Each newsroom is expected to post two status updates daily on Facebook Mondays-Fridays .
INTRODUCTION
Facebook’s primary purpose for newsrooms is to drive traffic to our websites by encouraging user interaction through links, polls, photo galleries, reader callouts and conversation. Facebook is an indispensable outreach tool that helps newsrooms and journalists connect with the communities they support.
Facebook also serves as a way to attract new readers to your site and drive more page views . GateHouse sites get more referrals from Facebook than any other social network . In April 2011, Facebook referred 754,299 visits to GateHouse sites, an increase of 149 percent from April 2010. Page views were 2 .1 million for April 2011 .
HOW TO GET STARTED
Should we have pages or profiles?
Facebook profiles must represent an individual by name. Facebook pages are created specifically for businesses and are managed by administrators who also must keep personal profiles . As a business, you should have an official business page. If your newspaper is currently using a personal profile, you run the risk of having the profile deleted by Facebook and having to start from scratch to build a fan base. Using a personal profile as a business is a violation of Facebook’s terms of use . Facebook pages have grown significantly in the past year in their ability and reach, and they now closely resemble personal profiles in their functionality. If your newspaper is using Facebook as a profile and not a page, we recommend creating a business page as soon as possible. After the page is created, send messages out to all of your current “friends” asking them to “like” your new page and informing them that the profile will be deleted.
If we don’t currently have a page, how do we get started?
The News & Interactive Division has created a page for each GateHouse newspaper that isn’t using Facebook. To access this page, you must first find your official page using the Facebook search box, then “like” that page. A News & Interactive staff member will then make you an admin of your page . Admins have the ability to manage all aspects of Facebook pages, including posting stories, creating polls, editing your profile, and responding to any posts on your wall. Anything an admin posts on the newspaper’s page shows up with that page’s icon, not a personal profile picture.
PROMOTION
How should we promote our pages?
Advertise and link to your Facebook page on your website, email signatures and wherever your paper has a Web presence. Run a house ad in your newspaper letting readers know about the page . Consider a promotion in the rail on your newspaper’s front page. A house ad promoting your Facebook page is available at this link: http://www.gatehousenewsservice.com/features/ x920801855/Facebook-house-ad:
Each newsroom is expected to post two status updates daily on Facebook Mondays-Fridays .
INTRODUCTION
Facebook’s primary purpose for newsrooms is to drive traffic to our websites by encouraging user interaction through links, polls, photo galleries, reader callouts and conversation. Facebook is an indispensable outreach tool that helps newsrooms and journalists connect with the communities they support.
Facebook also serves as a way to attract new readers to your site and drive more page views . GateHouse sites get more referrals from Facebook than any other social network . In April 2011, Facebook referred 754,299 visits to GateHouse sites, an increase of 149 percent from April 2010. Page views were 2 .1 million for April 2011 .
HOW TO GET STARTED
Should we have pages or profiles?
Facebook profiles must represent an individual by name. Facebook pages are created specifically for businesses and are managed by administrators who also must keep personal profiles . As a business, you should have an official business page. If your newspaper is currently using a personal profile, you run the risk of having the profile deleted by Facebook and having to start from scratch to build a fan base. Using a personal profile as a business is a violation of Facebook’s terms of use . Facebook pages have grown significantly in the past year in their ability and reach, and they now closely resemble personal profiles in their functionality. If your newspaper is using Facebook as a profile and not a page, we recommend creating a business page as soon as possible. After the page is created, send messages out to all of your current “friends” asking them to “like” your new page and informing them that the profile will be deleted.
If we don’t currently have a page, how do we get started?
The News & Interactive Division has created a page for each GateHouse newspaper that isn’t using Facebook. To access this page, you must first find your official page using the Facebook search box, then “like” that page. A News & Interactive staff member will then make you an admin of your page . Admins have the ability to manage all aspects of Facebook pages, including posting stories, creating polls, editing your profile, and responding to any posts on your wall. Anything an admin posts on the newspaper’s page shows up with that page’s icon, not a personal profile picture.
PROMOTION
How should we promote our pages?
Advertise and link to your Facebook page on your website, email signatures and wherever your paper has a Web presence. Run a house ad in your newspaper letting readers know about the page . Consider a promotion in the rail on your newspaper’s front page. A house ad promoting your Facebook page is available at this link: http://www.gatehousenewsservice.com/features/ x920801855/Facebook-house-ad:
• Send messages to friends through your personal Facebook profile suggesting they “like” your newspaper’s page. If you use Twitter, ask followers to like you on Facebook, also.
• Don’t be white noise: Post only the most compelling stories that have the best chance of interaction . Don’t use an RSS feed. Don’t link to the headlines only. Don’t post everything you put up on your website, or people will be tempted to unlike you.
• Use the “like” button: Use the recommend tools at the top of each story on your website. When you “like” a story, a link will then appear on your personal Facebook profile wall for your friends to see. To help drive traffic to your site, you can encourage other newsroom staffers to recommend stories to their friends.
• Be consistently good: If you build it, they will come. Facebook has more than 750 million active users. Many of these users are in your area. If you are a thoughtful and active source of reliable local news on Facebook, you will gain more fans.
HOW TO POST
How many stories should we post?
At the very least, post two updates a day. Larger papers should be closer to four a day.
When should we post?
We recommend posting once in the morning, to hit the early riser Facebook traffic, and once in the evening after 6 p.m. Any extra posts can be spaced out between those two, but keep in mind that afternoon and evening posts seem to get the most traction, with a Facebook high in traffic occurring around 9 p.m.
We recommend using free online tools such as Hootsuite and Tweetdeck to time posts to update throughout the day and evening when you might not be available to post .
How should we post?
Your Facebook posts should be written in a conversational voice that aims to interact with fans and encourage conversation . Always respond to criticism, comments and questions that are posted to your wall, and remember that your fans are potential leads and sources, so be professional .
Five examples of good Facebook posts:
1. Link to a story on your website
Don’t post every news item on your Facebook page; choose the ones that will spark the most conversation . Write engaging one-sentence intros and link to the story on your website . Ask thoughtful questions .
Story headline: Smith ousted as city council president Facebook post headline: Yet another shakeup at City Hall . What do you think should be the first
thing on the agenda for the new president?
2. Link to a poll
Link to a story on your website with a related daily poll . If your poll is only on your homepage, create a story to promote your poll (vote in our poll on Christmas shopping, for example) and add the poll using related content (the same way you had a photo to a story in Zope) . You can post the poll in Top Stories or in your highlight area . Then, you can link to the story with the poll attached on Facebook .
Facebook post headline: Have you finished your Christmas shopping yet? Let us know on our latest poll .
3. Ask for reader content
Facebook is the perfect place to fish for reader submissions of stories, pictures, comments and more . Use your Facebook fan base to call for this information and link back to your website .
Facebook post headline: Calling all ghouls and goblins, pumpkins and princesses! We’re looking for the best Halloween costumes in town . Think you have what it takes?
4. Use your fans as sources
Ask your Facebook fans questions to help generate sources or ideas for stories you're working on . Look for story ideas, search for sources, and ask for historical information and archive materials or for tips in breaking news situations .
Facebook post headline: We’re looking for residents who had family survive the big East Coast storm last week . Know anyone? Let us know .
5. Post photo galleries
Post two or three photos from a gallery, then link to the gallery on your site with a headline .
Facebook post headline: Here are a few of our best shots from last night’s state basketball championship, including that amazing buzzer beater . Find more at the link below .
TRACKING THE SUCCESS OF YOUR FACEBOOK PAGE
Reaction and participation to your questions and callouts is one way to tell how effective your individual posts are . Another is to track referrals from Facebook . In Google Analytics, find the traffic overview on your dashboard and click “view report” to find your top traffic sources .
MORE INFORMATION
For updates on uses for pages and tips for journalists using Faceboook, follow these pages:
• Facebook.com/media
• Facebook.com/pages
