According to the Pew Internet & American Life Project, as of February 2012, 66% of online adults use social networking sites. Even more amazing is this next number – 86% of women aged 18-29 report using social networks. Wow. This number should tell us something about our collegiate members. Most of you are using social media. And most likely your chapters are using social media. And if so, are you using it effectively to tell the Delta Zeta story?
We’ve found that many times chapters will create a Facebook event for an upcoming philanthropy project, post it to the chapter’s profile page, and consider their PR done. Social networking sites, like Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, LinkedIn, Google+ and the like, are more than just your megaphone. They allow you the chance to communicate with others who have like interests and to start a conversation.
Delta Zeta even has its own social networking site for members only, Metro. Some might say that creating a Metro group is attempting to recreate the Facebook experience. There are over 15,000 members on Metro, some of whom are looking for a private place to exchange ideas with sisters. But even our own social network can benefit from the tips we are about to give you on effectively starting the Delta Zeta conversation online.
1. Communicate with people where they are. Delta Zeta has a presence on multiple social networks because our members communicate on multiple channels. Follow us on Twitter, like us on Facebook, refer someone via LinkedIn, re-pin a pin from Pinterest or watch a video on YouTube, there are so many ways to communicate online. Perhaps maintaining multiple social network accounts might not work for your chapter, so find out where your audience is spending their time, and then you should spend your time there too.
2. Build a following. It doesn’t matter if your tweets are the best thing since sliced bread if no one is following you. Do the leg work first of building your audience. Make sure your new members join your Facebook group if that is where important chapter information is posted. Invite your alumnae to your LinkedIn group during homecoming to be able to connect with them later for that mentoring program you have. Have a chapter website? Make sure to put links to your social network accounts there for visitors to find you easily.
3. Contribute regularly. If your accounts and groups are stagnant, then no one will want to follow them. Provide your audience fresh content to consume and comment on. Give them a way to get involved with your online presence. Too many Metro groups have slowly withered because of a lack of content. Remember that the audiences on some sites expect multiple posts (like Twitter) while others may block your content if you overstay your welcome on their newsfeed (Facebook).
4. Build excitement. People will want to hear your story if it sounds engaging and they see people talking about it online. Doing a campus-wide educational program on bystander behavior? Create a hashtag on Twitter (find out more on how to use hashtags in this article), post information about your event and invite your members to use it too and start the discussion. The online conversation doesn’t need to end when the event ends. If you’ve encouraged posts during an event you can create an online story of the posts using sites like Storify.com. Check out the Storify on #DZLearn2Listen week for how we built excitement, engaged in conversations and have saved the important ideas for future reference.
5. Use fewer words. Tell your story in pictures. Or video. Or have others tell the story for you with their comments and likes. Less is more. Keep it to under 140 characters if you can.
6. Stay true to who you are. We never know who is learning about Delta Zeta from our posts. Don’t you want them to surf away from their stay in our web-space thinking that we are enriching our members and communities like we say we do? It is up to each of us to make sure that the messages we communicate keep in mind the purpose of Delta Zeta.
We welcome feedback on our blog posts and social networking efforts. Send your thoughts and ideas to webmaster@dzshq.com or leave a message below.
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