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Market on the MallSocial Media Manual

Billy Greenwood and Morgan Simpson

Table of Contents

Statement of Purpose...3

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Why Social Media?...3Social Media Tools...4

Wordpress...4Facebook...8Twitter...13

Hootsuite...17Tracking and Evaluation...20

Future Thoughts and Directions...21

Statement of Purpose:Our goal is to increase the social media Market on the Mall uses, and generate new social

media for Market on the Mall to use. Effectively using social media will benefit Market on the Mall with increased customers during the on season, while allowing Market on the Mall to reach their goal of educating the public. This manual will instruct Market on the Mall on how to effectively use social media to generate a brand. It will also teach Market on the Mall how to how to integrate multiple social medias, while utilizing HootSuite, a tool that will make social media management easier for Market on the Mall. Finally this manual will teach Market on the Mall on how to use HootSuite Analytics to gauge how well their social media is grabbing the attention of intended publics.

Social Media:

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● Branding A social media brand is the image you would like your followers to see. We have

determined that since Market on the Mall values educating their consumers and showing what it takes to grow local foods, we feel that Market on the Mall should be seen as educators. Creating a brand that you are educators will lead to more followers visiting your sites because they want to learn about the subject.

● Outreach Social media is a critical part of growing the program because of its capacity to reach

Truman State University students. Social media allows Market on the Mall to be more accessible to consumers which will grow your consumer base. As your base grows the amount of people physically visiting the stand during the on- season time period will grow, generating an avenue for Market on the Mall to reach its audiences in a relatively simplistic way.

● Cheap and Effective Social media is free of any monetary cost. The most expensive asset is time, and with

tools like HootSuite even this cost is minimal. With Truman State University being the target audience of Market on the Mall, social media is the ideal route to take. College aged students are heavily users of social media. The online generation grows bigger and bigger everyday, and social media is now the go to place for news and events. Increasing Market on the Malls social media presence will keep you on the competitive level, allowing a more direct approach to achieve your goal of increasing education while selling home grown products on Trumans Farm.

Types of Social Media:

Wordpress:● Why Wordpress?

We have chosen Wordpress to be the hub of Market on the Mall’s social media because of what it provides Market on the Mall with. One of the main reasons that we picked this path is because Market on the Mall already has a developed blog. By keeping the conversation online through a few hundred word blog update twice a week, Market on the Mall will constantly be updating students at Truman State on more agricultural information.

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● What can Wordpress do for you? Wordpress has many features that can make it easy to use and not very time consuming.

One of the features is that is can schedule posts in advance. Once you write several posts, you can dictate a time that the site will post them and not have to worry about writing posts every week. You can also include more content in a blog post that you can in a tweet or a Facebook post.

● What to use Wordpress for Blogs are most effective when they are updated at a regular time and date. Therefore

Market on the Mall should post at least twice a week, and sometime in the middle of the morning or early afternoon. This manual recommends that you post on Mondays and Wednesdays every week at 12:00 (noon). You want to remain consistent with the posting of your blogs so that active readers will know when to look back and read your brand new post. This manual also recommends that you have a theme to the post. During the off-season, the blog post should contain information about what is happening on the farm, from old habits to new additions. This is the prime time to use the knowledge of Market on the Mall and teach your target audience about what agricultural science is and where the food we eat every day comes from. During the on-season of Market on the Mall, Monday’s post should be showcase about a product that will be available to consumers at that week’s market. This will allow people to learn more specifically about different products being sold to them, and get them excited about upcoming product. Wednesday’s post is recommended to be a recipe or use for a product. This means that individuals who just attended the market can then look up online different uses for their freshly bought product. This manual recommends that every post be in between 300 and 600 words. Blog post should not be so short that they don’t contain any information, yet not so long that it would be taxing on the reader to progress through the blog. Any emergency or breaking news post on the blog are free to be as short as possible (e.g.: “Congratulations Truman State Football

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for winning the national championship!”)

1) This is the WordPress Dashboard, from here you can control all of your WordPress blog

2) On the left hand side of the Dashboard is a tab called Post, click this and then “Add New” to create a new post

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3) From here you can write a brand new post for your blog. Be sure to put in a catchy title, and watch your word count!

4) After writing your post visit the publish page. From here you can Preview your new blog post, but also schedule when to publish your brand new post.

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5) When you have had your post up for a bit, be sure to check out the WordPress Stats. It is an analytical system that will let you see how many views you have on certain post, among other basic stats.

Facebook:● Why Facebook?

Facebook is another tool that can be used to help increase an organization’s social media presence. Since Market on the Mall already has an established Facebook page, it can be used to increase traffic for the organization. Another reason that Facebook to be used is because it is very popular among college students and college students are the organizations target demographic.

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● What can Facebook do for you? Facebook has many features that can be use to create a successful profile page. One of

the main features is the photo albums. Photos allow a follower to actually see what is going on in the organization, not just the organization’s page. Facebook can also be used to post mini-blog updates. These type of updates are for content that is short for a blog post but too large to fit into a tweet. There are also tracking devices built into Facebook that will allow Market on the Mall to track page views, likes, who is talking about the page and how many people are being reached by the page.

● What to use Facebook for Facebook is one of the easiest ways to bring consumers from their house to your farm. It

provides for short updates integrated easily with links and photos, and has one of the largest audiences of active college students available. It is a great space to upload new photos that Market on the Mall may have from the farm or from selling your products, making your organization more transparent and therefore more attractive to new consumers. Events are also a major attraction of Facebook. It will allow Market on the Mall to invite all of the people who actively follow them to the weekly sale you have, while creating a space for people to invite their friends and family. This, in theory, will greatly increase the amount of viewership for the Market on the Mall Facebook page and should increase foot traffic at Market on the Mall during the on-season. Lastly, Market on the Mall can use Facebook for direct interaction with its consumers. This allows for active members of Market on the Mall’s page to comment on photos or ask questions on its page. Then Market on the Mall can comment in reply to individuals who are trying to reach you through social media. This will help bring Market on the Mall closer to its consumer base, and encouraging openness in your organization will help bring in new faces each week.

The most important thing for Market on the Mall to do right now is update its “About” page. It is currently blank, which will leave followers wanting. Put in background information, and describe what Market on the Mall does as well as what your mission and values are.

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1) Facebook lets you post updates to your followers, for updates that require more than Twitter’s 140 characters, write something here. It is also here that you can upload single photos or albums

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2) This page lets you manage the albums you create by uploading photos. You can do things like tag photos with people and add in descriptions

3) Creating events is very important for Market on the Mall. This will let you remind followers of when Market on the Mall is set up and ready to sell goods! Include name of the event, details, where the event is located, when it is happening, and be sure to remember to keep your privacy setting set to “Public” so your followers can invite friends!

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4) Keep an eye on your posts, from here you can see how many people have liked and commented on your updates

5) When people post to your wall, or comment on a post you made, it is vital to reply to their comments. This allows your organization to remain open to your publics and retain interest.

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Twitter:● Why Twitter?

Twitter has grown explosively in popularity since it was first released on the public. It is a method for celebrities to get in a more personal contact with their fans by following the micro-blog updates they make. Twitter only allows for 140 characters in a tweet, making the updates short and sweet for anything you do. Users of twitter are able to browse through these short updates from groups or people they follow rather quickly, making it an ideal method to send out links to new blogs and quick information updates.

● What can Twitter do for you? Of all the social media interactions avaliable, twitter will be your most viral one, allowing you to connect with many people across Truman quickly. Fans can follow your tweets with a

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simple follow, and you will start popping up in their twitter feed along with everyone else they follow. Due to how short tweets are, readers will be able to look at your tweet and know exactly what is going on, skipping some of the hazard Facebook and Wordpress inherit from the large amount of text posted on those mediums. Larger organizations can also get more involved with Market on the Mall easily through twitter. By tagging groups like Truman State and other Kirksville based organizations in tweets talking about projects you are doing, there is a chance they will retweet what you say. These groups tend to have large amounts of followers, and when they retweet your information their followers will see your tweet and be more inclined to get involved.

● What to use Twitter for Twitter will be the hub of quick updates for Market on the Mall. You can connect your Facebook account to your Twitter so that any updates coming from your tweets will appear on Facebook at the same time. This will reduce the amount of posting stress your organization will feel. In addition, Twitter can be easily updated from a phone, allowing Market on the Mall to tweet out while selling items on the mall or when harvesting on the farm. Those tweets will immediately go to Facebook as well, keeping your consumers on both platforms up to the most immediate news. Lastly, this manual recommends that you use twitter to update followers whenever a new blog post comes out, and to encourage all followers to check it out.

1) Market on the Mall currently does not have a Twitter page. Be sure to create one immediately!

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2) The twitter dashboard is some hands on information such as twitters you are following, people following you, and how many tweets you have sent out. This is also the place where you can make new tweets

3) On the dashboard (pictured in #2) there is a dialogue box to compose a new tweet. In 140 characters include as much information as you can. Use @username to tag individuals or organizations, and #hashtags to categorize your tweets for quick searches.

4) The twitter timeline is where you see post made by twitter accounts you follow, as well as your own tweets. Be sure to retweet tweets important to your organization!

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5) Connecting your twitter to Facebook is easy. On the top right of twitter is a cog wheel (circled in red) that you will click. This will pull down a drop down menu of choices, where you select settings (circled in green). From there, you select profile (circled in blue), and then drop down to the Facebook section (circled in yellow).

HootSuite:

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● Why HootSuite? HootSuite is the most popular social media manager. It can take Market on the Mall’s

blog, Facebook and Twitter and put it all on one website. Instead of having to login to the three different websites every day to check out what is going on, HootSuite provides you with one website to look at all the information.

● What can HootSuite do for you? HootSuite allows users to schedule post across all mediums. That means once you have a

blog post written and scheduled, you can create the tweet that will go out at the same time that day instead of having to get on twitter. With a connected twitter account to Facebook, this will then update both platforms the second your blog post is uploaded. HootSuite also has on site analytics (gone over more in depth later) that will help you understand exactly where your tweets are going, as well as who is seeing your Facebook post and their activity.

● What to use HootSuite for HootSuite should be used by Market on the Mall to make social media use easier. By

being able to access multiple platforms from one website, it is a one stop shop for everything Market on the Mall will be doing. Scheduling not just blog post, but also Facebook updates and tweets so that all work on Market on the Malls social media can be front loaded on the week, and less time will be spent across the board by the Market on the Mall social media manager.

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1) After creating a HootSuite account you will need to connect all of your Social Network accounts. Simply click a button and follow the instructions (typically logging into the given

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social network) and HootSuite will link the two accounts for you. Choose a plan for your HootSuite. This manual highly recommends “Pro”. This gives the most advance analytics, while also providing unlimited RSS Feeds for followers and lets more than 1 individual log on at any given time. A 30 Day free trial is offered for “Pro”, so if you find that it is not to the organizations liking, you can easily downgrade to the “Free” plan.

2) HootSuite has many features, the most important of which are Streams, Publisher and Analytics. Streams (red) is the section that contains all of the feeds from your social medias. Publisher (orange) is where you can write tweets, Facebook post and WordPress blogs. Lastly, Analytics (green) is where you can track the audiences of your social medias.

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3) If you are in doubt of any features, be sure to do the HootSuite tutorial. This is accessible when you first log in to HootSuite, and explains what different features do for the user.

Tracking and Evaluation● What is the purpose?

Tracking and evaluating your audience is one of the most important things to do for social media to be effective. No matter how much you use social media, it is useless if your organization is missing its market in the publics you are trying to attract. The number of likes or follows your organization has can only go so far if they are the wrong people you are communicating with. An initial analysis of your currently followers will tell you who your base is, allowing you to address them more appropriately. This will also allow you to find publics that Market on the Mall wishes to attract, but fails to currently, and let you adjust accordingly.

● Use HootSuite Analytics HootSuite has in house analytics that Market on the Mall can use to effectively judge

their social media. While the free account provides a very basic use of these analytics, they offer a much more advance analytics for just $9.99 a month. This manual highly recommends that Market on the Mall consider using this offered service, at least initially, to better gauge the audiences currently reached, and new ones you can reach. With an initial free trial of 30 days, your organization can gauge how much this helps and consider if it is something that you would want to spend budget on. The paid service allows you to access Facebook Insight, Google Analytics and Twitter Profile Stats all in one site, with additional coverage. Facebook Insight lets you see different demographics your Facebook post are hitting, from age to gender to

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geographical location (by city, state, and nation). Google Analytics will track links posted in your twitter and facebook updates, telling you how many people are clicking and viewing your information. Twitter Profile Stats lets you see how many people retweets are getting too, as well as how many people have actually viewed your profile, where they come from and the like. Using analytics effectively will make Market on the Mall’s social media much more proficient in attracting new consumers, while spreading the message Market on the Mall wants too.

Future Direction and Thought● Foursquare

Foursquare has been around for a bit now, and is the most popular location based social media. It allows people to “Check in” to locations, alerting their friends about where they are currently eating, shopping or getting their entertainment from. Establishing Market on the Mall as a Foursquare location will allow it to be searched by users of Foursquare who might be looking for somewhere to spend their Wednesdays during the on season.

● InstagramSimilar to twitter in that it is a quick update, Instagram uploads photos in place of 140

characters of text. This will be a method for Market on the Mall to instantly upload to twitter or Facebook photos taken from phones by users, and they can tag Market on the Mall as the location of their picture. As well, Market on the Mall can upload their own photos as an alternative to Facebook albums. This type of social media will make the members of Market on the Mall more public, and bringing them closer to the audience that you are trying to attract.