Communiqué
Extend Your Reach: Using Facebook and Text Campaigns To Engage Audiences
Imagine extending your reach to pull in new audiences in new ways! By engaging your
Safe Schools/Healthy Students (SS/HS) audiences effectively online and when they’re
on the go, you’d not only be reaching more peoplewith your messages but you’d also
be meeting your audiences right where they are.
Want proof? The Pew Research Center reported in June 2011 that 92 percent of people
on social networking sites use Facebook.1
The Center also reported in April 2010 that 72 percent of teens regularly send and
receive texts.2 Facebook pages and texting
campaigns can clearly leverage the reach of your initiatives and engage your audiences.
First, think strategically
Any method for delivering your SS/HS messages—including Facebook and texting—is
simply a tactic until we apply a little strategy. The questions below will guide
your thinking and help maximize your success, whether you choose to integrate one
or both tactics into your larger, strategic efforts:
- What audiences do you wish to reach (and are they using these channels)?
- What do you want your audiences to know or do as a result of engaging with you through
these channels?
- What types of messages will you deliver through these channels?
- How will you know if your messages are effective?
- Who can help support your Facebook and texting campaigns?
- For Facebook, who can regularly check the page and provide you with ideas for messages
and content?
- For texting campaigns, does your school already have an infrastructure in place
for sending text messages? Have any partners conducted a texting campaign? Can you
tap into any of those resources?
Plan and implement your SS/HS Facebook page
Whether you already have a SS/HS Facebook page and could use a little support in
maximizing its potential or you’re just thinking about setting one up, a little
planning will help create a successful page. Think about:
- Developing content: There is a wealth ofinformation about your SS/HS initiative
you can share with interested audiences—your program offerings, upcoming events,
photos, and current news related to your community or your initiative. Consider
creating a “content calendar” in which you map out your posts a few weeks or months
in advance. It’s okay to change the content based on new updates as they happen,
but preplanning and scheduling messages mean you’ll always be posting fresh content.
The purpose of your posts can vary, too; one day, you may simply be informing your
audience, and on another, you may be posting a question to the group to gather input
or create discussion.
- Delivering content: It’s up to you how often you want to deliver Facebook
posts to your fans, but, remember, you are the face and brand of this community
and you want to be seen as a central, trusted source of information. Whenever possible,
consider posting every day and at a similar time each day.
- Engaging your community: At its core, Facebook is a social networking
site—a place where visitors expect to interact, so you want your page and your posts
to provide just those opportunities. Ask audiences to comment on or share your messages
with their Facebook network. You also want to acknowledge and respond to the comments
and posts of others.
- Growing a fan base: Having friends who like us in the
“real world” feels pretty good, and, likewise, it feels good (and leverages the
reach) of a Facebook page when your audience “likes” you in the virtual world. Growing
a fan base means you need to spread the word about your page. Make sure to always
cross-promote your Facebook page through SS/HS Web sites, printed materials, school
sites, and personal Facebook pages. The Facebook community will naturally take on
a life of its own, and your page will gain more support.
Reach teens through texting
Spend 15 minutes in the company of teens, and you’re likely to see them pull out
their phone to send and receive messages from friends. This habit makes a texting
campaign a truly potent tool for reaching teens with our messages.
Unlike Facebook, text-messaging campaigns are one way forms of communication. We
push messages out to audiences, but they don’t text back. This aspect means that
once a campaign has been set up and outgoing messages have been scheduled for delivery,
the bulk of the work may be done.
As always, however, you want to apply strategy to this tactic. In other words, what
do you want audiences to know or do as a result of seeing your messages? Is this
the only way to deliver your messages? While a texting campaign can stand alone,
it might be more effective as part of a larger campaign with messages delivered
across many platforms—including Facebook, Twitter, and traditional channels. If
you think a texting campaign is right for you, here are some best practices worth
noting:
- Campaigns should always be “opt-in”—never mandatory. This aspect requires
you to promote the campaign in other ways, such as posters or on a Facebook page,
so your audience knows how to join (e.g., “Text ‘STAYSAFE’ to 12345 to join!”).
Many campaigns entice participation by giving away prizes in random drawings of
the cell phone numbers of those who have signed up.
- Campaigns should always be “opt-out.” Every text message should end with
information on how participants can stop receiving messages if they wish (e.g.,
“Reply ‘STOP’ to end msgs.”).
- Texting requires succinct messages. With a maximum of 140 characters for
each message, you can still include calls to action that support your campaign’s
goals, such as a request to stay sober on the roads or a request to click on an
embedded URL to go to a Web site.
- Preplanning and scheduling our messages mean we can target audiences at the
best times. If you’re delivering messages to warn against drinking and driving,
they will be more effective if delivered early on Friday evening rather than Monday
at noon—and this scheduling can be automated in advance.
Whether we use Facebook, texting, or other social media channels, you still need
to measure success, however. One way is to monitor the number of followers or subscribers
each month. If audiences are following you in greater numbers, then it’s safe to
say your efforts are working; if they aren’t, you need to look at how you’re getting
the word out. Likewise, you want to evaluate whether audiences are sticking with
you over time. If you see the number of your followers falling off, you may need
to adjust your page or your messages to be more engaging.
Your audiences are using Facebook and texting—and you need to be right there with
them. Additional resources for implementing social media effectively are in the
Resources section of the Communication Coach Online, and your communication
specialist can assist you in planning your efforts, developing engaging content,
and more. These waters may feel unfamiliar, but we encourage you to thoughtfully
dive in!