5 Ways To Promote Your Parks & Recreation Organization Through Social Media
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Using Social Media to promote your Parks and Recreation organization is something that every department should be doing. Is your organization doing it, and doing it in the best way possible? In order to get the maximum return out of social media, follow some of these tips, and implement them into your organization.
1. Create Facebook Events to Boost Attendance
Social media can enhance what work you are already doing, with just a little extra effort. It is a great promotional tool and a great way to connect with your community. The first way to connect with your community is to create Facebook events, for the events you are already doing such as 5k runs or craft shows. At most Parks and Recreation organizations, events happen all of the time. Whether they are in-person, or virtual it is important to put them on Facebook. Your community will get to see who is going to the event, and be encouraged to attend when they see that their friends already are! Event pages on Facebook also spread the word about your event quickly to hundreds or thousands of people!
2. Live Stream Your Events to Increase Curiosity
Once your event is happening, make sure to live stream it, if possible. Live streaming in-person events on Facebook or Instagram shows your community what is happening in their own town, and provides access to people who may not be able to attend. It will make people excited about events, and more likely to attend them next time. During COVID, streaming events to live audiences is a great way to bring the community together, even when we have to be apart.
3. Create stunning Instagram Posts to Increase Followers
Instagram is the best app to promote the beauty of your Parks and Recreation organization through photos and videos. Make sure your organization is investing time into the content they are putting on Instagram. Have clear and good quality photos, with eye-catching subjects. Parks offer so much natural beauty, building content should come easily. If your organization is using visual designs as well as raw photos, make sure that the designs all follow the same aesthetic. This will make your feed look more professional, and high quality. Using free websites, like Canva, is a great way to make sure all your designs are following the same visual guidelines that you have set.
4. Create a Custom Hashtag to Boost User Engagement
Creating a custom hashtag to use on your Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter is a good idea! People will find your posts sooner if they have a hashtag. When creating a hashtag, make sure it is short, memorable, and fits in with your brand! For example, we use the #findspotz on our Instagram on every post. Don’t be afraid to create multiple hashtags for different events or campaigns, and use them in all of your posts that are relevant to the hashtag.
5. Use User-Generated Content to Connect with your Audience
After a while, the public will start creating content for you. This could be through using your unique hashtag or tagging your organization in posts. Interacting with the public on social media is key. Make sure to like and comment on photos that your organization is tagged in. You can also re-use their photos with proper permission. People love seeing themselves on social media and will generate content to try and get on your page. User-generated content is 100% free and shows community support!
Implementing these tips into your already existing social media strategy will generate more community engagement and excitement. Make sure to post on social media often (3-5 times per week), and make it fun! When the whole team is promoting content, it creates a glimpse into your organization and shows just how much you care about your mission.