Social media, in particular Facebook, is one of the most low cost and effective ways to advertise, communicate, and keep people regularly updated. The creation of a booster club Facebook account can help it spread the word about activities, events and fundraisers while also providing an online space where club volunteers and members can share, discuss, and organize with each other. A booster clubs Facebook profile allows them to show their communities that they are making a difference, which in turn will continue to build support for the club.
With so many social media, options, it is important to understand that the rules, limitations, and regulations for each platform is quite different and can impact how that platform can be utilized by the booster club. In this article we are focusing on how a booster club can effectively use Facebook.
(For information on other social media platforms besides Facebook, Booostr.com has published an article that provides advice and lists benefits of using other social media platforms.)
Go Where Your Booster Club Supporters Are
Before you even create a Facebook account for your booster club, identify audience and your purpose. Identifying your audience and purpose will help you determine if Facebook is the correct social media platform to use. Of all the popular social media platforms, (Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+, Instagram, Tumblr, etc.), the biggest advantage to using Facebook is that Facebook has the most users worldwide. Other social sites might be popular in one country or another, but Facebook is popular pretty much everywhere. This is good to understand because it means that most likely your booster club volunteers, supporters and students have a Facebook account already.
Your Booster Club Facebook Profile – Share Content, Advertise and Grow
Besides its massive user base, Facebook is arguably the best way to share pictures and other media with your supporters. Since your supporters are most likely already on Facebook, this makes it easy for them to interact with your booster club Facebook page. In addition to sharing media, Facebook also allows you to display basic contact information, such as your booster club’s location, phone number and people involved with managing the club. The combination of sharing media and contextual information about the club really gives facebook an edge over other platforms. Bare in mind, however, that Facebook has rapidly fallen out of favor by younger generations. Therefore, if your booster club deals with younger children and teens as opposed to adults, Facebook may not be the most effective way to communicate. Instead you may want to try out Twitter, Instagram or Snapchat, or utilize both Facebook and an alternate social media to accommodate more of your target audience.
How to Maintain Your Booster Club Facebook Page
When you first launch your booster club Facebook page, it is imperative that you put aside at least 3 hours to customize your page. After your page is launched, the person posting updates should plan on dedicating around 3 hours per week uploading new photos and videos, responding to comments, and posting announcements.
A booster club that uses Facebook should have a communications officer or a least a volunteer, whose sole job will be to maintain your booster club’s Facebook account(s). Having a single person in charge of your social media will help maintain a consistency with how and where information is posted. . For example, if fundraising dates are traditionally posted on your club’s website, and if the dates for sport games are traditionally posted on your club’s social media account, keep it consistent and continue to post the information where your supporters expect it to be posted. If there is no current posting consistency, then ideally having one person in charge of posting could improve that regularity and parents, students, and fans will have an easier time locating important information and updates.
As stated earlier, Facebook features an easy way to publicize your contact information. You should take advantage of this feature and post your official email, a link to your website, a phone number, your location, etc.. If a phone number is posted, ensure that it belongs to a current club member. For any email used, make sure that current booster club directors are able to access it. With your contact information posted on Facebook, now all you need to do is regularly check your emails and phone messages in order to welcome new members and handle potential booster related business!
One unique feature to Facebook is that it gives users the ability to create Facebook groups. Facebook groups are essentially discussion forums or private blogs. They allow users to create groups with a specific set of people in them. These groups can share photos and links and make announcements (which can only be seen by the people in the group). Facebook groups can beneficial to your booster club because they connect people more tightly and allow only a specific set of people to view the content in the forum.
Another unique feature to Facebook is its scheduling feature for FB Pages (this cannot be used for FB Groups). Once you have someone managing your booster club’s Facebook posts, they should take advantage of scheduling. This simply allows the person posting on your page the ability to set up a number of posts at once and schedule them to post on your wall at specified dates and times. be convenient to write posts in advance when the person has time and then utilize Facebook’s scheduling feature to post them in the future.
What Should You Post on Your Booster Club Facebook Profile?
Sometimes people find it hard to know what to post on their booster club Facebook page. For your booster club’s Facebook page, you might want to start with sharing photos and videos of booster club events and fundraisers. Don’t be afraid to announce achievements and milestones as well. Another idea would be to post thank you’s and congratulations to members or volunteers on your page. Celebrate and share the positive and not so positive moments with your audience. Just keep in mind that your posts on Facebook are individual conversations you are having with your fans and followers, and it is important to respond to messages to show you’re engaged and appreciative!
Once you have settled on a content strategy for your booster club Facebook postings, we suggest, that your Facebook manager make it a habit to regularly check your page for new comments, messages and to update it with new content. This is also important as new Facebook algorithms and updates have made it much harder to see posts from people so text or email updates won’t notify you when there are new interactions. A once daily or every other day check in will help make sure that your Facebook page well managed, responsive to comments and keeps your profile page fresh with new content. Interaction is important in order to maintain and grow your Facebook audience..
Facebook is an excellent popular way to communicate, advertise, and discuss news and updates with your supporters. Growing your following on Facebook can help build support for your booster club and in turn increase the impact of your booster club. By following the simple rules outlined here, you can not only have fun creating your very own Booster Facebook page but positively impact your club and community!
