Hi, you're listening to Cultivate
Curiosity, a.
Podcast that inspires the next generation
to stay curious.
Cultivate Curiosity is brought to you by
the Emerald Coast Science Center, a
nonprofit.
Interactive science museum and steam
educational facility.
In Fort Waln Beach, Florida.
This podcast is perfect for anyone curious
about the world we live in because
you never know what we'll talk about
next.
Hi everyone.
My name is Jacie and I am
the social media coordinator at the
Emerald Coast Science Center.
And today I'm going to be talking
to you guys about social media and
social media marketing and how that can
help you promote your nonprofit.
So let's just get right into it.
Let's talk about what social media and.
Social media marketing is.
So social media is websites and
applications that enable users to create
and share content or to participate in
social networking.
These are things like Facebook, Instagram,
TikTok, all of that fun stuff.
And then social media marketing is the
use of social media platforms and websites
to promote a product or service, the
services that you provide at your
nonprofit.
So now that we understand what social.
Media and social media marketing is, let's
talk about the different types of social.
Media that there is.
Because there's a lot of different types.
Of sites out there.
So we have our traditional social
networking sites.
Those are Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and
things like that.
So these platforms help us connect with.
Friends, family, and even brands or
companies.
They encourage us to share knowledge and.
Are all about personal, human to human
interaction.
And users can share thoughts, curate
content, upload photos and videos, form
groups based on interest, and participate
in lively discussions.
On these different platforms.
And as a nonprofit or just a.
Company in general, you can reach a.
Target audience through ads on these
platforms.
You can network with other nonprofits and.
Other companies and brands, or you can
network also with your audience.
And then you can also research your.
Audience through these platforms so you
can.
See who's liking your content, who's
interacting.
With it, engaging with it, all that
fun stuff in the analytics side of
it.
So you can really see who your
audience is through those platforms.
Now we also have social review sites.
These are like Yelp or TripAdvisor or
even Google reviews.
These reviews come from community members
for.
All sorts of locations and experiences.
And studying these reviews can help you
understand the customer's perspective and
solve problems before they become a huge
deal.
So definitely keep an eye on these.
Types of review sites.
You want to be interacting with both.
The good and the bad.
Sometimes we don't really want to be
looking at the bad reviews, but giving
some feedback and some understanding, like
saying you understand, like this wasn't
the best experience for them, and then
maybe speaking to why it was that
way or how you are going to
change something is always great.
So that way people can see you
are trying to fix things or help
with how that happened kind of a
thing.
You don't want to just have a.
Bad review and nothing beyond there
because you want to show that you're
engaging on all kinds of social media
platforms, especially those review sites.
We also have image and video sharing
sites so these are things like Instagram,
Imger, Snapchat and Pinterest.
So these are designed to amplify the.
Power of image sharing and more recently
video sharing as well.
So visual content like images,
infographics and illustrations capture our
hearts, eyes and imaginations.
These are just very image and video
heavy sites.
You want to be creating really awesome.
Content that is very appealing to the
eye but also makes your audience feel
a certain way.
And you can use these platforms to
encourage user generated content and
create inspiration for your audience.
So let's talk a little bit about
user generated content.
This is when someone takes a photo.
Or video and posts it on their
own account so you're not posting this
photo or video, they are and you
can reshare this content.
That's really great.
You can also ask them if you
have a policy put in place if
you can actually use their content, which.
Is what we do here at the
Science Center.
We actually have a user generated content
policies so that way we can say.
Hey, can you read these policies?
And then let us know if we
can use your photo or video.
And we can use that in our
flyers, in any kind of marketing stuff
that we do and also just reposting
it on our social media so that
way people can see not only the
content that we are creating, but also
content that other people create.
That is a great ways to get
user generated content is from image and
video sharing sites.
We have a few other ones.
There is video hosting sites so this.
Is like YouTube and Vimeo and these.
Sites help creators put together content
and share it to a platform optimized
for streaming.
So you can use these platforms to
share content and engage with people
watching your content.
So these are going to be longer
videos or sometimes they're even shorter
videos but you want them to stream
it.
So I would say it is more
on the longer side of how long
a video is and these are things.
Like Vlogs or if you are putting
up a podcast you can also put.
It on your YouTube as well.
If you take video content of when.
You are recording your podcast, you can
do that too.
So there's a couple of different things
that you can put on there on
a video hosting site but I think
that is definitely long form types of
videos that you would be posting there.
You also have community blogs so these
are shared blogging platforms like Tumblr
and Medium and they give people space
to express their thoughts and help connect
them with readers without having to have
their.
Own hosted website that has a blog
on it.
So you don't have to have a.
Self hosted website and run a blog
from there.
This is the alternative to that.
These community blog sites provide an
audience while allowing plenty of room for
customization and self expression.
If you were to be on these.
Platforms, you can use them to develop.
Your voice, get some readers, and get
clear about your vision.
If you do have a blog already.
On your website, you can use these.
Platforms to share, repurpose and repost
older content and expose it to a
new audience.
So you might be engaging with a
completely different audience on this
community blog platform versus your own
blog on your website.
And then the last kind of social.
Media platform that we have is discussion
sites.
So these are a little different than
like Facebook and Instagram.
These are specifically designed to spark
a.
Conversation, which is like Reddit and
Quora.
Anyone is free to ask a question
or make a statement and this attracts.
People with shared interests and
curiosities.
But users will tend to give out
less identifiable information on these
platforms.
Unlike Facebook and Instagram, where you
usually have your name, where you live,
possibly a lot of different things that
you wouldn't have on these kinds of
platforms.
So Anonymity is powerful when it comes
to people opening up and getting real.
And that's what they're able to do
on Reddit, Quora, and any other of
these kinds of sites.
So for you, you can use these
platforms to research what your target
audience is asking and use this as
a starting point for your content
marketing strategy.
So you're going to be able to
see if they're asking certain questions
maybe that relates to your nonprofit?
And how are you able to target.
What they're asking and answer those
questions through your content and Quora
users also ask all sorts of questions,
and answering them can help establish you
as a.
Thought leader and drive more traffic to
your website.
So that is all the different kinds.
Of social media platforms we can see.
They come in many forms and you
can use most of these types of
social networking sites to help your
business.
But I want you to make sure.
To think about what platforms you want.
To be on that match with the.
Mission and vision of your nonprofit and
what platforms you or your marketing team,
if you have one, will be able
to consistently run.
You don't want to start on a
social media platform and then two weeks
later, you're not able to keep it
up, you're not able to post on
it, you're not able to interact with
your audience.
That just is not the best way
to go about it.
So make sure you're thinking about, am.
I going to be able to stay
on the social media platform for a
long time.
Am I going to be able to
push content on it and make content
and have the time to do that?
Because you don't want to be on.
Just every platform because that's what
everyone else is on.
You want to make sure that it
really does promote you as a nonprofit.
And helps with your mission and vision.
And if it doesn't, that's totally fine.
You don't have to be on every
platform.
So now that we know a little.
Bit about the platforms, I'm going to
switch over and talk about some of.
The social media tools that you can.
Use and some of the ones that
I use as a social media coordinator
at the Science Center to help me.
With just about everything.
For content creation, I would say you.
Definitely need to have a phone either
if it's your personal phone or if.
Your nonprofit is able to get one
for you.
That would be amazing.
The Science Center does have an iPhone
now that we use, and it's great.
Because it will have all the videos.
And photos and I can take them
on that and have them on that
phone without having it on my personal
one.
But if that's just how it works,
you can have it on your personal
one too.
So I'm able to do that.
If you also can get a nice
camera, that is great too.
I use those especially for events or.
Certain programs I want to be able
to use like for promotion and marketing
and stuff like that.
I'll want to make sure I'm using
very nice camera, but if it's just.
Something that's going on social media,
most.
Of the time, I'm going to be
using that iPhone to take a video.
Or just take a quick picture.
So that's how I can get content.
And then if I need to just
make a graphic or put those photos.
And videos into a graphic, I will
use for designing purposes either Canva or
Adobe Illustrator.
So canva is amazing.
It is actually free for nonprofits or
pro version.
So I think you just have to.
Contact them to get that figured out
and sorted.
But they also just have a normal
free version that you can use as
well.
Canva can do so many things.
They've updated a lot of stuff recently.
I definitely unable to create some pretty.
Cool graphics for the social media as
a Science Center using Canva.
So they have a lot of different
things in there.
I use it both for creating like.
Photo graphics or I can do videos.
And stuff like that in there too.
And then Adobe Illustrator is a paid
thing that you have to do.
You get the Adobe suite.
But I would say for certain things,
certain aspects, you might need it just
because you can use like Adobe stock
files and stuff like that to create
some pretty cool stuff as well.
So I definitely use canva more.
But I have used Adobe Illustrator too.
For video editing.
I use canva.
You can also use Imovie.
I have not really used that very
much.
And then I also have used Adobe.
Premiere Pro for a few things as
well.
Cap cut too.
That's one that you can use on
your phone.
I've seen a lot of people use
those as well.
So there's a couple of different ways.
That you can edit videos for your
social media and then photo editing, you
can use just about any filter app
that you find.
I use visco VSCO.
I have a preset that I love
on there that I use for our
Instagram and stuff like that.
If it's on Instagram, it has that
filter on it.
Just that way I'm being somewhat
consistent because my photos might not
always look exactly the same, but they'll
have that filter.
And I hope that's how our audience
will know that it's a Science center.
Posting those photos is because it has.
That filter on it and they just
know.
They see that filter and they know
that it's us.
So you can use that.
I'm pretty sure even just your iPhone
has some filters on there and you
can crop and edit using that.
A different one would be Adobe Lightroom.
Which I think you can get on.
Your phone too, as well as on
your computer.
And that is great for especially on
your computer if you wanted to edit
those photos from a nice camera or
something like that, just to change the
lighting a little bit.
And you could also do that on.
Your phone as well.
So now that we have it to.
Where our content is created and edited,
how are you going to schedule or.
Post this on your social media sites?
So, for quite a few things, I.
Will schedule things ahead of time.
Just because I'm not necessarily always
going.
To be able to post something the
day of.
So for Facebook and Instagram, for the
Science Center, I use Meta business suite,
which it's not like a paid thing
or anything like that.
You're able to access that business suite
through Facebook and you can do it.
Both on your computer and on your
mobile device.
I usually do it on the computer
just because I'm already creating the
content.
And writing copy on my computer for
the most part.
But you can kind of go back
and forth.
So I use that for Facebook and
instagram scheduling.
I will say it's not always easy
to schedule reels.
I have done it once or twice
for Sebastian social media, just because
it's.
Just a video for him.
But if you want things to look
a certain way, I will wait and.
Go ahead and just draft the reel
on Instagram and then wait until the.
Day of and then post it.
So that's what I use for Facebook
and Instagram.
For Twitter and LinkedIn, I use something
called Buffer.
You can use that for Facebook, Instagram,
Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest and other
platforms.
But I just use it for those
two because I'm under a free plan.
So I think I can only have
two channels actually at one time.
So I have those two on there.
And then you can also use Tweet
deck for Twitter.
It's just Twitter and that is free.
It's very easy to use.
It looks almost like you're in Twitter,
but you're not.
You can also use Hootsuite.
I personally do not use it anymore
just because we had a free version
and they don't have a free version
anymore.
And then later I have not used
later before.
I know.
You can use it for Facebook, Instagram.
Twitter, Pinterest, LinkedIn and TikTok.
I signed up for their newsletter because
they do put out a lot of
great information you can always use
later.
I think it's a great platform.
It's very visual.
And then also some analytics.
I personally do not use a different
kind of analytics tool.
I know there's a lot out there.
I know certain platforms that help you
with scheduling can also get you those
analytics as well, like Hootsuite does.
That I think Sprout as well is
great with analytics.
But I just use Meta business suite.
And Instagram Professional Dashboard for
my Facebook and Instagram, and then
Twitter, LinkedIn and TikTok.
I will just use the analytics from
those platforms as well.
So I'm not necessarily pulling it into
a third party tool.
I'm able to pull the analytics from
the platform itself.
You might want to use a third
party tool.
I will say there's been issues where.
Those third party tools aren't able to
pull correct analytics.
So I just like to go straight
to the source and use the platform's
analytics.
Okay, so that's all the tools I
use.
And I just want to hit on.
One more thing before I wrap up
this podcast.
Like I mentioned earlier, you may not
want to be on all platforms.
Like for the Science Center.
We're on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter,
LinkedIn, TikTok.
We do have an Pinterest account.
It's not necessarily as active, and we're
not on Tumblr or Quora or Reddit
or we do have a YouTube, but.
We'Re not posting very much there.
I will say we do definitely watch.
Out for those review sites.
So like Tribadvisor, Yelp, Google reviews,
we definitely are checking those and
making sure that we're replying to them,
whether it's a good review or a
bad review.
So definitely think like, is this platform
going to work for the organization that
I work for?
Is it going to help us get.
Our mission out there?
Do a little bit of research and
do a little bit of thinking before
you just make an account on everything.
I think that is all I have.
If you have any questions about social.
Media and how to implement social media
marketing for your nonprofit, you can
always email the social
media@ecscience.org.
I get those emails so if you
have any questions specifically for me,
email me there.
But social media is amazing.
I love, love, love doing it for
the Science Center and for Sebastian, our
Tortoise.
I get to be so creative and
have so much fun working on the
different platforms that we're on.
I highly recommend that your nonprofit,
no.
Matter how small or how big they.
Are, always has social media of some.
Kind, especially a Facebook.
Because Facebook, if you don't have one
of those, it's almost like your business
doesn't even exist.
So definitely have a Facebook.
And if you can reach into some
of the other platforms, I highly recommend
it.
So thank you for listening, and we'll.
See you guys in two weeks.
Bye.
Thanks for listening to this week's
episode of Cultivate Curiosity.
If you have any questions, feel free
to email us at socialmedia@ecscience.org.
Tune in for our next episode in
two weeks.