So You Want To Be A (Social Media) Star...

Hey Shine Nation!  

As your campaigns have developed, so has your communications plan. How are you spreading the word about your events, your fundraising, and Shine Day? Most people would automatically turn to social media (SM), as it is the fastest way to connect with people, especially within your campus and community.

Social media can be an extremely useful tool in any Shinerama campaign, as long as it's done in a structured and planned way. An online presence for your Shinerama campaign helps to create awareness, increase volunteer involvement and event attendance, share news and information, and of course, to raise money for fighting cystic fibrosis!

A THREE-FOLD CORD IS STRONGER THAN… WELL, ANYTHING LESS THAN THAT

There is typically a three-fold plan for your Shinerama campaign when it comes to online presence.  One thing to be really careful about is to first check what’s still out there floating around the interwebs from previous campaigns at your school – you want to avoid duplication so that people can easily tell where to go, and it is easier to take over a page than to build an entirely new one!

School Website

• We recommend that you make this your home base.  It is the location that will attract the most traffic from first year students, who are often the core of your Shine Day.  As first-year students, Shinerama may be totally new to them, so don’t expect them to go looking for your FB page or Twitter account – school-run sites are where they’ll be doing the most browsing about their upcoming schedule and activities, so this is where you need to give them a strong introduction to Shinerama.
• We know Shinerama is integrated differently at each school. While at many colleges and universities Shinerama is so closely integrated into the Student Union that there is a Union position for it, at others it may not be. Either way, communicate closely and build good positive relationships with the people who can give you the online space on your school’s site and event calendars.  Let your Shinerama light shine!

Facebook

• This is generally the second angle of your SM campaign. Facebook is ideal for very specific activities: 
• Event advertising
• Involving returning students again this year
• Connecting with family and friends to get their support
• Posting cool photos of your events to celebrate everyone involved and make everyone who wasn’t there wish they were

Twitter

•  This is a great tool for direct, concise messaging that is action-oriented. You can share quick updates, motivate people to get involved, encourage friendly competitions, and drive online donations by linking to Shinerama.ca.
• Twitter is also very useful for engaging your audience by driving traffic to other locations, such as your FB or School website event page, articles, photos, videos, etc. Show them how much fun you’re having and they’ll want to get involved.

ONLINE GRAFFITI (THE GOOD KIND)

Tagging is a powerful tool to increase your audience and their participation.  When talking about Shinerama online, you should focus on including at least one of these hash tags: #Shinerama, #FightCF, and/or #ShineLove.  On Twitter, try to mention @Shinerama and @CFCanada in your messages so that our national accounts can help with RT’s, and promoting events, fundraising, and awareness.

CHOOSE A TARGET BEFORE YOU LOOSE AN ARROW

To make sure you’re using social media in the most effective ways, keep in mind these following tips:

1.       Decide on the GOAL of each social media platform that you’re going to use. This may sound simple but is actually pretty important, as each one has different strengths depending on what exactly you are using it to say, so choose wisely.

2.       If possible, take on any accounts from the previous year’s Shinerama campaign. That way, you have an existing audience to build on who already has a vested interest in your campaign. If you can’t get logins, try to find a site admin who can shut the site down or remove it. This way you can prevent confusion when students who want to learn more about your campaign go Googling for you.

3.       All of your posts and tweets should have an action item. Allow your supporters the opportunity to DO something. You have their attention for that short time period; make the most of it. Direct them to a webpage, have them sign up for an event, and encourage them to donate. Take advantage of the moment that they are most engaged, and are more likely to feel compelled to get involved.

4.       Have a home base – a site that hosts all of your crucial campaign information. An easy way to set one up is to have a page hosted through your Students' Union or Student Services, as they will get a lot of student traffic leading up to September.

5.       Have one person designated as your social media coordinator, so that there is no confusion as to who is responsible for updates and the chance of duplication is lessened. This also allows people to know who to contact if they want more information.

6.       Make each post or tweet worthwhile! Be sure to explain who, what, where, when, and why in each message to your audience. Keep your messages short and to the point; you want to grab your readers’ attention and motivate them to share and be involved.

  

At its core, the goal of all this keyboard tapping is simply to help fight CF by connecting and inspiring action. So celebrate your volunteers, feature an article on someone, and share other people’s excitement and enthusiasm about Shinerama; do all you can to spread the word about fighting cystic fibrosis and make your entire campus a proud part of Shinerama.

Now that we’ve used all our trendy metaphors to review the best SM tactics, take a moment and review the areas you can improve in. Are you using these tools to the best advantage for your Shinerama campaign? We encourage you to integrate these tips into your plan and then watch and clap with glee as you see your SM stratosphere explodes with Shinerama love!

Join us on Saturday, September 8th, to get Shinerama trending on twitter!

Based on your time zone below, join in to spread awareness of Shinerama using the #Shinerama hash tag!

                    British Columbia - 9am

                    Alberta - 10am

                    Manitoba & Saskatchewan - 11am

                    Quebec & Ontario - 12pm

          Atlantic Provinces - 1pm

Sara Glover
Regional Director, ON & QC