Demystifying Social Media Workshop
Facebook, Instagram and Twitter are all popular ways for us to keep in touch and communicate. Terms such as likes, hashtag, following are now part of our everyday language and conversations about connecting on social media are becoming the norm.
Whether we use social media regularly or not, we all know that social media has so much potential for ‘spreading the word’ through networking, fundraising, event promotion and raising awareness for particular causes. We also know that there are billions of users worldwide and that content is becoming quite cluttered, which means it can be hard to get noticed.
Perhaps less well known, is that social media have tools built in, which help us understand the people we are engaging with and how well we are doing at ‘spreading the word’.
The Demystifying Social media workshop hosted by the Community Foundation a few weeks ago assisted the ‘social media’ representatives of 10 local community groups grapple with these issues and understand how to make social media work for them. The participants all had different levels of expertise and engagement with social media, but they all had the same objective – how to be noticed on social media and establish a good following.
The Workshop was run by Erika McInerney from Mac and Ernie. Erika, a Social Media Trainer and marketing consultant not only took the participants through the basics of managing a Facebook page and/or Instagram account, but she explained how content is circulated and how we can tell if our posts on social media are being seen in our groups or beyond.
There was a time when all of your posts went to your followers, but unfortunately that has not been the case for quite a while, so Erika talked participants through a number of strategies to ensure that what we as Administrators are posting is seen by our target audience. She likened social media communication to the headlines and photos of journalism: they capture the key message in a cluttered media. However, the effectiveness of your posts isn’t measured by number of copies of newspapers sold, rather it is by the number of likes and shares etc.
We learned about filtering information down to the appropriate groups, and how the use of hash tags and tagging or ‘mentioning’ then creates the flow on effect that could be seen as virtual or online networking.
Finally, Erika talked us through the functionality on Facebook and Instagram that many people may not be aware of: at any given time and with the click of a button you get instant feedback and insight into the effectiveness of your posts, how many people it was seen by, how many likes, comments, age and gender break down etc. Throughout the evening, there were many Aha and Wow moments from the participants, followed by many “so that’s what that means!” and “I get it now!’
I think it is safe to say that the Demystifying Social Media workshop did exactly that.
Once again, many thanks to the Mirboo North and District Foundation and Erika for the opportunity to be part of such an informative workshop.
Article by Paula Calafiore
Mirboo North Swimming Pool
Mirboo North Schools’ Chaplaincy Inc
” I have done 3 different social media workshops with different trainers, Erika’s training has been the very best by far, not only in her easy presentation methods, but her recommendations are practical in use, and are already showing results, a fantastic night, thank you so much for having me!”
Caroline Cox – Mirboo North Markets
“Around the table were ambassadors representing 10 community groups from our district. Each of us the appointed Social Media Rep within our groups – most of us thrown in the deep end and just keeping our heads above water! Erica, from Mac & Ernie, certainly had her work cut out for her in demystifying the world of Social Media for us. I now have a clearer understanding of how the Facebook algorithm dictates ranking and relevance. This dictates who will see your post. Then how we, as “marketers” of our community groups, can create posts for maximum news feed visibility. I’ve learnt that you need to know your target audience, their interests and behaviours, how you’re posting would add value/benefit to them and of course to post relevant content. “
Karen Anton – Mirboo North Op Shop
“Thanks again for the opportunity to attend the social media workshop. I found that Erika was incredibly personable and very patient with the group. The workshop gave me background knowledge on how social media ticks, and I have found that I am much more confident in posting on behalf of the playgroup. I look forward to finding time to look at all our insights and settings, and really look at how we can use facebook more to our advantage. The other thing I loved about the workshop was how we can all work together to not only support each other, but build and create more good within our community.”
Lorinda Campbell – Choo Choo Market
“It was great for me as a somewhat amateur in the world of Social Media to leave the Workshop feeling confident and a little less bewildered with the knowledge and tools I had picked up through the evening to use Facebook as a main promotional tool for our local Mirboo North Playgroup Toy Library.
The effects also reach out to help build relationships with other local community organisations and strengthen community bonds.”
Stacey Dowel – Mirboo North Playgroup and Toy Library
“Great to meet the faces behind many local community groups in Mirboo North at the Demystifying Social Media Workshop on Monday night. Erika’s knowledge was amazing, very practical, and I really appreciated all her tips and tricks. Her presentation increased my knowledge about the various platforms available and also my understanding of how we can use social media to enhance our event. Thanks Erika and MNDCF for a very helpful and useful workshop.”
Rosie Romano – Mirboo North Italian Festa
