Social media
Social media can connect your club with current and past members, prospective members, donors, and friends. Using it is also an effective way to increase your community’s awareness of your club and its activities.
Getting started
Make social media a part of your communications toolkit, along with email, newsletters, and your website.
Create a social media plan to help you determine what you want to achieve through social media, which platforms are right for your club, and what you want to communicate to your online community.
Step 1 – Setting goals
After you decide what you want to accomplish through social media, set goals to track your progress. Keep your goals specific and measurable. When you’re writing or sharing a post, ask yourself, “Will this help us reach our goals?”
Examples of goals might be to:
- Increase the average number of reactions and shares per post by 5% in a year.
- Increase the number of fans and followers by 10% by inviting email contacts and Facebook friends to “like” your club page and promoting it in your newsletter and on your website.
- Increase your reach by 10% by creating at least three new posts each week.
- Increase attendance at events and meetings by 10%. Create Facebook events for upcoming meetings or activities that are open to the public, and invite prospective members.
- Increase new participant inquiries that are made through social media by 10% using targeted Facebook ads.
Step 2 – Choosing your platform
You don’t need an account on every social media platform. Start small and focus your efforts. To decide which social network is best:
- Research the social media platforms that are used most in your community.
- Think about who you want to reach and where those people spend their social media time.
- Understand the commitment that’s involved. Who can manage your social media presence, and how much time can they dedicate to it?
After you choose a platform, set up your account or page, and make sure to use the official logo of your club, district, or zone. By consistently and correctly using your logo, you strengthen Rotary’s brand recognition and build awareness of your club, district, or zone.
Create or update your club, district, or zone logo using our templates.
Step 3 – Deciding what to communicate
Share a mix of local, club-focused content and stories from Rotary.org and Rotary’s social media accounts. Show your club in action — helping people in the community, networking, and socializing. Keep content about club meetings to a minimum.
Examples:
- Post a status update on your Facebook page to remind your audience about an upcoming event.
- Write a blog post about a guest speaker and link to it on Instagram.
- Post on Twitter about your next service project. Remember to include a URL with the call to action.
- Take a behind-the-scenes video at your next event or record a series of interviews that feature club members and partners in your community and post clips on your social media channel.
Create social media posts using our templates.
Know your audience
As you learn more about your fans and followers, you’ll discover what kind of content interests them. Make sure you comment on followers’ posts and respond to their messages to grow your social media fan base.
Rotary audiences:
- Rotary participants
- Rotaractors
- Interactors
- Rotary Peace Fellows
- Rotary Youth Exchange participants
- Program alumni
- Rotary International staff
General audiences:
- Potential members
- Young professionals
- Partners or sponsors
- Donors
- Community members
Create a content calendar
A content calendar will keep you organized and ensure that your social media content is fresh and timely. Use your calendar to coordinate communication across all of your promotional channels, including email, social media, websites, and newsletters.
You might want your calendar to include special Rotary events, like the Rotary International Convention and World Polio Day, along with United Nations observances.
Plan to spend some time each day:
Finding and posting content Monitoring your pages for questions and comments Connecting with fans and followers online (comment on, like, and share relevant posts)