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Social media channels are terrific tools for businesses because they allow you to measure results almost instantly, and that is one of the reasons that they continue to be popular with marketers and advertisers as well as users.


at events or programs and elevate your facility’s profile in your community. Have you devised a specific strategy? No need to belabor it. Tink about your top one or two goals and focus on how to apply social media to reach them. Start by identifying your audiences for the goals. Yes, you can


have more than one audience! Tink about it. You have students, parents, instructors, staff, vendors, community members – your potential audience members will have particular interests and effects on your strategic plan. It makes sense to align your audiences with your goals, just as you would align how you spend practice sessions with particular tournaments and competitions. And it makes sense to find out where your audiences are on social media channels. Facebook? Pinterest? You’ll want to go to the social media channels where you can attract existing community members and build your own profile. For example, many American parents use Facebook and


Pinterest, but many teenagers prefer platforms like Instagram and Snapchat. Vendors and community members are likely on LinkedIn, while global audiences can be reached through Twitter and YouTube.


If you want to reach parents and kids, you’ll choose the


social media channels where you’re likely to find them. On Facebook, you can set up a “Facebook Page” and share posts and information as your facility, just like big brands and companies do. You can even create “Events” and send invitations through Facebook. Let’s take a deeper look at Facebook.


FACEBOOK: A GOOD PLACE TO START


Once you’ve identified two or three specific goals — get more students, increase event attendance, attract sponsors — you’ll find that using social media allows you to directly target your audience and quickly determine whether you’re making progress. First, let’s discuss approaches for sharing content. Although


much of social media seems to happen instantaneously and in the moment, smart brands use the channels to program strategic content that is shared regularly. You can do the same. A good approach is to use the Rule of Tirds. Divide your types of content into three “buckets” or thirds.


For example: • Business and marketing posts – news and offers from your business


• Activity posts – what’s happening at your venue • Leadership posts – what’s new and awesome in the skating world


You’ll want to integrate these posts into your marketing


and communication plans, and there are a number of ways to schedule posts so they appear on your Facebook Page regularly and when each is appropriate. You can use the schedule feature in Facebook or a free tool like Hootsuite to manage more than one social media channel. Simply write up a week’s worth of posts and schedule them. Add a photo, a link to a registration webpage or a link to another information site. Posts with photos and links are more engaging for audiences. Since many things that happen at your facility are known in


advance, you already have exciting news to share. Plus, you can share the content offered by other great sources, such as the Ice Skating Institute! Check out the ISI Facebook Page for great content and ideas. At some point you might want to share photos or videos from live events. This is exciting, but use caution if you’re photographing minors and be


22 ISI EDGE SUMMER 2016


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