Presentation on writing and content creation for social media for the DFW Nonprofit Communicators Conference at TCU on Friday, May 20 2011.

1. #WordPower for Social Media
DFW Nonprofit Communicators Conference
Richie Escovedo, Director of Media and Communications, Mansfield ISD
Discussant: Jacqueline Lambiase, Ph.D., TCU Schieffer School of Journalism

2. Conference hashtag #dfwnpcc
What's a hashtag?
Hashtags are a community-driven convention for
adding additional context to your tweets. They're an
easy way to group tweets and track topics. You create
a hashtag by prefixing a word with the "#" symbol.

3. social media accentuates our
ability to engage in dialogues with
people, educate others about a
cause, and tell the success
stories of people who have
benefited from our work

4. The magic is in the storytelling.

5. http://www.flickr.com/photos/m4n1k/2225133993/

6. http://www.flickr.com/photos/62292542@N07/5670618467/

7. How do we grow our [fill in the blank] community?
Answer: Post engaging stuff.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/chavals/2655131515/

8. Be compelling
Social media allows you to, in many ways,
become your own news outlet.
Provide honest, credible, and valuable
feature content around your nonprofit.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mikeygottawa/274223086/

9. Think value
and intrigue
with headlines
http://www.flickr.com/photos/26322849@N03/3298441111

10. Have a personality
Guiding principles of social
media:
Be human and be honest
You are writing for people.
Think about your voice.
It’s ok to be appropriately informal.

11. http://www.flickr.com/photos/carrottyshang/1598030392/

12. To start, answer some questions
Who will post?
Who is your audience?
What kinds of content will be created/shared?
When will content be shared (schedule)?
How will you evaluate your social media use?
How will you promote the tools plus maintain safety and
ethics?
What are you already doing that could be re-purposed for
social media? Don't re-create the wheel.

13. Choosing the right tools is
not an easy task.
See what other nonprofits
are doing (well) and follow
their lead.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mommypants/319568014/

14. http://www.flickr.com/photos/alamodestuff/4351730264/

15. Nonprofit blogging
Explore topics relevant to mission
Encourage community
Tell your good stories
Introduce ideas and plans
Invite writers from other areas
Feature writing
Official statements
Feedback through comments
Moderate comments
Be interesting
Use text, photos, and video
Shortform vs Longform

17. Make sure Facebook link is easy to find on website
Post links plus photos/videos
Have rules for moderation
"Tag" supporters and other Pages (including media)
Use Facebook events; free and easy to encourage
community to "Share"
Ask/answer questions
Reply to feedback as appropriate
You don't have to respond to everything
The magic is in the feedback and post 'Likes'

18. Foster Advocacy:
80/20 Rule
Frequent updates, users expect consistent interaction
80% percent educational, informational, and
entertaining
20% percent about the organization
Ask questions, solicit their input
Encourage fans to speak on your behalf
Ask them to like things
If someone criticizes the organization, and fans defend
you, let them

20. For nonprofits, Twitter can be...
a cost-effective (free) option to accentuate existing
messages;
a broadcasting tool to announce relevant information to
specific audiences; and
a (brief) conversational tool to appropriately respond to
relevant inquiries and follow-up questions or comments.

21. Putting Twitter to work
Broadcast vs. conversationalist
Twitter as pages
Twitter as media pitches
Tweets for on-the-go posting
Engaging the media
#Hashtags
Nonprofits tweeting once per week
or less do not provide enough value
in the medium and can quickly
become obsolete.

22. Twitter as webpages

23. Twitter as pitches

24. Twitter easy on-the-go:
Embeddable
Event Pics

25. Putting Twitter to work
When and how to respond
Have a personality and be human
Red Cross and #gettngslizzerd
http://plixi.com/p/77743134

26. Sometimes Twitter can
just be so cool:
@Stefmara captured an
image of Space Shuttle
from her airplane window
May 16, 2011
http://twitpic.com/4yg6hs

27. http://www.flickr.com/photos/sharynmorrow/18753251/

28. Use video to tell your story
Video content could be a key component of your social
strategy.
Some find communicating through video easier than
feature writing or long blog posts.
Most would rather watch a video than read.
Many options, but stick with YouTube or Vimeo.
Both free with easily embeddable videos for
blogs/websites and can be shared on Facebook.
If possible, try to keep videos short (3-5 minutes)
Remember to repurpose, share across multiple channels
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sharynmorrow/18753251/

29. Photo Galleries
Organization news/events
SmugMug, Flickr,
Facebook, etc.
Community-generated pics
Embeddable slideshows
Easily shared/linked
Useful when there's no time
to fully cover an event with
article

30. How much time does it really take?
http://www.flickr.com/photos/russmorris/407778776/

31. How much time does it really take?
The short answer is, it depends on the day.
30 minutes of monitoring
10-15 minutes sharing content (Twitter, Facebook,
Video, Photo galleries)
5-10 minutes of promoting
1-2 hours of writing or preparing new content (press
releases, blog posts, etc.)
Note: These times are flexible depending on the other
needs of the day.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/russmorris/407778776/

32. Final Thoughts
People want to be a part of
something good. Build on their
desire to belong.
Activate your volunteers/donors with
a sense of urgency and action.
Ultimate goal is for a positive
community experience.

33. Sources & Additional Resources
http://www.spinsucks.com/social-media/five-tips-to-grow-your-facebook-community/
http://www.conversationagent.com/2010/05/7-compelling-content-ideas.html
http://www.spinsucks.com/social-media/for-nonprofits-social-media-is-the-message/
http://www.problogger.net/archives/2008/02/14/how-to-write-posts-that-set-stumbleupon-on-fire/
http://www.arikhanson.com/2011/05/12/4-tips-to-writing-better-headlines/
http://www.slideshare.net/kanter/watech4good-summit
http://www.copyblogger.com/create-content-ideas/
http://www.copyblogger.com/better-email-marketing/
http://www.copyblogger.com/copywriting-a-to-z/
http://www.scribd.com/doc/55625471/The-Fifth-Estate-Applied-Facebook-Strategy
http://twitter.pbworks.com/w/page/1779812/Hashtags
Don't worry if you missed anything.
This presentation can be found on slideshare:
http://www.slideshare.net/rescovedo

34. Richie Escovedo
E-mail: richie.escovedo@gmail.com
Twitter: http://twitter.com/vedo
Blog: http://nextcommunications.blogspot.com/
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/rescovedo