A social media post can be as effective as an interpretive program while at the same time reaching many more people. Last year, National Parks saw their visitation increase, but not everyone in the world has the opportunity to visit a National Park or an interpretive program. So how do we connect with people who might not get that chance? Social media has a way of drawing people in; educating them and getting them excited about a place that they may never get to visit. How do you go about writing an effective interpretive social media post? There are a few questions you have to ask yourself first.
1. Who is my audience?
Who will be seeing this post? Are your writing a post for a nature center, a National Park, a non-profit organization? Who are your main followers? What are their ages?
Facebook and other social media platforms have made it easy to find this information. If you are writing a post for a group on Facebook then you have all of the analytics that you will need. Take a look at it and notice the age of your followers as well as the type of post that they engage in the most. Tailor your post for that audience. For example; if most of your followers are 50-64 years old and you are writing a post for a nature center, you might want to post about an interesting bird that is migrating through the area. Include a picture of the animal if you can; people love pictures!
Social media such as Instagram and Twitter have analytics available for you as well. There are also services you can sign up for that help you analyze your social media analytics and optimize your posts. Follow this link to find out more about the demographics of social media users. Sprout Social You can also sign into Iconosquare with your Instagram account to get more detailed analytics on your posts.
Here is a screenshot of how to find Facebook's demographics for the page your are posting for.
1. Who is my audience?
Who will be seeing this post? Are your writing a post for a nature center, a National Park, a non-profit organization? Who are your main followers? What are their ages?
Facebook and other social media platforms have made it easy to find this information. If you are writing a post for a group on Facebook then you have all of the analytics that you will need. Take a look at it and notice the age of your followers as well as the type of post that they engage in the most. Tailor your post for that audience. For example; if most of your followers are 50-64 years old and you are writing a post for a nature center, you might want to post about an interesting bird that is migrating through the area. Include a picture of the animal if you can; people love pictures!
Social media such as Instagram and Twitter have analytics available for you as well. There are also services you can sign up for that help you analyze your social media analytics and optimize your posts. Follow this link to find out more about the demographics of social media users. Sprout Social You can also sign into Iconosquare with your Instagram account to get more detailed analytics on your posts.
Here is a screenshot of how to find Facebook's demographics for the page your are posting for.
2. Know your subject It is important to understand the subject of your post completely. For example; if you are writing a wildlife post about the timber wolf make sure that you do research on the animal before writing the post. Think about who will see the post; it won’t exclusively be people who don’t know much about the timber wolf it may also be people who have an extensive knowledge of the animal. Once again include a picture of the topic and make sure it is of good quality. Be sure to credit whoever took the picture and where you got your information. Check with the terms and conditions of each website you are getting your information from to make sure that you can use the pictures or information. 3. Narrow your topic If you have too broad of a topic, you may run into some troubles. First, it may be hard to generate new topics in the future; narrowing down your topic gives you more options for future posts without the risk of repeating post or running out of new ideas. Second, people might not be interested or engage in a broad topic. For example; if you write a post about the desert woodrat and explain that the desert woodrat is a small mammal that lives in the desert, you may lose your audience's attention. Instead, try writing a post about the adaptations the desert woodrat has to help it survive in the desert. You can even spread it out by posting about one adaptation at a time. |
These are just a few tips to help you get started writing effective social media post. Hopefully, your post will be fun, educational, and reach a diverse audience encompassing them in a world they might only get to see from their computer or encouraging them to one day visit the place you are posting about.
Rosa Prasser graduated from the University of Wisconsin - Stevens Point in environmental education, nature interpretation, and adventure education. She recently finished a seasonal position with the non-profit organization Friends of Black Rock High Rock. She now volunteers her time posting interpretive social media for the organization. Contact her at [email protected] or see her work by searching Friends of Black Rock High Rock on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.