Free Training Gave Students Tools for Using Social Media
By Laura Leite, Training Coordinator
Have you heard the buzz about social media marketing but don’t know where to start? Do you think it is too complicated or that you need a teenager to help?
Jenny Russell of JenRus Freelance put her students at ease and gave them the tools to branch out into the cost effective and persuasive marketing tool of social media.
Some of the questions that you need to ask yourself as you dive into the world of social media are: What is your goal? Who is your audience? Where are they viewing?
Research shows demographic preferences for media as follows:
- Men – Twitter and text
- Women – Facebook, Pinterest, and Instagram
- Older adults – Newsletter and email
- Younger adults/teens – Instagram, Comment Sold app, Venmo, text and Farm to Table apps
- Families – Pinterest and Websites
Once you identify your audience and their social media preferences, then it is time to build your social media. Make sure to tell a story and don’t just sell on your posts.
What stories? Some of the ideas include sharing personal stories, something funny that just happened, helpful hints and recipes, educating your audience, praise other’s successes, share stories from complementary businesses and talking about your town.
It is always helpful to have good pictures with good lighting. There are free editing tools available online at sites such as Canva or your phone and Instagram have filters that you can use.
Live videos and blogs are also good for social media. Just make sure that you highlight your unique positioning statement, the more content the better. Do not post more than three times per day while making sure to provide something valuable to your followers.
All this information and more was shared during the Social Media Marketing class from JenRus Freelance in August. This course and many more are provided free of charge through a grant awarded to the NCRPC.
To sign up for future courses, visit the training page.
This article appeared in the September 2021 NCRPC Newsletter.
