Facebook Smarts with Colby Reade - Part 1

6/7/2017

Facebook Smarts with Colby Reade – Part 1

First off – congratulations to George and Amal Clooney on the birth of their twins! We all need something to celebrate. As the official press release stated, “…Ella, Alexander and Amal are all healthy, happy and doing fine. George is sedated and should recover in a few days.” I really want George to know that I’d be happy to babysit (for free). Who has his number?

On to the topic of the day. Last week I had the chance to talk to a really smart person (spoiler alert – I get to talk to a lot of smart people). But this person happens to know a lot about marketing and social media. Meet Colby Reade. He’s the President of the Oregon Chapter of the Public Relations Society of America. He’s also a communications consultant to non-profits and small business start-ups.

I’ve had the chance to hear Colby speak twice and I thought you, my dear readers, might benefit from some of his knowledge. So I asked him if he’d be willing to talk with me and – hooray! – he said “yes.”

Colby Reade

Our conversation focused only on Facebook because, as Colby noted, “Facebook still has the most robust targeting you can do. You have the potential, through Facebook, to target particular zip codes, ages, and other demographics. Because Facebook is still the most popular form of social media out there, you have the biggest pool to target.”

But here’s the rub. You must pay to get your message out. Remember the days when a portion of your church or organization’s budget went to buying ads in the newspaper and the Yellow Pages? (I hate to admit it, but yes, I do remember.) In the blink of an eye, the Internet exploded and everyone thought that marketing could be “free.” Maybe that was initially true, but no longer. It’s a good bet, according to Colby, that you should be investing some advertising dollars to promote your Facebook presence.

However, before you start throwing money at Facebook - which Mark Zuckerberg would love for you to do - Colby highly encourages that you develop a basic PR (public relations) plan. Here are some of the things you should think about:

- What are your objectives? Why do you want/need to develop a PR plan in the first place?
- What’s your strategy?
            - Who are you hoping to target?
            - Is there a particular age or demographic you want to reach?
            - How will you reach a younger demographic?
            - What do you know about the demographic you are trying to reach? Have you done your homework?
- How will you know if you have been successful (ah yes, metrics)?

Colby offered an example of a simple objective, strategy, and outcome:
Our church wants to be known as the premiere place of worship in our city.
We want to attract 100 prospective members to events that we will promote on Facebook.
Of those 100 people, 15 will become members by the end of the year.

Facebook gives you increased power to focus your message to the people you really want to reach. The easiest thing you can do is go to “Boost Post” (at the bottom of your church’s or organization’s most recent FB post) and see all the dozens of options at your fingertips.

So this week, start thinking about increasing or developing a Facebook presence. What’s your plan, who do you want to reach, and how much are you willing to financially invest in this grand experiment? (Hint: it doesn’t have to be a lot – what do/did you spend on newspaper ads? More info on costs next week.)

Next week, we’ll touch on a few more nuggets that Colby shared that can make your Facebook presence fun and easily manageable. Facebook is not going away any time soon. Make sure you are using it in a way that is effective and can increase your outreach in your community.

Cesie Delve Scheuermann (pronounced “CC Delv Sherman,” yes, really) is a consultant in stewardship, development, and grant writing. Over the past fifteen years, while working as a volunteer and part-time consultant, she helped raise over three million dollars for numerous non-profit organizations. If it’ll help, Cesie will babysit George and Amal’s twins at her house. She was the Oregon-Idaho Annual Conference Lay Leader from 2008-2012. Her position with the Conference is funded through a generous grant from the Collins Foundation. She is available to consult with churches. You can reach her at inspiringgenerosity@gmail.com or on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/inspiringgenerosity.

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Cesie Delve Scheuermann

Cesie Delve Scheuermann is consultant in grant writing and stewardship/development working with the Conference. From 2008-12 she was the Conference Lay Leader for the Oregon-Idaho Annual Conference.