Eight Ways to Engage Your Audience Using Social Media

Eight Ways to Engage
Your Audience Using
Social Media

Have you tried the I prefer their
AGS website? Facebook page.
I need info
on geology.

Follow them Cool, I needed
on Twitter. that info, too.

believe businesses
should have a social
media presence.

Eight Useful Tools
Social Bookmarking
Ratings & Reviews
Scribd
RSS
Facebook
Twitter
Podcasts
YouTube

http://addthis.com

http://sharethis.com

Sample AddThis Code
<script type="text/javascript">addthis_pub = 'ags'; addthis_brand =
'AGS'; addthis_options = 'facebook, twitter, delicious, favorites,
digg, google, reddit, slashdot, technorati, email, more'; </script>
<a
href="http://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=250&pub=ags"
onmouseover="return addthis_open(this, '', '[URL]', '[TITLE]')"
onmouseout="addthis_close()" onclick="return
addthis_sendto()"><img src="http://s7.addthis.com/static/btn/lg‐
share‐en.gif" width="125" height="16" alt="Bookmark and Share"
/></a><script type="text/javascript"
src="http://s7.addthis.com/js/250/addthis_widget.js?pub=ags">
</script>

Social Bookmarking Key Points

• Easy to set up.
• No need to engage your visitors or monitor
comments if you aren’t ready for that level of
commitment.
• Free marketing: your users can promote your
website for you.
• IT, management and legal should have no
issues.

Ratings & Reviews Sample Code

<!‐‐ Rating Widget Begin‐‐>
<div class="js‐kit‐rating" title="Rated item" permalink="" starcolor="Golden“
</div>
<script src="http://js‐kit.com/ratings.js" type="text/javascript"></script>
<!‐‐ Rating Widget End‐‐>

<!‐‐ Review Widget Begin‐‐>
<div class="js‐kit‐comments" standalone="yes“></div>
<script src="http://js‐kit.com/reviews.js" type="text/javascript"></script>
<!‐‐ Review Widget End‐‐>

http://js-kit.com

Ratings & Reviews Key Points

• Requires more coding knowledge to set up.
• Visitors leave their opinion on your site others can
read.
• May require management approval.
• Saves time – only answer a question once.
• Can reveal common issues your visitors have.
• If using an online tool, if that business disappears, all
of your comments and ratings are lost.

Scribd Key Points
• Very user friendly. Anyone can set up and use.
• Easy to get management approval.
• Greatly increase the reach of your documents.
• Currently has a class‐action lawsuit against it. So make
sure you have a copy of your documents elsewhere.

RSS in Web Browsers
RSS icon in Internet Explorer

RSS icon in Firefox

In the <head> area of the page you need to add the below code. The title
is whatever you want to call your feed. The link is to your xml file.

<link rel="alternate" type="application/atom+xml" title=“My RSS Feed Title"
href="http://myrss.xml/" />

RSS Sample Code
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="US-ASCII"?>
<rss
xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom"
xmlns:sy="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/syndication/"
version="2.0">
<channel>
<title>Geology News from Alberta Geological Survey</title>
<description>RSS feed on geology news and earth science articles from around the world.</description>
<link>http://www.ags.gov.ab.ca/news/geology_news.html</link>
<language>en-ca</language>
<lastBuildDate>Thu, 2 Jul 2009 08:22:19 -0700</lastBuildDate>
<pubDate>Wed, 3 Jun 2009 08:22:19 -0600</pubDate>
<sy:updatePeriod>daily</sy:updatePeriod>
<sy:updateFrequency>1</sy:updateFrequency>
<sy:updateBase>2007</sy:updateBase>
<atom:link href="http://www.ags.gov.ab.ca/news/news_rss.xml" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml"/>

<item>
<title>International expedition investigates climate change and alternative fuels in the Arctic</title>
<description>Scientists from the Marine Biogeochemistry and Geology and Geophysics sections of the Naval Research
Laboratory organized and led a team of university and government scientists on an Arctic expedition to initiate methane hydrate
exploration in the Beaufort Sea and determine the spatial variation of sediment contribution to Arctic climate change.</description>
<link>http://www.ags.gov.ab.ca/news/geology_news.html</link>
<pubDate>Wed, 25 Nov 2009 09:51 -0600</pubDate>
</item>
</channel>
</rss>

Validate at http://feedvalidator.org

RSS Metrics

http://www.feedburner.com

RSS Key Points
• Easy way to promote any topic.
• You control the message – easy to get approved.
• Keeps your fans updated.
• Spend $50 and buy software to create.
• Regularly use validator to check code.

Facebook Key Points
• The hardest tool to get approved.
• Don’t use Facebook if your audience isn’t. Do your
research.
• Must update regularly to keep fans interested. At
least weekly.
• Photos are very popular.
• Check if someone else has already created a page on
your department/organization.
• Update your Contact Us page to include your
Facebook link.

Twitter Key Points
• You can’t control what people write about you. Take deep
breaths.
• Difficult tool to get approved.
• Update regularly to keep fans interested. At least weekly,
daily if possible.
• Tweet useful and interesting information.
• Respond to people right away.
• To do well, it can take up a lot of your time.
• Practice with a personal account to learn the etiquette and
software.
• Update your Contact Us page to include your Twitter name.
• Claim your name.

Podcast Software

Audacity
Camtasia
Soundbooth
Audacity (http://audacity.sourceforge.net)
Camtasia (http://www.techsmith.com/camtasia.asp)
Soundbooth (http://www.adobe.com/products/soundbooth)

Podcasts: iTunes

http://www.apple.com/itunes/podcasts/specs.html

Podcasts Key Points
• Requires equipment, software and modest level of
technical skill.
• Need regular content to keep fans interested.
We make ours quarterly.
• Almost anything can be a podcast: interviews,
articles, policy explanations.
• It’ll take about 6 months before the world will find
and care about your podcasts. Don’t give up too
soon.

YouTube: Making a Video

Storyboard Paper (http://xinsight.ca/tools/storyboard.html)
Adobe Premiere (http://www.adobe.com/products/premiere)

YouTube Key Points
• Requires equipment, software and good technical
skills.
• Most popular videos are fun and entertaining.
Government doesn’t have to be boring.
• Spend the time to research your keywords.
• Always display your call to action at the end.
• Claim your name now for future use.

Final Thoughts
• Be prepared to fail – often.
• Don’t take it personally.
• Social media evolve quickly. You’ll change
tools many times.

Eight Ways to Engage Your Audience Using Social Media

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