I wanted to give some suggestions on using social media, particularly Facebook, to promote an event. So here's an example of an event that you might want to share on Facebook. It's a simple graphic that gives all your information in a memorable way.
One of the most common mistakes is that people post such a graphic, but forget about the privacy setting. The problem is that even though you've shared an event with your friends on your Facebook wall, those friends can't share the graphic with others, because the privacy mode limits it to only your friends. That situation than kills the virality of graphic. Friends and fans who would want to share your information won't be able to. It's not fair to expect such fans to take the extra steps to make the graphic public, or even expect them to have the technical expertise even if they were willing.
The following graphic was created by Derek Jenkins, and makes it plain how to fix that mistake :
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| Thanks to Derek Jenkins for creating this helpful graphic |
So now you know -- if you post an informational graphic, follow to above steps to ensure your message is spread.
Once you've made that informational graphic public, there are a few other tips that can help promote your graphic:
- Tag some friends who you think would seriously act on this graphic and/or further spread the graphic
- Call or e-mail friends as well, or even meet up with them. Building interest in a personal way gets people excited about it.
- Post the graphics in groups which allow such graphics and are specifically relevant to it
- If you have annual or very special events, make sure you let staff, board members, or key volunteers know at your next scheduled meeting. That will put this graphic at the top of their priority list, and can boost the effectiveness.
