Create a Social Media Program from Scratch  

   

Nancy HeltmanDirector of Marketing and Administration

Social Media EvangelistVirginia State Parks

Department of Conservation and Recreation

Social Media is all about sharing content and relating with your fans.

Your fans share your content with their friends and it creates a new dynamic to advertising.

• 65% of adult internet users now say they use a social networking site like MySpace, Facebook or LinkedIn.

• under age 30: 61% use social networking sites on a typical day.

• Ages 50-64, 32% use social networking sites on a typical day.

• The number of those using social networking sites has nearly doubled since 2008 and the population of SNS users has gotten older

• 92% of SNS users are on Facebook

On a given day: 15% of Facebook users update their status.

22% comment on another’s post or status.

20% comment on another user’s photos.

26% “Like” another user’s content.

10% send another user a private message

• 75% of all American adults are active in some kind of voluntary group or organization and internet users are more likely than others to be active: 80% of internet users participate in groups, compared with 56% of non-internet users.

• Moreover, social media users are even more likely to be active: 82% of social network users and 85% of Twitter users are group participants.

• “One of the striking things in these data is how purposeful people are as they become active with groups.”

• “Many enjoy the social dimensions of involvement, but what they really want is to have impact. Most have felt proud of a group they belong to in the past year and just under half say they accomplished something they couldn’t have accomplished on their own.”

How to get started

1. What do you want to accomplish? Set goals.

2. Start with the tools that best match those goals.

3. Poke around the social media sites on your own.

4. Find an evangelist or team.

Content is Key

Blogging Tools• Blogs

Virginia State Parks Blog

Let’s set up a blog

Social Networking

Profiles represent individuals and must be held under an individual name, while Pages allow an organization, business, celebrity, or band to maintain a professional presence on Facebook. You may only create Facebook Pages to represent real organizations of which you are an authorized representative.

Profile vs. Page

In addition, Pages are managed by admins who have personal Facebook profiles. Pages are not separate Facebook accounts and do not have separate login information from your profile. They are merely different entities on our site, similar to how Groups and Events function. Once you have set up a Page within your profile, you may add other admins to help you manage this Page. People who choose to connect to your Page won't be able to see that you are the Page admin or have any access to your personal account.

Page or Group?Pages allow real organizations, businesses, celebrities and brands to communicate broadly with people who like them. Pages may only be created and managed by official representatives.

Groups provide a closed space for small groups of people to communicate about shared interests. Groups can be created by anyone.

Other differences include:

Pages Privacy: Page information and posts are public and generally available to everyone on Facebook.Audience: Anyone can like a Page to become connected with it and get News Feed updates. There is no limit to how many people can like a Page.Communication: Page admins can share posts under the Page’s name. Page posts appear in the News Feed of people who like the Page. Page admins can also create customized tabs for their Pages and check Page Insights to track the Page’s growth and activity.

Groups Privacy: In addition to an open setting, more privacy settings are available for groups. In secret and closed groups, posts are only visible to group members.Audience: Group members must be approved or added by other members. When a group reaches a certain size, some features are limited. The most useful groups tend to be the ones you create with small groups of people you know.Communication: In groups, members receive notifications by default when any member posts in the group. Group members can participate in chats, upload photos to shared albums, collaborate on group docs, and invite all members to group events.

Profile or Business AccountBusiness accounts are designed for individuals who only want to use the site to administer Pages and their ad campaigns. For this reason, business accounts do not have the same functionality as personal accounts. Business accounts have limited access to information on the site. An individual with a business account can view all the Pages and Facebook Ads that they have created, however they will not be able to view the profiles of users on the site or other content on the site that does not live on the Pages they administer. In addition, business accounts cannot be found in search and cannot send or receive friend requests.

Let’s set up a Facebook page

Landing Pages

ResourcesFacebook Success Summithttp://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/fbsummit11/

GovLoop Social Networkhttp://www.govloop.com/