The first step in setting up and managing an effective social media program for your club is to work out who it is you want to reach.
Start by defining your target audience
Remember that you will probably want to communicate with more than one audience (prospective members, members, sponsors, community and so on) so you may need to tailor separate posts to each rather than use a ‘one size fits all’ approach.
Which social media platform is best for your club?
Each social media platform is used by different types of people, and since this changes over time it is a good idea to understand which platform is currently best for your audiences. Check out sites such as social media statistics.
Also consider each platform’s features. For example, Facebook has paid promotions, Facebook Groups and Facebook Events which may be useful for your club
What information should you share on social media?
First refer to the guidelines laid out in your Social Media Policy (see the Digital Marketing Workbook resource).
Here are some examples of post content.
How often and when should you post?
You should always post about something your members or club have achieved as soon as possible.
When the news is new, people that like or follow your page are more likely to comment, like and/or share.
If you don’t have a weekly club news item to post then get creative – post something once a week at a minimum. For maximum club exposure, it is recommended you post daily (but no more than two times a day as this can actually disengage your audience).
The time you post is also important. Your target audience may be more active on social media at certain times, for example before or after uni and after dinner time, so if you post at the right time it will be more visible in the news feed for your followers.
Engaging with your followers is important in building a club community.
You can do this by:
Using a hashtag (#) or @
Adding a hashtag # to a post makes the term a searchable link, meaning you can attract more people to your post. You can refine this by adding multiple hashtags to your posts, making these specific to your content/message and varying them from post to post.
Using an @ before a person’s name, place or organisation will link them to your post and they will receive a notification that they have been linked.
Create a hashtag for your club that isn’t used anywhere else and that is specific to your club. Encourage your members to use that hashtag on their own social media accounts when they post about the club.
Should our organisation have a social media policy?
Yes, absolutely. See the Digital Marketing Workbook section for help.
Tips for getting started
It is always best to establish a new club account rather than have a page under your personal account – you may not stay with the club forever! Let members know why you have created this account and how they can keep up to date.
The new account needs:
Now you can start gaining Likes and Followers, by sending an email (with the link to your new page/account) to your members asking them to follow the club.
Check-in at least once a day to respond to any comments. Members or potential members may comment on posts or they may send a message. If you answer promptly, people will be generally more active on your page.
Make sure any new Facebook page is visible to the public within the settings of the page. Don’t allow members or the public to post (only view and comment on posts).
Facebook Groups and sharing posts to Groups
If you follow or join groups from your club’s page, you can share your posts to these groups. For example, join local community groups in areas that you hope to gain new members from. But don’t share too often as you may get banned from the group – once a month is probably enough.
Facebook Events
If you have an upcoming event, always create it on Facebook as an event so that people that might attend can click on the event and receive updates. There is a high chance that the Facebook friends of the people who have clicked on the Facebook event will also see this in their feed.
You can also promote events like you do with posts.
Facebook paid promotions
To create a paid promotion:
Engagement data is measurement of the number of interactions made with your post – how many views, clicks, comments, likes, and shares your post gets. Reach is the number of people who see your post (or flick past it in their feed).
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