•Create promotional copy to add to your About section. Complete a short version & long version description of your club. Be sure to add contact info a link to your website or other social media. You need to convince the reader that your club is different than the other local clubs if there are any and that they should join yours.
•Add your club Facebook address to all promotional material that your produce e.g., agendas, brochures etc.
•As the Administrator, you personally, make friends on Facebook with all of your fellow members. Then invite them to Like your Toastmasters Club Facebook Page.
•Share club Facebook posts on your own personal Timeline. You want your friends to know that you are a Toastmaster and proud of it!
•Encourage visitors to your webpage to visit your Club Facebook Page. Make it easy for them to do so. A Facebook icon should be clearly visible on your website.
•Add “Please Share” to the bottom of each post.
•Search for and Like other Toastmaster’s Facebook Pages. They are a great source of content. Collate their info and share on your Timeline.
•If your club has a website and collects and posts “useful” information, create links to the content both ways i.e. your content on your website should say something to the effect of “visit us on Facebook.” Your Facebook posting of your content should mention “for more interesting information … visit our website.” The same applies to a blog if you have one.
•Check out software to add to your website, depending on its particular content management system, that allows the reader to share the content easily, by clicking and forwarding a link to their social media accounts.
•Create a YouTube channel for your club. Record presentations and post them to your YouTube channel. Share the links to your video in your posts. We explore YouTube and adding video, later in this manual
•Connect with past members. They may not want to rejoin your club but might Like your page and share your posts on their timeline. Go ahead, ask them!
•As part of a public relations program have members create a testimonial of why they are a member of your club, encouraging others to join. Post them periodically. Include a photo of the member. It would also be fun to video a testimonial and post it to your Facebook Page as well as your YouTube channel.
•Encourage members to have a professional Linkedin profile listing Toastmasters as an interest and highlight their TM experience. Have them link back to the club webpage & Facebook Page.
•Encourage all club officers to create a TM signature file, to go at the bottom of their e-mail messages that includes a link to the club website and the Facebook Page.
•Invite your friends to Like your club Facebook Page.
Where to get Content to Post:
For a new Administrator to a Toastmaster’s Club Facebook Page, or someone responsible for adding new content, this can be a daunting task. The reality is actually quite the opposite. There is so much content available to you when you know where to get it from, that the challenge will be deciding what to post and what not to post.
The mission of this chapter is to provide you with tips & techniques to build your club membership by using Facebook. The term “using” implies that there is some action required on your part to make membership growth happen. I believe a big mistake many Fan Page owners make is that they post their content, then leave it alone. The action required is that your page needs fresh content on a regular basis. If a visitor to your page sees the same content every time that they visit, why should they visit again? Odds are that they won’t!
To be an effective marketing tool for club membership growth your club Facebook Page needs to be the following: informational, entertaining, educational, thought-provoking, engaging, interactive, timely and addictive. Okay the addictive might seem a little odd but you want people to be compelled to see what you are posting on your site and to share on their own Timeline.
Content can be created from within your club meetings, from other club’s Facebook Pages, from Toastmasters District Facebook Pages and/or their websites, Toastmasters International’s website and social media as well as other on-line sources.
Arising From Within Your Club:
•Highlight member’s achievements from within the club and without. Recognition is important. Write a short posting recognizing the member and their achievement. (see graphics below recognizing a member for achieving their Competent Communicator Designation and myself for a achieving a second Advanced Communicator Gold.)
•Take photos of members delivering their speech or receiving an award or recognition. Consider capturing or adding video.
•Create a series of posts based on a theme. Examples: your club history, leadership tips, evaluation tips, Educational Moments etc.
•Celebrate member milestones and club achievement.
•Throughout the year post updates as to your club’s standings in the Distinguished Club Program (DCP). Create some excitement. Then add a call for action.
•If a member participates at an Area and/or Division contest, wish them well before the contest and provide congratulations after the event, despite the results. Include photos.
•Events: post club, area, division & district TM events with dates, times and a message encouraging members to attend.
•Post club speech contest results with photos.
•If your agenda is created in advance of the meeting either post the entire agenda or just the highlights. Post the Chair, the theme, speakers etc. or anything special happening during that meeting.
•Have a member collect sound-bytes from member’s speeches and post on Time Line.
•Promote elements of the Competent Leader manual, focussing on specific tasks that can be achieved in the club.
•Create Did You Knows i.e. short articles of useful information e.g., How your Toastmasters experience can add to your resume.
•Encourage your members to write out their speeches and submit as a blog entry.
From Toastmasters International:
•Repost articles from their website, Facebook, Twitter and Linkedin. Repost means that you are sharing content on your Facebook Timeline that originated elsewhere.
•Capitalize on Toastmaster International’s membership campaigns.
Below is an example of a photo shared from Toastmasters International’s social media, linking to their website.
Within Your Local Community:
•Create an open invitation to local politicians or public figures to come out and hone their speaking skills at your club meeting. Offer them a free evaluation and if they accept, invite the public to attend your meeting. Most politicians love to speak and many of them aren’t as good as they like to think they are.
From Your Own Computer & Imagination:
•Turn motivational quotes into graphics. Be sure to add an appropriate comment above the graphic