By Colleen Dorner
New York — In leading an organization’s social media efforts, sometimes getting a “like” is not enough. Ryan Koch, director of New York Office of Public and International Affairs for the LDS Church led a workshop on taking social media to the next level at the 2016 Religion Communicators Council’s Convention April 1.
Koch quoted a colleague “Social media is free, like a puppy is free.” Yes, social media can be free, if done wrong. If you want to have a good product you have to strategize and plan. And this takes time and personnel.
Koch listed tools/ideas for social media facilitators:
- Success – measure your success (likes, share, comments).
- Leeway – know how much leeway your organizational leader is giving you to comment freely.
- Ghost Writing – whose voice should the platform have?
- Audience – what kind of audience does your organization want to appeal to. “General public” is your worst audience, you must define a specific age group with a special social media platform.
- Editorial Calendar
- Specific Social Media Campaigns
“I very firmly believe that social media is meant to be social,” Koch said. “It’s the reason it’s called social media but a lot of our organizations want it to be broadcast media.” Koch suggested that this is not the most effective strategy. The organization’s website should be the place for broadcast media while social media remains social. Social media needs interaction to be effective.
“The more consistent we are, the more likely people know what to expect from us and the more likely they are to follow us,” Koch said. He believes consistency is the most important tip for an effective social media platform.