Why your newspaper needs Facebook (so do you)

From the Texas Community Newspaper Association convention in Houston, TX. Presented March 24, 2012.

Transcript

1. WHY YOUR NEWSPAPER NEEDS FACEBOOK [SO DO YOU] Andrew Chavez (@adchavez) Texas Center for Community Journalism (@tccj)
2. WHY FACEBOOK MATTERS
3. PEOPLE USE THEM 65% of teen Internet users 35% of adult Internet users Source: Pew Internet & American Life Project
4. STILL POPULAR IN SMALL TOWNS Source: Pew Internet and American Life Project 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% Urban Suburban Rural
5. THEY’RE GROWING = MORE PEOPLE Source: Facebook, compiled by @benphoster 0 225 450 675 900 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 Feb 2012 Facebook users (in millions)
6. MORE PEOPLE SPENDING MORE TIME Source: Nielsen 0 125 250 375 500 279 346 420 466 June 2009 August 2009 January 2010 August 2011 Minutes spent on Facebook per month
7. MORE TIME THAN THEY SPEND WITH YOU Facebook, Jan-10 CNN, Feb-10 Fox News, Feb-10 MSNBC, Feb-10 Gannett, Feb-10 AOL News, Feb-10 Source: Nielsen
8. MORE PEOPLE COMING TO YOUR SITE One month for tcu360.com 384 actions 1,030,768 impressions 2,242 clicks 2,648x .22%
9. FACEBOOK  845 million active users  Each with about 130 friends  50% login every day  Is the No. 3 site for Web users 65+  Growing fastest among 35+ Source: Facebook, Nielsen, Inside Facebook 10% 29% 23% 18% 13% 7% 13-17 18-25 26-34 35-44 45-54 55-65
10. GETTING STARTED
11. HAVE THE RIGHT PAGE Updates show in news feed Shows up in search engines Available only to registered users Type of relationship Page analytics Integrates with website Page ü ü One-way ü ü Profile ü ü ü Two-way Group ü One-way  Preserves user’s privacy  Allows you to publish into their stream  Gives you analytics data
12. SUGGEST YOUR FACEBOOK PAGE  To launch (or grow) your page, use the “Build Audience” feature
13. WIDGETIZE / BUTTON-UP  facebook.com/ facebook-widgets/  developers.facebook. com/plugins
14. PROMOTING YOUR CONTENT
15. LEVELS OF ENGAGEMENT Publishing • Linking to content Conversing • Listening • Passive moderation Participating • Asking questions • Engaging without being prompted
16. YOUR PROMOTION OPTIONS AUTOMATE YOUR UPDATES UPDATE MANUALLY  Requires an RSS feed  Not as personal  Doesn’t conform to conventions  All content promoted  Links show up in bursts  Highly personal (and users know it)  Promote select content  Have full control over timing  Use language, voice not suitable for your newspaper’s site  Re-post, repurpose content (archives, slideshows, etc.)
17. THE BEST POSTING STRATEGY Post at the right time with the right message.
18. WHEN TO POST 65% don’t only check Facebook outside of work or school Peak posting times are 11 a.m. 3 p.m. 8 p.m.
19. HELPFUL TOOL: HOOTSUITE  HootSuite – free at Hootsuite.com – handles URL shortening, image sharing, RSS feeding, multiple accounts, keyword
20. HELPFUL TOOL: BUFFER APP  Buffer App - Fill a queue with your posts and let them trickle out at the best time.
21. THE MATH BEHIND FACEBOOK: EDGERANK
22. THE MATH BEHIND FACEBOOK: EDGERANK AFFINITY WEIGHT DECAY Building relationships over time will pay off Experiment with different types of “edges” Quantity and quality are important
23. SOCIAL MEDIA ANALYTICS
24. HELPFUL TOOL: FACEBOOK INSIGHTS  Click “See all” in your Admin Panel
25. HELPFUL TOOL: FACEBOOK INSIGHTS  And at facebook.com/insights
26. CLICKTHROUGHS  Available from your link shortener  Hootsuite (Ow.ly) provides them inside the app  Bit.ly provides them with the API
27. SITE ANALYTICS  Look at referrals  Not always completely accurate  Example
28. Q&A TIME