Social Media
We’re in the 21st Century
Love it or hate it, social media is here to stay. At a minimum be sure to at least make a placeholder account that lists your information. Address, stated meetings, contact information, etc.
There are countless other types of social media, more than I’ll list here. YouTube I’ll mention over on the videos page.
Social media provides an easy way, time effective way for the public to subscribe to your updates, events, news and more. I would also invite you to download Social Media and the Lodge, an impressive presentation put on by W. Bro. Paul Bathgate regarding this topic.
Nonprofit Hub has some excellent thoughts on using social media in the nonprofit space.
- https://www.facebook.com
- It’s one of the easiest and time effective modes of having an online presence. You can make your lodge look very much alive by no more than a post a week.
- Easy to manage via smartphone.
- Look to your Grand Lodge’s Facebook page, other Masonic Facebook pages or local organizations for tidbits to share onto your own.
- You don’t need to reinvent the wheel when content is readily available.
- Provides a great locally targeted advertising medium for getting the word out for as little as $5.
- An easy to manage photo gallery.
- An example, you can find our page at https://www.facebook.com/blendonlodge339.
- Encourage brethren to “check-in” at meetings.
- This tells their friends/contacts that they’re actively engaged with Masonic meetings.
- Imagine 100+ guys from an inspection night doing this.
- It’s one of the easiest and time effective modes of having an online presence. You can make your lodge look very much alive by no more than a post a week.
Creating a Lodge’s Facebook Page (from scratch)
- Here’s a how-to guide from the Grand Lodge of Ohio
- Here’s a great how-to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pcxu8yHdBUM
Creating a Lodge’s Private or Public Group
- Here’s a great how-to https://www.facebook.com/help/167970719931213?helpref=about_content
Facebook Local Ads (great for fundraisers)
- https://www.facebook.com/business/a/local-awareness-ads
- Easy to manage via smartphone.
- An extremely cost/time effective way to get a message out to local audiences.
- I’ve used as little as $10 to get an event (like a breakfast) in front of around 3,000-3,500 eyeballs.
- Target by location, interests, demographics, interest, etc.
- Easy to setup.
- Explore additional thoughts on Facebook local advertising.
- https://www.twitter.com
- Easy to manage via smartphone.
- Look to your Grand Lodge’s Twitter page, other Masonic Facebook pages or local organizations for tidbits to share onto your own.
- You don’t need to reinvent the wheel when content is readily available.
- Explore additional thoughts for non-profits using Twitter.
Make Your Life Easier
What if you could automate social media or even manage multiple accounts from one place? Using a free tool like Hootsuite you can post to, manage, even schedule up to 3 of whatever social medal platforms you use. Want to automatically post a calendar to social media? Check out social media automation.
Hashtags
We’ve all seen the pound symbol (or hashtag, as they call it these days) on social media. But what is it for and why are people using them? It’s like a bookmark or a tag for your post that appends it to a larger, global or local conversation.
For example, #Freemason adds it to a global thread about Freemasonry. Whereas #UptownWesterville applies only to the part of the city where Blendon 339 is. Both are relevant depending on who your target is.
Research what local businesses in your area are using to see what tags apply to your neck of the woods! It will get you out of our own echo chamber and into a larger or local conversation where you want to be.
This video helps to demystify this a bit more.