SOCIAL MEDIA TRAINING FOR NICE NEIGHBORHOODS FACILITATORS MAUREEN KENYON Coordinator and Digital Storyteller [email protected]

MELISSA YUNAS Communications Project Manager [email protected] AGENDA ▪ Tips to increase followers and neighborhood engagement ▪ Tips to create engaging content that will garner higher reach ▪ Using visuals, graphics and video ▪ Utilizing Facebook Live ▪ How to handle negativity, what not to post ▪ Paid ads and understanding metrics (reach, shares and comments) NEXTDOOR ▪ How to partner with Communications Department to combat misinformation AGENDA GRAPHICS & VIDEOS ▪ Canva ▪ Magisto ▪ Ripl ▪ Photo Grid OTHER PLATFORMS, PLUS EMOJIS, & TAGGING ▪ ▪ LinkedIn ▪ Hashtags ▪ ▪ Emojis ▪ Tagging 1PSL ▪ Connect with the City either via mobile app, phone or web portal. FACEBOOK HOW TO INCREASE FOLLOWERS ▪ Send invitations via email, asking residents to “like” the Facebook page; share Facebook page URL in newsletters ▪ Encourage residents who “like” the page to check it regularly ▪ Post when your followers are most active (7 a.m.-4 p.m. Wednesdays; 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Wednesdays; 9 a.m.-1 p.m. Fridays) ▪ Share, like and reply to relevant pages related to a common goal. For example, City of Port St. Lucie – City Hall (@cityofpsl) and St. Lucie County (@StLucieGOV) ▪ Create games and raffles with prizes ▪ Don’t post only about the community; share relevant information from reputable sources FACEBOOK HOW TO CREATE ENGAGING CONTENT ▪ Post general neighborhood announcements ▪ Safety alerts o Weather (hurricanes, thunderstorms, heat, hazardous road conditions) o Sign up for Alert St. Lucie and share the information ▪ Reminders (holiday garbage pick-up, Daylight Saving Time, etc.) ▪ Lost pets (Anything about animals always resonates with people!) ▪ Amenity updates (pool cleaning, carpet installation, etc.) ▪ Event and meeting agendas ▪ Guest speakers ▪ Polls: Ask residents what they want to see on Facebook or collect opinions about issues facing the community FACEBOOK HOW TO CREATE ENGAGING CONTENT (cont.) ▪ Event photos ▪ Post photos of beautiful spots in the community; ask residents to do the same ▪ “Good-cause” and “good news” information (awareness campaigns, benefits, awards, etc.) ▪ National days, weeks and months relevant to your community THINGS TO KEEP IN MIND ▪ Teach, entertain, inform, inspire ▪ Ask questions ▪ Keep posts short and sweet ▪ Engage, engage, engage! ▪ Focus on quality posts ▪ Post consistently, but not too much FACEBOOK RECENT EXAMPLES THAT WORKED Team Miranda Strong/ Keep Port St. Lucie Beautiful partnership

Reach: 9,633 Shares: 48 Comments: 5 Reactions: 87

“Good cause” or “good news” posts give residents an opportunity to help others and familiarize them with an awareness campaign. FACEBOOK

Turnpike closure from FDOT

Reach: 20,060 Shares: 95 Comments: 23 Reactions: 16

Sharing information about local road conditions, construction or closures in your communities is important to residents. FACEBOOK

New playground announcement from Parks & Recreation

Reach: 23,654 Shares: 145 Comments: 109 Reactions: 273

New amenities or updates to existing ones is exciting and residents appreciate knowing about them. FACEBOOK VISUALS, GRAPHICS & VIDEO ▪ Studies show that social media users across all platforms respond better to and interact more with pictures and images compared to plain text. Facebook posts with images see twice as much engagement as those without. ▪ Videos get better engagement (likes and comments) than all other types of Facebook content, but images garner more clicks back to your website. FACEBOOK RECENT EXAMPLES THAT WORKED Riverwalk Boardwalk drone video

Reach: 44,826 Shares: 148 Comments: 58 Reactions: 267

Residents appreciate updates and progress of projects that matter to them. FACEBOOK RECENT EXAMPLES THAT WORKED Emergency Management’s Hurricane Preparedness Contest

Reach: 11,466 Shares: 39 Comments: 16 Reactions: 141

Striking graphics force people to stop scrolling and engage by liking, sharing, commenting or, in this case, driving them back to a website. FACEBOOK RECENT EXAMPLES THAT WORKED Utility Systems recovered a necklace from one of its sewer pumps.

Reach: 15,344 Shares: 142 Comments: 14 Reactions: 102

The language used above this graphic was: “Hey, Port St. Lucie residents: Check your jewelry boxes!” Let the graphic speak for itself. FACEBOOK RECENT EXAMPLES THAT WORKED Disc golf photo collage/gallery

Reach: 6,397 Shares: 16 Comments: 13 Reactions: 39

Erick Gill, St. Lucie County’s public information officer, shared with the City photos he took while playing disc golf. We used them to promote disc golf amenities at City parks. FACEBOOK UTILIZING FACEBOOK LIVE According to Sprout Social, a social media management and optimization platform: ▪ Live videos simply drive more engagement, and if you promote your content well, it could keep users coming back. ▪ Facebook Live videos drive more engagement than standard video content. ▪ Facebook recently said Live videos can drive 10 times more comments because of the real time connection between users.

▪ It is free to use Facebook Live, and you can record live for an unlimited amount of time. FACEBOOK WHEN TO USE FACEBOOK LIVE ▪ Host Q&As ▪ Teach viewers how to do something ▪ Announce a new neighborhood program, show off a new amenity, etc. ▪ Give live tours ▪ Broadcast live events or meetings ▪ Create a contest and announce the winner on Facebook Live TIPS FOR USING FACEBOOK LIVE ▪ Go live with a strong connection ▪ Build anticipation; ▪ Engage with your audience; be personable! tell people ahead of time ▪ Broadcast longer to reach more people ▪ Go live often FACEBOOK HOW TO HANDLE NEGATIVITY ▪ First, and most importantly, develop and post your social media policy. ▪ Don’t ignore a negative post by not responding. Take it as an opportunity to publicly show the community the board cares what homeowners think and is willing to work with them. ▪ Reply indicating you understand the issue (even if it’s unfounded) and that you acknowledge their concerns. ▪ Tell them you’ll message them directly to continue working with them on the problem or leave your contact information and invite them to reach out to you. ▪ Hide comments that go against your social media policy (profanity, derogatory remarks, defamation, etc.) FACEBOOK CONTENT NEVER TO BE POSTED ▪ Photos of children without parental consent ▪ Photos taken of anyone without their consent ▪ Confidential board business ▪ An individual’s private information ▪ Posts that alienate individuals ▪ Posts directed toward a specific person in your community ▪ Anything promoting a board member’s personal agenda ▪ Inflammatory or defaming remarks

Avoiding posts like these will help prevent legal problems and also preserve community harmony! FACEBOOK PAID ADVERTISING ▪ It allows you to target a specific audience based on interests, behaviors, demographics, age ranges, connections, locations, languages, etc. ▪ You can reach more people than with organic posts. ▪ Everyone’s on Facebook! WHAT POSTS WOULD YOU ADVERTISE? ▪ Important upcoming meetings ▪ When the board/community needs residents’ input FACEBOOK UNDERSTANDING ANALYTICS Facebook Analytics is packed full of insights and data that can help you get the most from the .

To access Facebook Page Insights, go to the page and click Insights in the top menu. If you don’t see Insights in the menu, click More to bring it up.

Hootsuite, a social media management platform, breaks down simply and easily Facebook Insights. Follow this link to learn more: https://blog.hootsuite.com/facebook-analytics-insights-beginners-guide/ NEXTDOOR NEXTDOOR Nextdoor is a hyper-local social networking service for neighborhoods. Its mission is to be the neighborhood hub for trusted connections and the exchange of helpful information, goods and services. NEXTDOOR FOR PUBLIC AGENCIES The Nextdoor for Public Agencies allows various government entities including cities, counties, police departments and fire departments to launch Nextdoor neighborhoods across their municipality. NEXTDOOR THE SAME, BUT DIFFERENT Nextdoor is designed to facilitate private conversations between . Many of the conversations that take place on Nextdoor (selling a couch, providing a business recommendation, etc.) are not relevant to public agency staff, and monitoring these conversations would require significant staff time.

Nextdoor for Public Agencies ensures that staff is able to receive relevant information from residents, while also allowing for private conversations between neighbors. NEXTDOOR HOW TO COMBAT MISINFORMATION If you’re browsing through your neighborhood’s Nextdoor app and you see a question or topic circulating you think the City can answer, email Maureen, Sarah and/or Melissa and we will share the correct information and answer questions through the City’s Nextdoor for Public Agencies platform. GRAPHICS & VIDEO

The following apps, programs and platforms offer simple ways to design and create eye-popping graphics and video for your social pages: CANVA Canva is a graphic design platform that allows users to create social media graphics, presentations, posters and other visual content. There are free and paid versions. (www.canva.com) MAGISTO Upload photos and videos and give simple directions to the online video maker and it selects the best parts of videos and photos, adds music, effects and splices them into video . There is a free trial with a professional account. (www.magisto.com) GRAPHICS & VIDEO (cont.) RIPL Ripl allows users to make Canva-like images but with animated features. There is a free trial, but then it costs $14.99 a month. (www.ripl.com) PHOTO GRID Photo Grid is an app for iPhone and Android that allows users to create collages using photos in their camera roll. Users can create slideshows, too, by using the Video Slides feature. It allows users to select up to 50 photos from their camera roll. MORE SOCIAL PLATFORMS TWITTER Twitter is a “microblogging” platform that allows users to send and receive short posts called tweets. Tweets can be up to 140 characters. What can you use it for? It’s the perfect way to share concise information, quickly, to your communities. INSTAGRAM Unlike Facebook and Twitter, Instagram is an entirely photo and video-based social media platform. Users can share images and video in a “feed” or through “stories,” which delete after 24 hours. What can you use it for? Chronicle events and neighborhood happenings through video and photos. SOCIAL PLATFORMS (cont.) LINKEDIN LinkedIn is an employment-oriented online service mainly used for professional networking, including employers posting jobs and job seekers posting their curriculum vitae. What can you use it for? Post job openings or volunteer opportunities on your boards and in your neighborhoods and communities. HASHTAGS & TAGGING HASHTAGS ▪ Hashtags turn topics and phrases into clickable links in your posts on your page. This helps people find posts about topics they’re interested in. To make a , write # (the number sign) along with a topic or phrase and add it to your post. For example, #HurricaneIsaias #July4th TAGGING

▪ Tags allow social media users to engage an individual, business or any entity that has a social profile when they mention them in a post or comment. To tag, write @ along with the Facebook profile/name of a business you want to tag. For example, @cityofpsl @saintspsl @PortStLuciePolice EMOJIS

▪ Emojis in a Facebook post can increase the number of likes by 57 percent and comments and shares by 33 percent, according to software company HubSpot. Emojis in a tweet can increase engagement by 25.4 percent.

▪ These are some of the most popular emojis, according to software intelligent company Brandwatch. Emojis make us appear more friendly and approachable, and they certainly increase engagement on social media. CONNECT WITH US! 1PSL 1PSL is your 24/7 City Hall. The all-in-one system allows residents to connect with the City either via mobile app, phone or web portal. What can you use it for? Residents can request services and ask questions; pay bills; learn about City news and events; pinpoint an issue location with GPS; attach a photo with comments; and receive status updates and resolution notifications. The 1PSL mobile app is available on the Apple App Store and Play Store.

Contact a 1PSL Navigator 24/7 by calling 772-871-1775. After-hour calls are answered by police service aides on a recorded line. If you are calling to reach the Police Department for an emergency matter, please dial 911. HANDY WEBSITES

Here is a list of social media-related websites that might be helpful:

▪ Social Media Examiner: www.socialmediaexaminer.com ▪ Sprout Social: www.sproutsocial.com ▪ Hootsuite : blog.hootsuite.com ▪ Social Media Today: www.socialmediatoday.com ▪ Digital Trends: www.digitaltrends.com/social-media QUESTIONS? THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR ATTENDING!

▪ Maureen Kenyon ([email protected]) ▪ Melissa Yunas ([email protected]) ▪ Alex Tasca ([email protected])