Silence is definitely not golden on social media. Ben Black gives his tips on finding content
Tumbleweed is a good word to describe some housing social media accounts. You can see the enthusiasm the organisation had in getting them set up as they saw others were getting online and being told ‘we must have a Facebook account’. They set up a Facebook page and pick a brilliant cover image. But then seven days later there is silence. Social media is all about conversations and sharing useful stuff.
But don’t panic over finding content. The beauty of the internet is that the best and most useful content is out there somewhere. Your job is to find out what people expect from your social media and find content that helps them out. Conversations will follow and before long you will be seen as a useful social media site that enjoys talking and sharing. Mark Schaefer, a speaker at a social media conference in Cardiff earlier this year summed it up when he said your content should RITE:
• Relevant – Tenants don’t want to see you sharing content on Chelsea beating Liverpool. How can you help them save money, find work and go into training? • Interesting – People click on stuff that’s interesting so don’t share anything that is boring. Simple.
• Timely – Social media is about what’s happening now. It’s a bit late for tips on ‘free summer fun’ in your area.
• Entertaining – Would you click on a Facebook link to a 200-page strategy document? No. So think about your tenants. Can the key points be shown in an infographic or could a staff member talk about it in 30-second YouTube video?
Mark is worth following on Twitter – @markwschaefer
Ten content tips
1. Saving money– Tenants are struggling to pay bills. Anything you can do to help them save money will be useful. Free days out for the family? Tips on cutting gas bills or budgeting will be welcome by tenants.
2. Welfare reform – Housing’s hot topic. yourbenefitsarechanging.co.uk is updated regularly with interesting content you can share.
The Money Advice Service site has videos on preparing for universal credit and budgeting.
3. Getting online – You could share links to the local council’s free computer courses.
4. Fire safety – Your fire service’s website will have tips, photos and videos to make your home safer.
5. Videos – People like watching clips. You don’t need professional editing skills to take a 20-second clip of a housing officer inviting tenants to a meeting.
6. Police – Keep on eye on their social media sites and share what they share. It will include campaigns, appeals and tips on all sorts of relevant topics.
7. Photos – Most of your staff will have a camera on their phone so ask them to snap photos while they are out and about so you can share. Photos of staff on top of buildings fixing things or doing unusual tough jobs will be interesting.
8. Questions – You’re holding a meeting about a new pet policy and spend time getting people to your offices. Use social media to get the views of people who can’t be in the room. Why should they miss out?
9. Jobs – If you spot a story in the local paper about new jobs in your area tell your tenants. Most jobs are advertised online so share links to them.
10. YouTube – A brilliant place to find content that people have already created.
Holidays
You may have a staff member who is responsible for sharing content and having conversations. What happens when they are on leave? It\’s worth having a plan set up to make sure their hard work does not stop because they are out of the office. You could ask them to compile a list of useful links before they go off that someone else can share during the week. If you don\’t think about this you may find tumbleweed returning to your social media.
Newydd Housing\’s experience
Mared Williams, marketing and communications officer, explains how she makes sure the social media content she shares is RITE.
‘We have a close relationship with a police community support officer in Rhydyfelin near Pontypridd who sends us regular emails about things that have happened in the area. She often sends us photos which are a real help and then we post information appeals on the page. We have a new anti-social behaviour coordinator and she is arranging lots of surgeries at the moment so we have another link to the police there.
‘Our community team are often working with Communities First in Barry and members of the council so they usually post content on the page themselves. As I sit next to Paul Roberts, our chief executive, he often gets letters about local events or people asking for sponsorship so we then make sure that if we can’t help financially that we place the information on our page.
‘The things that get people going are houses for rent. If we put a photo of a house and it gets shared we could over 1,000 people viewing it which is is good for our page with 470 likes.
‘Another good one is a consultation on a new housing development. People love giving their opinions on how something should look or details like the number of parking spaces.
‘I also get content from e-newsletters that we get sent such as Keep Wales Tidy so I will take a section from them and just post that. I sometimes take news articles from the BBC and add those but to be honest that doesn’t work and not many people look at it. Often other members of staff get told about an event or a new service and they will forward it on me to quickly share.’