Once you have done the grunt work of getting your network to grow, like we discussed in last week's lesson, you can add a little nuance to your social media strategy. Try these tips.
1. Hold back a tidbit or two for your social media followers that might not be in the story. Maybe something got cut, new information or research came out or you had an amazing quote that just didn't quite fit in with the story -- what a great way to grab social media's attention.
2. You can also share the story behind the story. Perhaps create a blog post or FB post about how you came up with the idea, what sort of research/reading you did, who you spoke to, etc.
3. To remain known as the knowledgable in your sphere, you can also use Twitter to keep your readers updated on any breaking news. Granted not every story is going to have breaking news, but you can give up dates on policy changes, if one of your sources moves (companies, cities, homes, etc.) or even new policies that you are trying around your company (especially if you have written about them). These are just a few examples, but any update is an excellent way to engage your audience.
4. Twitter Media Best Practices suggests using hashtags for context. They say hashtags can increase engagement for journalists (that's you) by nearly 100 percent.
5. Twitter MBP also says, "We’ve found that journalists get 100% more active engagement — for their positive Tweets — when a URL is included. Also, journalists with an above-expected follower growth rate send 200% more retweets compared to their colleagues whose follower pool grows at a lower-than-expected rate."
You also have a simple tool to curate content at your finger tips -- the retweet button. Retweet it if you feel it.
6. You can cite your sources with a simple @mentiion. Twitter MBP says, "News organizations that tweet 20% fewer URLs and 100% more @mentions grow followers 17% more than expected."
Try these tips out and feel free to report back with your results in the Facebook group.
1. Hold back a tidbit or two for your social media followers that might not be in the story. Maybe something got cut, new information or research came out or you had an amazing quote that just didn't quite fit in with the story -- what a great way to grab social media's attention.
2. You can also share the story behind the story. Perhaps create a blog post or FB post about how you came up with the idea, what sort of research/reading you did, who you spoke to, etc.
3. To remain known as the knowledgable in your sphere, you can also use Twitter to keep your readers updated on any breaking news. Granted not every story is going to have breaking news, but you can give up dates on policy changes, if one of your sources moves (companies, cities, homes, etc.) or even new policies that you are trying around your company (especially if you have written about them). These are just a few examples, but any update is an excellent way to engage your audience.
4. Twitter Media Best Practices suggests using hashtags for context. They say hashtags can increase engagement for journalists (that's you) by nearly 100 percent.
5. Twitter MBP also says, "We’ve found that journalists get 100% more active engagement — for their positive Tweets — when a URL is included. Also, journalists with an above-expected follower growth rate send 200% more retweets compared to their colleagues whose follower pool grows at a lower-than-expected rate."
You also have a simple tool to curate content at your finger tips -- the retweet button. Retweet it if you feel it.
6. You can cite your sources with a simple @mentiion. Twitter MBP says, "News organizations that tweet 20% fewer URLs and 100% more @mentions grow followers 17% more than expected."
Try these tips out and feel free to report back with your results in the Facebook group.