A starter guide to creating a social media strategy for journalists.

1. Making a strategy
Using social media with purpose

2. What is a social media strategy?
Focusing your goals
as a journalist or
news organisation
into how you use
social media.

3. What isn't a social media strategy?
Making a Facebook page.
Starting a Twitter account.
Pinning photos aimlessly on Pinterest.
Checking in obsessively on FourSquare.
Audiobooing every conversation you have.
Posting your mobile phone videos to YouTube.
These are tools. Not strategies.

4. Journalist vs. News organisation
Journalist's goals News org's goals
● Quickly source one-off ● Share content and
stories increase web traffic
● Cultivate sources in ● Crowdsource opinion
niche communities and case studies
● Break news ● Build positive
● Find breaking news reputation & brand
● Interact with sources and ● Lead on breaking
users news stories
● Demonstrate your ● Cultivate loyal users
knowledge/expertise ● Promote interaction
● Share your content and debate
● Show that you're human

5. Step 1 Turn goals into objectives
Goal: Cultivate sources in niche
communities
Objective: Develop four strong sources with
strong links to or within the National Union
of Students Wales within two months.
Make your objectives SMART -
Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, Timely

6. Step 2 Determine your communities.
Objective: Develop four strong sources with
strong links to or within the National Union
of Students Wales within two months.
Communities:
● Students' unions officers and staff
● NUS Wales staff and officers
● University and Colleges Union staff
● Other people working for higher and
further education (Hefcw, Higher
Education Wales, etc.)

7. Step 3 Develop a strategy
● Where are these communities within
social media?
○ Twitter - @lukeyoung NUS Wales President,
@katie_dalton former NUS Wales President,
@LeightonAndrews Education Minister and NUS
Wales alum
○ Facebook - Jennifer Krase Bangor Uni officer,
Stephanie Lloyd, NUS Wales women's officer,
Wales page

8. Step 3 Develop a strategy
● How do you cultivate sources in these
communities?
○ Twitter
■ Your account should reflect your purpose for
using it as a journalist or news org.
● appropriate profile picture
● keywords in bio
■ Follow people after your account reflects your
purpose, not before. They're more likely to follow
back.
● Last three tweets important when following.
■ Listen to the person's tweets.
■ Ask them questions.
■ Engage in off topic discussion.
■ Ask online to meet offline.

9. Step 3 Develop a strategy
● How do you cultivate sources in these
communities?
○ Facebook
■ Cultural of privacy makes it more difficult to
engage individuals on professional level.
■ Officers have different privacy settings, though
the expectation of privacy may be higher than the
settings allow.
■ Pages are more like forums, though only useful if
active. NUS Wales isn't very active.
■ Even though there is a presence, Facebook may
be worth monitoring and researching sources,
but not engaging and cultivating them.

10. Step 4 Pick your tools
● Which tool(s) are going to help you reach
your objective?
○ In this case, Twitter offers a more public forum.
Because the objective is to cultivate sources who the
journalist doesn't have, Twitter is a better choice
than Facebook.

11. Step 5 Set your plan
● What are you going to do to reach your
objective?
○ Revamp your Twitter profile with picture (avatar) and
bio that reflect your objective.
○ Search and listen to people in the communities
you're trying to reach.
○ Begin tweeting in a way that engages them.
○ Follow key people in those communities.
○ Listen to what these people say.
○ Be bold and engage with them, though keeping to
journalistic standards and ethics.
○ Ask questions, begin conversations.
○ Take the conversation offline. Meet for coffee.

12. Step 6 Measure your success
● How well did you do?
○ How many open message tweets did you send to
potential sources? (ie. @joniayn wondering what you
think about twitter lists?)
○ How many of those potential sources responded?
○ How many did you engage with on multiple
occasions?
○ How many did you meet offline, or speak to over the
phone?
○ How many were used as sources in published or
broadcasted content?

13. A social media strategy is...
a blueprint for using the right
social media tools to achieve
your goals.

14. Task 1 List your goals
Make a list of your goals
as a journalist or
news organisation.

15. Task 2 Turn 2 goals into 2 objectives
Use your goals to create two
SMART objectives. (If you're
on a role, write down more!)

16. Task 3 List the communities relevant
to your objective
Look closely at the objective and
determine the specific groups,
organisations, companies, schools, etc.
that you're trying to reach/effect.
Communities are like audiences, except you talk with them,
not to them.

17. 10 minute break before...
Your 'traditional' social media toolkit