Website - Getting Started
Overview
Tackling social media can be daunting. With so many different platforms and such a wide variety of ways to utilize each, it can be a little overwhelming. Below are some helpful tips and tricks to best use social media as a tool to drive meaningful traffic to your site, whether its Member traffic or new traffic from prospects. |
Content
Tips
First, let’s start by stating the most important thing. Using social media is a commitment. Posting regularly is one of the most important tools. If you are not ready to commit to posting on a consistent basis then now may not be the time to try and utilize social media.
Next, there are so many different social media tools. If you are just starting out, a best practice is going to be to start with one platform and master that platform first. Then tackle a different platform, while still continuing to use the first platform. Trying to take on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Yelp all at once can be too much. Start with Facebook, master that, then add Instagram to your toolbox.
And last, but certainly not least, the goal is to use social media to drive traffic to the website. We do not want to use the website as a tool to drive people to your social media and we don’t want Members and prospects to use social media as their primary location for club information.
Best Practices
Now that we’ve covered the big picture, below is a break down of best practices for each of the major social media platforms. These best practices can be carried over to paid and sponsored social media efforts as well.
Facebook
- Posts should almost always contain a link back to a specific place on the website.
- Engaging Non-Members with posts
- Prompting Membership inquiries on posts can be a great tool
- Drive prospects to the Membership or inquiry page on the website
- Here they can fill out a short form which most people see as less of a commitment than picking up the phone to make a call or sending a personal email
- Engaging Members with posts
- Tagging - If Members are okay with it tag them in images
- Choose a handful of images to post that have the most people present, like group shots. Then follow it up with a link to the site to see all of the pictures from the event.
- Tagging will allow your Members’ friends to see the posts as well, expanding the clubs network.
- Example: Check out these photos from ABC Event! Click here to view more from this fun outing at the club.
- Then link to a private page on the site containing all the images from that event.
- Encourage Members and their guests to tag the club’s location when applicable.
- Upcoming Events
- The Upcoming Event feature is a great tool.
- To push your audience further, use the “Details” section of the event to put a hyperlink to the event calendar so Members can register online through the website. Put the link as the first line and supply just enough details about the event that they are interested in clicking to the website to learn more and register.
- You will want to use the same imagery between the website, print flyers, and social media for each event
- The visual consistency is going to help Members know what the event is without having to read any details over & over again.
- After an event takes place
- Event Photos - You want to post just a handful of images to social media and then drive traffic back to the site to view the rest.
- Example: Here are a few photos from our wonderful Easter Brunch yesterday. Click here to view the rest of the photos. Interested in joining us for fun events like this, but are not yet a Member? Click here to learn more about Membership.
- Event Feedback: This can be a great way to hear what Members think of your event as well as get them to engage with the club’s social media presence.
- Example: The Halloween Parade was SPOOKtacullar! You can view photos here! What did you think of all the fun?
- Community section
- It is important to keep an eye on this section
- These are the people that are already willingly interacting with the club’s profile
- The club should be liking or commenting on any post that you are tagged or mentioned in
Instagram
- Make a goal to post at least 1 time a day
- Pay attention to the use of any club-related hashtags
- The club should be liking or commenting on any post that uses your hashtag
- Link in bio
- Linking to the website here is great
- Using that link more dynamically can be very beneficial.
- Linktree can be a beneficial tool if you are looking to use more than one link.
- Example post: Happy Thanksgiving! Thanks for joining us at the Club for a wonderful Thanksgiving buffet. Click the link in the bio to make your Christmas Eve Brunch reservations now!
Twitter
- Twitter is a great tool for quick updates:
- golf course conditions
- course closures
- dining room menu changes
Yelp
- Reach out to the Board of Directors or a handful of Members who may be willing to write a review.
- Encourage people to add photos
- Any review written should have a response from the club whether it is negative or positive
Google +
- All the rules that apply to Facebook and other social media outlets apply here.
- We don’t expect to see engagement to be very high
Youtube
- Short videos are a great way to create dynamic content
- YouTube should be the storage area for all of the clubs videos that can then be shared across all platforms.
- Add a News page and easily embed them on the public side of your club’s site. This will show the search engines that the content of your site is changing over time and they will then be more likely to come back to your site and index more frequently.
- Share videos from YouTube on any social media platform and then link back to the site to see more.
- Be sure to add Meta Data to your video using:
- A title with good keywords
- A thorough description that is not more than one sentence as people won’t really take the time to read something lengthy.
- Relevant and specific tags (these are similar to keywords and should be added using commas to separate them)
- You can get content from each department at the club. A few ideas:
- Tips from the Golf Pro
- A food display from the chef
- Cocktail how to’s from a bartender
- Featured items from the Golf Shop
- Q & A series with different Members and Staff
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