, community-driven
digital presence.
With a trustworthy and qualified reputation
established via great service and subsequent word-
of-mouth referrals, the Center has supplemented its
professional status with a personal, engaging one
through social media platforms.
To further engage a broader, more interactive
audience and to continue to enhance its digital
presence, this Playbook outlines how the Center can
continue on its successful path consistently, as well
as provides more specific recommendations for how
to take the level of social media engagement on to
the next step.
Our Georgetown Public Relations & Corporate
Communications Cause Consulting team hopes that this
Playbook will help the Center’s staff to easily and consistently
manage its digital presence, provide guidance to new or in-
training staff in the future, and enhance the Center’s
engagement with future and potential clients to achieve the
goal of greater client acquisition.
Social Media Playbook
(Note: This Social Media Playbook has been crafted based
on the research and insights of the Georgetown PR/CC
Cause Consulting team and in collaboration with The
Women’s Center staff. ) 3

4. Who is this Playbook for?
4
New Users: Those new to the digital world and social media
engagement practices. These users can use this playbook to
learn about various social media platforms and how the
Center has uses them successfully.
Engaged Users: Those already participating on social media
platforms who wish to enhance the Center’s digital presence.
These users can use this Playbook to take the Center’s
strategies to the next level.
You.
ThisPlaybook has been created for the Center’s
staff – for current staff members, future new-
hires, temporary employees, seasonal interns, etc.
All types of staff members must work together to
form a unified voice with consistent messaging. This
Playbook will help each type of employee to keep to
the Center’s brand tone and style. This collaborative
group of staff members has been separated into two
groups based on social media experience.
“Social marketing eliminates the
middlemen, providing brands the
unique opportunity to have a direct
relationship with their customers.”
- Bryan Weiner, CEO at Digital Agency
3601

5. Current and future clients.
Due to the nature of the Center’s range of
services, the people you will reach on social media
platforms will vary. The Center provides services
that some keep private, whereas others are more
social, such as group sessions or learning workshops
for finances or resume building.
Here is a generic breakdown of the types of
audiences the Center can reach, engage, and interact
with on various social media platforms:
Social Users: Today’s world is ever more
engaging, and people are constantly communicating
in one way or another. People talk about
everything, from breaking news to what they’ve had
for breakfast. The Center and its wonderful services
constantly give people something to talk about. You
should therefore be available to this very
social, conversational group of users – to re-
post/Retweet any reviews they post about the
Center, to reply to any questions or engage in
discussion. Not only will you reach people currently
talking about you, but just existing in the social
sphere will be an enticement within itself for people
to talk about you, to have you reciprocate and
recognize them in turn.
Who will you reach?
5
Anonymous Users: These users go to the Center for more
private services, such as personal counseling
sessions, couples relationship issues they perhaps don’t want
others to know about, or financial debt counseling they hope
to resolve. While these users may spread recommendations
via word-of-mouth, they are less likely to share in social
spaces. However, knowing that they can reach you through
numerous channels only works in the Center’s favor.
Further, because they are not talking about the Center on a
very social level, seeing social activity and others’
conversations about or recommendations for the Center in
the digital sphere will increase their trust in the Center, as
well as increase the Center’s credibility.

6. Objectives
Understand the amount and nature of
engagement and conversation
surrounding the Center.
Understand the competitive landscape and establish
the Center as a leader in the market and sector.1)
2)
3)
Link online engagement to objectives
specific to the Center’s goals.
Overall Messaging
6
The Center’s current strategy of keeping the tone
conversational, personal, and friendly is working
wonderfully. With a trustworthy and qualified
reputation established via great service and
subsequent word-of-mouth referrals, the Center has
supplemented its professional status with a
personal, engaging one through social media
platforms. Keep to that personable tone, talking in
the first person (i.e., “We” the Center) to your
current and future clients (i.e., “You” the audience).
“Social media works best when there are real people, with genuine intentions
and quality content, behind every profile, tweet, and tag.”
– Eloqua (social media tracking vendor)

7. General tips
Do listen to the conversations
taking place about the Center and
that directed toward the Center. This
will help you to gauge the public’s
perception of you and hint toward
how you can and should respond.
7
Do think before you post.
Everything lasts forever on the Web.
Be sure that you are fine with having
what you post last.
Don’t share private or confidential
information about the Center, your
staff, or board members. This
information should only be provided
with explicit permission to be used
in the social sphere, or it should not
be posted at all. Posts cannot be
taken back or permanently deleted
from the Internet and archived files.
Don’t always ask for money. Use
social media platforms as more of a
relationship builder to crate a
longer-lasting connection to future
and current clients, not just donors
or volunteers. Occasional requests
for time and donations is good, but
this is your platform for increasing
brand
recognition, trustworthiness, and
credibility.
Do be consistent in the content
and information you share. This
includes all that goes in your profiles
on every social media platform
(e.g., same profile photo, cover
photo, basic information, brief
description, etc.).
More information from Eloqua, a social media tracking vendor
“Ultimately, brands need to have a role in society. The best way to have a role in society is to
understand how people are talking about things in real time.”
– Jean-Philippe Maheu, Chief Digital Officer, Ogilvy

8. 8
Social Media Platforms
“A brand is no longer what we
tell the customer it is. It is
what customers tell
it is.”
– Scott Cook
co-founder of Intuit

9. 9
Twitter
Summary: Twitter is the best social media tool for
quick engagement and more personal relationships
with individuals. The Center is active and engaged
already. These recommendations are meant to
supplement the working strategy you already have
in place and enhance the effectiveness of those
strategies.
Key Terms:
• Tweet – (v) Tweet, tweeting, tweeted. The act of
posting a message. (n) A message posted via
Twitter containing 140 characters or fewer.
• Direct Message (DM or message) – These
Tweets are private between sender and recipient.
Tweets sent over SMS (by phone app) become
DMs when they begin with “d username” to
specify who the message is for.
• Hashtag (#) – Used to mark keywords or topics
in a Tweet.
• Follower – Another Twitter user who has
followed you and wishes to see your Tweets in
his/her newsfeed.
• Retweet (RT) – A Tweet by another
user, forwarded to you by someone you follow.
Often used to spread news or valuable findings
on Twitter.
The Microblog
Definitions from “the twitter glossary”

10. 10
Twitter
Advantages:
• General – Free, user-friendly/intuitive, mobile-
friendly and a popular app on smart phones.
• Good Things Go Viral – Even if your posts don’t
reach the “viral” stage, popular Tweets are
shared to an exponential degree on this platform.
What is popular among the few easily becomes
popular among the many.
• Private and Public Messages – You have the
option of posting Tweets, which are seen by your
followers and anyone on Twitter who stumbles
across them, and the option of sending specific
Tweets to particular users (@handle). For more
private words, you have the option of sending
DMs to individuals to have private conversations.
• Real-Time Interaction – The Center can
immediately and personally respond to
specific, prospective clients whenever they reach
out to you. You can request someone DM you
their e-mail to provide them with more
information or publicly refer them to pertinent
information so others can benefit too.
The Microblog
Disadvantages:
• 140-Character Limit – This is a
disadvantage only in that it requires
increased clarity, brevity, and tight copywriting.
Creativity and variety (i.e., mix of
text, photos, videos, and links) is essential here
and goes a long way.
• Crises Go Viral – As easily as some Tweets
become popular, so too do unpopular ones, and
these are shared at a much more rapid rate to a
broader audience. You must be constantly aware
of sensitive issues and respond to nip any
forming crises in the bud.
• Short Shelf Life – What might be a memorable
or popular Tweet is quickly and easily forgotten.
You must continuously post fresh content on this
platform to stay relevant and keep your followers
engaged.
• Spammers – You must make sure your followers
are not dummy accounts or spam accounts that
send spam Tweets and sales links to flood
people’s newsfeeds. This ensures you don’t get an
inflated sense of your impact on Twitter.
“The Advantages and disadvantages of using twitter,” brian angeli,, internet marketing coach

11. 11
Twitter
What’s Working:
• Consistency – The Center is already cross-
posting key information consistently across
platforms and on your website. Users who are
only on certain platforms will see what users on
other platforms see, so you’re effectively
communicating to your entire digital audience.
• Mixing It Up – Tweets contain a great mix of
event promotions with links to sign up or join
in, questions to entice interaction between the
Center and followers/potential followers
(i.e., clients/potential clients), photos to provide
a welcoming face or more personal image of the
Center. A variety in the types of content in Tweets
helps keep posts interesting to followers and
encourages others to become new followers.
• Personal Tone – “You can help us win first place
in the Acument Solutions Race for a Cause 8K.
#constantcontact conta.cc/T66PZZ.” Speaking to
the Twitter ‘verse as “you” is more intimate and
focuses on the individual. This invites
conversation, strengthens the Center’s brand
voice, and speaks in the language of Twitter –
simple, easy, interesting.
The Microblog
Next Level Recommendations:
• Reciprocate/Follow Back – Recognition goes a
long way in creating a stronger digital
relationship. The Center provides clients with a
service revolving around listening. Show the
digital world that you are listening from the
beginning – on every channel, digital and in
person. If someone follows you on Twitter, follow
him or her back (but be sure the account is real).
• Trending Topics – If time permits during the
day, check on what’s trending on Twitter (see the
left sidebar of the site to view topics most
popular in the Twitter ‘verse at the time). If one
is even slightly related to the Center, Tweet about
it and join the conversations taking place. If done
consistently and well, and with your staff’s
creativity and expertise, the Center can easily
become an industry thought leader.

12. 12
Twitter
The Microblog
Next Level Recommendations:
• Event Tweeting – The Center hosts so many
wonderful workshops, group
events, volunteering opportunities, etc. Show
those who are unaware of the breadth of what
you do by broadcasting it. “Tweet like crazy”
during events to promote it and future
ones, make participants more engaged by
Tweeting with them, and let those who wish
they’d attended keep up so they are excited about
the next event – a similar one or one more within
their needs/interests. Example Event Tweets
include speaker quotes, observations of the
atmosphere, neat facts about the speaker or
subject matter.
• Event Tweet-Up – To go along with the above
recommendation, invite event participants to
Tweet throughout, respond/Retweet, make those
who passed on the event wish they’d attended.
This is a quick and easy way to get
feedback, reviews, and testimonials that are
concise, genuine, and immediately shareable.
• Guest Tweets – A guest Tweeter is someone who
takes over the Center’s account for a period of time.
This could be a clinician, a workshop instructor, a
keynote speaker, etc. For that day, he/she will answer
questions, respond to Tweets, and post new ideas.
This is a great way to change it up and keep the
Center’s Tweets fresh! Their followers may become
your followers.
• Event Hashtag – Be sure to create a unique event
hashtag to catalogue topic and event-related Tweets –
your own as well as others’. You can use them later as
reviews or teasers for similar, future events.

13. 13
Twitter
The Microblog
Applications and Tools:
• URL Shorteners – Well-known, free, and trusted
URL shorteners include:
• https://bitly.com/
• http://ow.ly/
• http://deck.ly/
• Monitoring – To more easily monitor mentions
of the Center on Twitter and manage Tweets, the
following sites are popular and work well:
• http://www.tweetdeck.com/
• http://hootsuite.com/
• Twitter Counter – This tool tracks follower
growth over time and reports with a visual graph.
• http://twittercounter.com/
• Audience Analysis – Like the other monitoring
tools, SocialBro helps you manage your account.
It also offers features to monitor your
competitors’ accounts, or similar services’
accounts, and tells you who they have recently
followed. It recommends users to follow based on
your target audience. It also shows you optimal
times to post based on when your followers and
business-related peers and their followers are
most engaged. How neat!
• http://www.socialbro.com/
More tools from Social Media Examiner

14. Definitions from Facebook’s “Glossary of terms.” 14
Facebook
Summary: Many of the Center’s competitors and
similar service groups are not active on social
media platforms. You have the advantage of having a
presence on Facebook and Twitter. Emphasize your
authoritative, yet personable voice. Facebook is best
used as a discussion or broadcasting tool.
Key Terms:
• Friend – People you can connect and share with.
• Profile – On Facebook, your timeline is your
profile.
• Timeline – Your collection of photos, stories, and
experiences that tell your story.
• Wall – The space on your profile where you and
your friends can post and share.
• Newsfeed – Ongoing list of updates on your
home page that shows you what’s new with the
friends and pages you follow.
• Like – Clicking “Like” is a way to give positive
feedback or to follow a brand page.
The Social Network
• Page – Pages allow businesses, brands, and
celebrities to connect with people. Admins can
post information and news feed updates to
people who like their pages.
• Notifications – E-mail, onsite, or mobile updates
about activity on Facebook.
• Messages – A central place to exchnge private
messages, chats, e-mails, and mobile tests with
friends.

15. 15
Facebook
Advantages:
• General – Free, huge network with 900+ million
users, very user-friendly/intuitive, mobile-
friendly, and a popular app on smart phones.
• No Posting Limits – Unlike Twitter, you can say
everything you need to in as many words as you
want on Facebook. Conciseness and clarity is
always key, but here there is more flexibility.
• Private and Public Messages – You can post
information or thoughts to the Facebook ‘verse at
large, or directly message a person or group.
More private questions can be sent via
messaging, or questions at large to the Center’s
entire network of friends can be posed on the
Center’s wall.
• Great Discussion Forum – The lack of character
restrictions and open posting access allows
everyone and anyone speak to the Center and
engage with others conversing about the Center.
Your friends on Facebook can interact with one
another, connect, and build stronger
relationships between you and each
other, creating a community.
The Social Network
Disadvantages:
• Anonymous Design – While also an
advantage, Facebook’s generic design feature
makes it difficult to truly stand out in a visually
captivating way apart from an interesting profile
photo and cover image.
• Negative Content – Some people use brand
pages as areas to vent, post spam, or write
offensive comments. However, these can be
monitored and screened.
• Privacy – Some of your Facebook friends may
follow your posts but decide not to reply back or
join in any discussions because everyone else
will be able to view those comments.

16. 16
What’s Working:
• Consistency, Mixing It Up, Personal Tone – See
page 11.
Next Level Recommendations:
• Change Cover Image – Apart from your name
and logo, your brand page’s cover image is
essentially the face of the Center. Changing this
regularly, even quarterly, will show that you are
active not only on the site, but as an organization.
The cover image can show different areas you
work in – workshop setting, counseling
office, waiting room, staff office, the beautiful
location in Vienna, etc. It can also work as free ad
space. If you have a great event coming up, like
the next gala or charity run, feel free to post a
great photo or graphic to promote it.
• Recommendations Section – It’s great you
already have this section posted! You have a few
people who have posted here, but don’t be afraid
to post your own. That is, when you receive a nice
letter or great feedback, post it in the
Recommendations section. Just be sure to note
you received those words elsewhere, and ask for
permission from the reviewer prior to posting.
• Vary Posts – You already do a wonderful job with
this! By doing so, you capture interest and keep it.
A few more topics or types of posts you can use
are listed below:
• Feature Stories: To go along with any
testimonial stories you have about
clients, feel free to feature your own staff
members, clinicians, intake coordinators, etc.
These are the people your current and future
clients will interact with, and getting to know
them, seeing their faces, will further
personalize the Center and your staff.
• Study/News Findings: People are interested
in facts. If they know you’re knowledgeable
and continuously up to date (and sharing the
information), it will only help to build the
Center’s credibility.
Facebook
The Social Network

17. 17
Applications and Tools:
• Schedule Posts – With Sendible, you can
manage your posts and schedule when they will
go live. This will help with time management. If
you set aside a few times a week to draft
posts, you can create them all at once and use
Sendible to schedule when they will be posted –
one a day, two a day at a certain time, and so on.
• http://sendible.com/features/sites-
supported-by-sendible
• Measuring Success – Quintly (formerly
AllFacebook Stats) is a great tool that reports on
your social marketing success. It includes
automated reports, market benchmarking
against similar services and competitors, and
Facebook insights integration.
• http://www.quintly.com/
• Customization – To truly make your Facebook
page your own with customized
forms, contests, videos and more, ShortStack is a
great tool to use.
• http://www.shortstack.com/
Facebook
The Social Network

18. Definitions from “Youtube Essentials.” 18
YouTube
Summary: You’re already ahead of where you
began three months ago with regards to YouTube.
“Paige’s Story,” which the Center posted just this
past month, was fantastic and so incredibly
touching. Based on our research and the success of
“Paige’s Story,” these recommendations are merely
to help you enhance your YouTube strategy to
further support your organization’s goals.
Key Terms:
• Like – Enjoy a video? Click “Like” beneath the
video to let others know. Others can do the same
to your videos, so you can see what your
audience connects to and wishes to see more of.
• Embed – YouTube provides you with the code to
add videos to any web site or blog. Click “Embed”
to see color and size options, then just copy and
paste the code into the HTML on your site.
• Comment – Respond to videos you’ve watched
by adding a comment beneath the player. Others
can comment on your videos as well, and you
have the option of responding. Responses are a
great way to reciprocate attention and build
relationships.
The Video Sharer
• Subscribe – People can subscribe to your
YouTube channel. Your latest videos and recent
shared activity will automatically be delivered to
their homepages, so they can stay up-to-date on
everything you’re doing.
• Channels – Your channel is your home for
broadcasting on YouTube. Here you share videos
you make (“Uploads”, videos you love
(“Favorites”), and the videos you’ve organized
(“Playlists”).
• Description – The key piece of information used
to identify the content of your video.

19. 19
Advantages:
• Rating System – You can quickly and easily see
how viewers respond to your videos. They can
like and rate each video as they watch, as well as
comment.
• No Posting Limits – You are free to post as many
videos as you wish.
• Embed Videos – Not only is YouTube a great
video-hosting website, it also allows you to
embed that same video to your website.
• SEO Rank – Search rank of content goes up if it’s
multimedia. Embedding videos to your site
increases its rank in searches.
Disadvantages:
• Video Length is Limited to 10 Minutes –
Though listed as a disadvantage. Numerous
studies show that a viewer’s attention
exponentially deteriorates over time, especially
after the first four minutes of a video. So while
there is a time limit to video length, that actually
works in your favor.
• No Comment Restrictions – Any negative
remarks against the Center or the people within
the video are not restricted. You must be sure to
monitor the comments section of any videos you
post to be sure nothing inflammatory or
derogatory remains posted.
YouTube
The Video Sharer
“Youtube: Advtantages and disadvantages” by yasmin; Eloqua

20. 20
What’s Working:
• Current Video – See page 11.
Next Level Recommendations:
• Description – This is a big factor in whether
someone watches your video. Keep this
short, clear, and captivating. A few sentences to a
short paragraph works well. Add in a link to
where it is located on your web site in case a
viewer wishes to learn more about you, about
your services, or how to further connect with
you.
• Create a Playlist – You’ve already created a video
that would be lovely in a playlist. Playlists are
essentially categories or themed lists of your
videos. Having a playlist for client stories, one for
charity events, another for organization-hosted
events, and more, will be a great addition to show
your current and future clients that you are
active in both the digital world and outside it, as
well as trustworthy and credible.
• Vary Posts – You already do a wonderful job with
this! By doing so, you capture interest and keep it.
A few more topics or types of posts you can use
are listed below:
• Feature Stories: To go along with any
testimonial stories you have about
clients, feel free to feature your own staff
members, clinicians, intake coordinators, etc.
These are the people your current and future
clients will interact with, and getting to know
them, seeing their faces, will further
personalize the Center and your staff.
• Study/News Findings: People are interested
in facts. If they know you’re knowledgeable
and continuously up to date (and sharing the
information), it will only help to build the
Center’s credibility.
YouTube
The Video Sharer

21. Not recommended at this time.
“Google Grants is the nonprofit edition of
AdWords, Google's online advertising tool. Google
Grants empowers nonprofit organizations, through
$10,000 per month in in-kind AdWords™
advertising, to promote their missions and initiatives
on Google.com.”
- http://www.google.com/grants/
Due to limited time and monetary resources at
the Center’s disposal, we do not recommend
applying for Google Grants at this time. Though
Google’s program can be a fantastic resource for
nonprofits, it requires an experienced staff member
to run the awarded ad campaign, extensive
maintenance, and close monitoring.
Further details that must be considered prior to
applying for and running a Google Grant campaign
may be found in Hallman Communications’ article
“The Real Cost of Having a Google Grant” by Mark
Hallman.
Google Grants
21

22. “2013 Blog Service Comparisons” by TopTenreviews.com 22
Blog
Summary: To further establish a more personal
voice and feel for the Center, creating a blog
featuring staff members, even information, the
inner workings of the Center, and more will be
largely beneficial. Blogs are a great way for people
to interact with an organization in a more informal
way, and they also provide an opportunity for staff
members to talk about the Center informally and
personally on a public forum. Blogs also increase
your brand awareness and, in sharing
knowledge, establishes you as an expert in your
industry.
According to MediaPost, “Google’s algorithm places
a greater emphasis on blog posts, Tweets, and
videos with every algorithm update.” This means
you can more easily be found the more you take
advantage of these tools.
Because this platform will be a new channel for the
Center, the recommendation sections vary a bit
from the other platforms included in this Playbook.
The Inside Source
Blogging Sites:
• WordPress – A semantic personal publishing
platform with a focus on aesthetics, web
standards, and usability.
• http://www.wordpress.org/
• Typepad– Service for hosting and publishing
weblogs and photo albums.
• http://www.typepad.com/
• Squarespace– Create a free blog, as well as
galleries, blogs, domains, hosting, analystics, 24/
7 support.
• http://www.squarespace.com/
• Blogger – Free weblog publishing tool from
Google, for sharing text, photos, and video.
• http://www.blogger.com/

23. Blog
The Inside Source
23
WordPress: At our last meeting, the topic of
creating a blog came to the table, particularly using
WordPress. Because this blogging platform is so
intuitive and highly ranked, and because you had
expressed an interest in this particular
platform, this Playbook focuses on the How-Tos and
terms for WordPress. However, the
recommendations for posts and other information
is intentionally more general for use on other
platforms should you choose another blogging host.
(For a summary of advantages and disadvantages of
the top blogging hosts, see Smedio’s post “Where to
Blog” athttp://smedio.com/2012/02/01/where-to-
blog-the-advantages-and-disadvantages-of-major-
blogging-platforms/)
Key Terms:
• Theme – Modifies the way the blog is displayed.
A way to skin your blog.
• Pages – “Static” information about yourself or
blog (e.g., About Page). Not to be confused with
“posts.” Pages live “outside” your blog.
• Post – Articles you write to populate your blog.
• Tags – Keyword that describes all or part of a
“post.” Smaller in scope than a “category.”
• Category – Each “post” is filed under a category.
These allow posts to be grouped with others of
similar content and aids readers in navigating
through your blog.
• Comments – Allow readers to respond to your
posts. These can be controlled and regulated by
filters for language and content. They can be
queued for approval before they are posted on
your blogs.
• Dashboard – The main administration screen for
your blog.
• Sidebar – A vertical column provided by a
“theme” for displaying information other than
the main content of the blog. Usually contain
“widgets.”
• Widgets – A self-contained area of a blog that
performs a specific function (e.g., tag clouds, post
categories, navigation, search, etc.)
Definitions are from Wordpress’s codex

24. Blog
The Inside Source
24
How To:
• Sign up – Create a blog at www.wordpress.org .
• Choose a Username –
Currently, “thewomenscenterblog” is available as
a username and blog address/URL. It’s free to
have “.wordpress.com” as the domain name, but if
you want your blog to have a custom and
professional domain name, such as “.net” or
“.org,” you can pay a small fee ($18-25/year).
• Pick a Theme – Choose a theme that is
aesthetically pleasing, easy to read, and is aligned
with your main website’s design (for consistent
messaging throughout your various social media
channels and other marketing collateral). Most
themes are free, but you can pay for a premium
theme if you want one that no one else has.
• Free Theme Suggestions: Some free
suggestions include: Blissful
Blog, Pilcrow, Regulus, Toni, Unsleepable.
• Premium Theme Suggestions: Duet
($68), Linen ($68), ThemeMin ($50)

25. Blog
The Inside Source
25
Blogging Tips:
• Who Should Post – The person most interested
in doing so! Enthusiasm brings out the greatest
inspiration in a blogger. This ensures a post will
be written.
• Who Can Post – Everyone! Marketing
staff, intake
coordinators, interns, clinicians, volunteers, etc.
Anyone and everyone can and should be a guest
blogger. Anyone from within the Center has a
different perspective of the Center, your
services, and your events. Provide your readers
with a behind-the-scenes look at the Center.
• Post Consistently – Even if you post once a
month or quarterly, try to keep to a schedule so
your readers know when to expect new content.
Even if you don’t have a huge following on your
blog, keep those you do have by letting them
know you appreciate them being there and will
continue to provide them with information.
• Invite Conversation – This may seem like a no-
brainer, but posing a few questions at the end of each
posts truly prompts dialogue between you and your
readers. Keep the conversation going after each post
has been published. Take polls to gauge interest in
certain topics or what your readers would like to read
about next. Be sure to reply back to comments as
well.
• Variation is Key – Just like with Twitter and
Facebook, mixing up the types of posts you publish
will keep your readers interested and your content
fresh. You can make the focus of a post about a new
video you’ve posted, an event coming up, a spotlight
on a staff member, and more.
“5 tips to start a nonprofit blog” by the case foundation

26. Blog
The Inside Source
26
Recommendations – Topics and Authors:
• About Us Page – This is essentially the landing
page for your blog. It introduces a bit about the
Center: what your mission is, what your services
are, and what your blog will do. Introduce the
main contributor/blog master, or the person or
people who will be running the blog
most, editing its content, and answering
comments. Be sure that the icon photo and
background photo you use here reflects that of
what you use on Twitter and Facebook. You want
your “face” to be the same on every platform you
are on.
More Blogging Tips:
• Repurpose Content – To save time in your busy
schedules, use content you already have and turn
that into a post. You can use general tips provided
by your counselors and clinicians: “5 Tips for
Renewing Your Resume,””10 Ways to Keep to
Your Budget.”
• Aggregate News and Other Blogs – Sometimes
you can save time by occasionally featuring news
from other sources. This is a great way to show
that the Center is on top of topics surrounding
your services and updated studies. This is also a
great way to build blogging partnerships. If you
feature a blogger, let them know. Maybe they’ll
reciprocate later and feature one of your posts.
This way, you’re building a relationship with a
great source, and you may also be gaining new
followers from someone else. This is the word-of-
mouth referral of the digital sphere!
“16 Nonprofit Blog Design Tips & Content Ideas” by Branded4good

27. Blog
The Inside Source
27
More Recommendations – Topics and Authors:
• Welcome Post – This post is your inaugural post.
Go over once more, briefly, what is in your About
Us page so readers know what you’re all
about, what types of posts will be
forthcoming, and from whom. It’s great to have a
post or two lined up so you can give your readers
a preview of what they can expect. Invite people
to speak to you in the comments, seek out guest
bloggers, invite your readers to submit a story of
their own about how they’ve been impacted by
the Center. Make a theme of it and post on this
date every year; perhaps begin on the Center’s
founding day. “In celebration of The Women’s
Center’s beginning, we bring to you the Center’s
blog.”
• Leadership Posts – This doesn’t have to be a
single post from a board member or upper
management. This can be a series of posts for
your staff to reflect on their time with the
Center, their ideas for the future, pose questions
to clients, speak to the donor constituency, or
even speak to the Center’s entire staff base. The
Center’s leaders have a wonderful perspective of
how the organization works as a whole and can
give the “inside scoop” for interested readers.
Everyone loves getting the scoop!
• Staff Spotlight – Having a staff
member, intern, or volunteer write a blog post is
a great way to increase employee morale, but it
also gives your readers a chance to get a look into
what’s behind the scenes of counseling
sessions, event preparation, workshop planning.
All of these are so interesting. They would also
make great videos to go into the blog post!
• Testimonial Story – You can easily highlight how
the Center has had an impact on people just like
those reading your blog by posting a client’s
story. “Paige’s Story” was a lovely video. You can
create a blog post for that story by embedding
the video in a post and including a paragraph
summary about what the video is about, and
perhaps a quote as well to really draw readers in
and make them press “play.” Please see the
Testimonial Storytelling Implementation
Guideline for more information.

28. Blog
The Inside Source
28
Examples of Great Nonprofit Blogs:
• Salvation Army – Always on top of current
events, this blog brings its services to the
forefront by connecting them to what is urgent
now. You can do the same. “Schoolyard bullying
happens everywhere, here’s how you can help
your child.” You help people with situations every
day, explain a bit about how you do so, and
highlight any upcoming events in this way.
• Wayne Pacelle’s Blog – An example of a great
Leadership Post (or entire blog) is that of The
Humane Society’s President and CEO, Wayne
Pacelle. He speaks to larger issues to individual
animals the Society has helped and has a
flourishing blog because of it.
More Recommendations – Topics and Authors:
• Guest Blogger Post – Have a favorite keynote
speaker from an event an instructor from a
workshop? Have them blog about their
experience with the Center, about themselves, or
about anything they want that relates even
minimally to the Center! This works perfectly for
you both – to publish that guest blogger, promote
your event or workshop, and keep your content
fresh.
• Feeding America – This is a great topic blog. Its
entire theme revolves around the issue of
hunger, and still every post is captivating. It
makes use of multimedia, has great
storytelling, and still puts out effective, yet non-
intrusive, calls to action. The Center has
numerous issues to speak to and that you help
your clients with. Make just one a focus of every
few blog posts, truly and interestingly tell your
story or provide useful information, and your
posts will be a success too!

29. Post enough to captivate, not
bombard.
Overall, the idea is to keep your social media
content flowing smoothly across all platforms. That
is, your website is your main landing area – the
portal to all of your information to those actively
searching and participating in the digital sphere.
Anything you post should somehow link to your
main site, so everything may be found there.
So, if you post on Twitter and Facebook, make those
posts similar or the same, and link to your main site
– to where they can sign up for an event or
workshop, learn more about a service, or read a new
testimonial story. YouTube is a video-hosting site
where you’ll keep all of your videos, but you’ll also
link to them on Facebook and Twitter, as well as
have a page on your website and blog to embed that
video and spread the news about it.
Again, here, consistency is key. Find what is
doable for you. If you can’t post every day or even
every couple of days, you just can’t. And that’s fine.
You only have time for what you have time for. Just
try to post as routinely as possible. This will keep
your followers on any platform yours, and the
strategies contain within this Playbook will invite
new followers and readers!
Ideal updating frequency
29

30. • Twitter – You already posts regularly here. Keep
on keeping on! For more information, click the
infographic or caption to the right.
• Facebook – You’re doing great here too, actually!
Many sources do note that Saturday is the best
day to post, though. To avoid logging in on
weekends, schedule your posts on Friday, or even
earlier in the week! For more information, click
the infographic or caption to the right.
• YouTube – Videos take much more time to make
than merely posting on the other social media
platforms. Just keep YouTube as your main video
hosting site or be sure to migrate all of your
videos to another site if you choose a different
one as a host. If you come out with a new video
every two months, or once a quarter, just like
“Paige’s Story,” you’ll be tremendously ahead of
the game!
• Blog – The highest percentage of users read
blogs in the morning, and most blog traffic comes
on Mondays. However, the most comments go to
blogs posting on Saturday. For more
information, click the infographic or caption to
the right.
Ideal updating frequency
30“The Science of social timing part 1: social media”; and “The Science of Social Timing part 3: Timing and Blogging”
Twitter (above); Facebook (Below)
Blogs

31. Because extras are fun!
Social media icons are everywhere. They
get site visitors and blog readers to go from one place
to the next – do the same! Making sure to include links
via icons/buttons on your
website, blog, newsletters, brochures, flyers, etc., lets
people know and reminds them that you are active on
various platforms.
The key is consistency. Choose a style and theme for
your social media icons that is purely for the Center. If
allowavle, you can even edit them via Photoshop to
make the colors match the Center’s colors. This aligns
the button design to your website and other
marketing collateral’s design, keeping your theme and
aesthetic constant and increasing your brand strength.
There are many choices out there – for free! Here are
two sites that offer tons of free downloads. Choose one
that is right for you and stick to it, making it yours.
• SoftIcons: http://www.softicons.com/free-
icons/social-media-icons
• SloDive: http://slodive.com/freebies/awesome-
social-media-icons-web-2-0-icons/
Extra Tips
31
Recommendations:

32. Because you’re worth it!
Photo editing is a way to make your
purchased stock photos your own. Stock photos are
professional, with great lighting and angles.
However, sometimes they are very noticeably stock
photos. In order to avoid distancing your
website, social media, or blog frequenters, you can do
a small touch-up to the photos to make them the
Center’s, even if they were purchased. Some sites go
for a vintage feel or a cartoonized one. You can pick
and choose. A great way to do this is through
Photoshop actions. Plus, it’s easy to use, doesn’t
require extensive Photoshop skills, or lots of time.
Simply play the action through, and your photo is
edited!
Again, the key is consistency. Choose one style and
stick to that one throughout your website, your social
media platforms, and marketing collateral. Sure, some
deviations are necessary if photos are submitted, or if
you’re posting on the fly straight to Facebook or
Twitter from an event. But as much as possible, make
the tone, messaging, voice, and aesthetic feel as
constant as possible.
A great place to get Photoshop actions is from
DeviantArt. Many are free to download. A link to
some Photoshop actions is below:
• http://browse.deviantart.com/resources/applic
ations/psactions/?q=photoshop+actions
Extra Tips
32
Recommendations:
For a How-To for using Photoshop actions, try this
tutorial below:
• Video Tutorial:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQUTimKYx
8o

33. We hope this Social Media
Playbook has been helpful!
Thank you!
33