Meet the Instructor
Chris Cobb
Chris Cobb is a multi-award winning journalist and author, Chris enjoyed a 25-plus year career at the Ottawa Citizen and was a long-time member of the Canadian Parliamentary Press Gallery.
Testimonials
"This course offered a great opportunity to look at real-life examples of our own work and allowed us to examine what was working well and areas to improve. Feedback from the instructor and others in the class was very beneficial."
"Great examples of what works better in terms of rewriting content"
"Instructor was very knowledgeable."
"I had limited knowledge of writing tips for social media and I feel much more prepared to participate in social media activities at work and incorporate it into my strategies. The simplicity in which the information was presented really helped."
"This course helped me pull together all of the questions I had about various social media platforms."
"I enjoyed the open discussion - and that open discussion was encouraged - between the members of the class. This was a very good course - the Twitter discussion, specifically."
"Very relevant! I liked learning about the 'so what?' factor - boiling content creation down to the most relevant parts."
"Loved getting feedback on my own social content/pages. Liked learning about other organizations' struggles. It really gave me good techniques on writing plain and engaging content."
"Very well put-together course that challenged us to edit and re-write content. Helped us develop a new and more critical lens."
"I really liked the interactivity and the real-world examples. Vicki made the course really relevant by doing this."
G080
EFFECTIVE WRITING FOR SOCIAL MEDIA
NOTE: The workshop content described below will be delivered through ZOOM ONLINE on two consecutive half-day sessions. Agendas and other relevant workshop documentation will be sent to you by the workshop instructor at least three days prior to the date of the first session.
WHY SHOULD YOU ATTEND?
Great, your department now has its own blog, just set up a Facebook page and has started with Twitter! Maybe you’re even on Instagram! But now what? What do you say and how do you say it? Can your content help boost subscribers? How are my subscribers accessing my content- is it web or mobile? What strategies and approaches should be used to ensure success...and by the way, what is success for social media anyway?
These and other fundamental questions on the minds of government and corporate communications people will be answered in this fast-paced, ground-breaking workshop designed to show you how social media content can help achieve your department's overall communications goals.
You'll gain a strong understanding of how social media writing differs from print, and even traditional online writing; how to avoid writing for an "audience" and connect one-on-one; create a social media content strategy and become proficient at writing for the myriad of social networking sites and platforms.
WHAT WILL YOU LEARN?
- How to turn social media content into results for your organization
- Case studies on how social media has changed the corporate landscape
- How to create a social media content plan and define its success
- What you can and should say, and what you shouldn't say
- The fine art of building relationships and why that is integral to your success
- How to engage your audience and avoid trying to "convince" the reader
- How to tell a compelling story that's well positioned to go viral
- How to stay on top of social media trends and changes
- Successful approaches to Blogging; Is Blogging even for you?
- How to write content that people want to share
- How to position and write a social network press release
- Ways to build subscribers, fast
- How to handle bad news and respond to negative feedback
- How to acknowledge the outside world and escape the bubble syndrome
- Which social network is best for you (or do you use them all?)
- How to write for each major social network
- Using content to build your online brand
- Effective social networking headlines
- How to make social media linkages back to your main web site(s)
- A look at writing social media content for both web and mobile platforms
WHAT WILL YOU TAKE AWAY?
- Ranking of social media channels by customer communication, brand exposure, traffic generation and SEO (Search Engine Optimization) impact, showing how each tool can help you achieve organizational goals
- Building an organization with social media
- Building your reputation via social media
- Learn how to write with both web and mobile platforms in mind
- A strategic approach to using Twitter and Facebook and other emerging platforms
- PLUS, a social media writing guide checklist and participant notebook containing presentation slides
PROFESSIONAL COMPETENCIES
- Citizen-Centered Communications
- E-Communications
- Written Communications
| Agenda | |
|---|---|
| 8:45 - 9:00 | Introductions and Workshop Overview |
| 9:00 - 9:15 | What's it all About?
|
| 9:15 - 10:00 | Planning your Social Media Content (Exercise 1)
|
| 10:00 - 10:15 | The Do's and Don'ts of Effective Social Media Content |
| 10:15 - 10:30 | The Art of Effective Short Form Writing
|
| 10:30 - 10:45 | Break |
| 10:45 - 12:00 | Social Media Writing Basics
|
| 12:00 - 13:00 | Lunch |
| 13:00 - 13:30 | Review of Social Networking Web Sites
|
| 13:30 - 14:00 | Blogging
|
| 14:00 - 14:30 | |
| 14:30 - 14:45 | Break |
| 14:45 - 15:15 | |
| 15:15 - 15:30 | YouTube |
| 15:30 - 16:00 | Review / Questions and Answers |
| 16:00 - 16:15 | Wrap-up and Workshop Evaluation
|