1. Social Media Toolkit
For ASTD Chapter Leaders
Last Updated 5/13/11
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2. Thank you to the following chapter leaders and
individuals who contributed to this toolkit!
Don Bolen, Greater Atlanta
Mark Britz, Central New York
Cindy Huggett, CPLP North Carolina Research Triangle
David Kelly, CPLP Long Island
Phil McCreight, Upstate South Carolina
Valerie Noll, CPLP Nebraska
Kella Price, CPLP Eastern North Carolina
Gina Schreck
Larry Straining, CPLP Northeast Oklahoma
Jeff Toister, CPLP
Jennifer Tomarchio, CPLP South Florida
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3. Table of Contents
Section One: What is Social Media?
Overview
What is Social Media?
Why is Social Media Important?
Types of Social Media
Best Practices and Tips for Using Social Media
Section Two: Using Social Media
Creating a Social Media Plan for Your Chapter
Sustaining Social Media Usage
Examples of Chapters Using Social Media
Appendix: Resources
Using Social Media: Examples of how to use Social Media
Books, Online Resources, How-To Videos
Sample Chapter Leadership Job Descriptions
Sample Chapter Social Media Plan
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4. Section One: What is Social Media?
Overview
The Social Media Toolkit has been created to help your chapter use social media to
engage chapter members, communicate chapter events, and promote your chapter.
This toolkit will help your chapter recognize types of social media available, create a
social media plan, and sustain social media usage. It provides templates and ideas from
other ASTD chapters to help your chapter effectively use social media.
What is Social Media?
There are as many definitions of social media as there are types of social media
available. In its most basic sense, social media uses technology as a platform that
allows users to communicate and create community.
Wikipedia defines social media as using web-based technologies to turn communication
into interactive dialogues and a blending of technology and social interaction for the co-
creation of value (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_media).
Why is Social Media important?
Statistics about increasing social media usage:
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/press/info.php?statistics
● More than 500 million active users.
● 50% of our active users log on to Facebook in any given day.
● Average user has 130 friends.
● People spend over 700 billion minutes per month on Facebook.
Twitter: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/04/14/twitter-user-statistics-
r_n_537992.html and http://twitter.com/about.
● 175 million registered users.
● 95M tweets are written per day.
● New users are signing up at the rate of 300,000 per day.
● 75% of Twitter traffic comes from outside Twitter.com (i.e. via third party
applications).
● Twitter's search engine receives around 600 million search queries per day.
LinkedIn: http://press.linkedin.com/
● LinkedIn has more than 90 million members in over 200 countries around the
globe.
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5. ● A new member joins LinkedIn approximately every second, and about half of our
members are outside the United States.
● Executives from all Fortune 500 companies are LinkedIn members.
Benefits of using social media for your chapter:
● Sharing, collaboration, and community among chapter members.
● Put your message in front of people where they already are (go to them, instead
of them coming to you).
● Connect with millenials; connect with seniors; communicate between events with
members and non-members.
● Informal learning can secure transfer of (formal) learning (content echo: create a
content message that has many legs: video, in-person, social media, daily email).
● Pooled knowledge and wisdom; information sharing.
● Easy to connect on an individual basis, don’t have to be at a meeting to meet
others from your chapter.
● By the nature of social media, messages are easy to pass on so you aren’t
communicating once, but many times as people link and share.
● Teach members to use the tools that are growing in use in their workplaces and
communities.
● Co-creation of value: putting together and sharing ideas through collaboration,
with the result of net earnings or savings.
● Rapid mobilization for member and community needs.
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6. Types of Social Media
It’s important to note that social media technology rapidly evolves, and therefore tools
and recommended techniques frequently change. The good news is that you don’t have
to keep up with every change to make it work for you and your chapter.
This list of common social media technologies is not intended to be complete or
comprehensive.
Type Description
Blogs A blog, or weblog, is a journal that is
posted online and accessible to anyone
on the Internet. There are a number of
services that can set up blogs for free,
such as Wordpress, Blogspot, and
Wordpad.
Podcasts A podcast is an electronic audio file often
structure like a radio broadcast that can
be downloaded and listened to on a
computer, mp3 player, mobile phone, or
other electronic device.
Bookmarking and Tagging Bookmarks are just like Internet Favorites
in that they enable you to save a
reference to any web page you find on
the internet so that you can easily go to
the page at a later date. Tags take
bookmarks to the next level by allowing
users to associate tags, or categories, to
bookmarked pages. For example, using a
tag like “blog” would enable a user to find
any bookmarked site tagged as a blog.
Bookmarking sites such as Diigo,
Technorati, and Reddit enable users to
share their bookmarks and tags with
other users.
Video Another type of media that is used for
sharing is video. Users can share videos
they create and upload, or they can share
videos created by others. YouTube is the
largest video sharing service, and there
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7. are others, some of which may be of a
more narrow scope. With Facebook, you
can record a video right into your
Facebook page with your webcam.
Social Networks A social networking website is one
designed to connect people forming a
virtual network in which individuals can
share personal and/or professional
information. Social networks often
connect individuals with like interestes
who might otherwise not be able to
connect. Facebook is, by far, the largest
of all social networks. LinkedIn, Twitter,
and MySpace are also examples of social
networks.
Microblog A microblog is a hybrid of a blog that is
limited in the number of characters and a
social network. Twitter is the largest
microblogging service, with Yammer
being a popular option to use within an
organization.
Presentations Some websites enable users to post their
PowerPoint presentations online for
viewing online. Slideshare is the most
popular website for this purpose.
Wikis Wikis are websites that allow for the
creation of interlinked webpages via a
browser. Examples are community
websites, corporate intranets, and
knowledge management systems. Anyone
visiting can not only view the content, but
also edit content. Wikipedia is the largest
wiki.
Virtual Worlds Today’s technology also enables users to
connect in virtual worlds. In these
environments, users control avatars and
have them interact in a computer-
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8. generated world, often mimicking a real-
world environment. Second Life is the
most commonly used virtual world.
There is a section in the Appendix that features links to white papers, how-to
guides, and step-by-step videos for these social media Tools.
Choosing Social Media Tools
Some questions to ask:
● What do we want to accomplish?
● Whom do we want to reach?
● Which media offers the best access to membership and community?
● How much time do we have and how much money will you spend?
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9. Section Two: Using Social Media
Best Practices and Tips for using Social Media
One main goal of social media is to engage with others. It’s not just about providing
information, but also about communicating with members and learning from them.
While there really isn’t a “right” way to use social media, here are a few tips and
lessons learned:
Type Tips & Best Practices
Blogs ● Use a blog to engage chapter
members in writing posts
● Share reflections following events
or other activities
● Establish schedule and topic list
for blogs
Podcasts ● Record short podcasts to
promote chapter events and
share topics of interest to chapter
members
● Record interviews with local L&D
leaders
YouTube ● Create a chapter Youtube
channel to post advertising
messages
● Post vignettes of highlights from
live events
Facebook ● Create a fan page for your
chapter. Use the discussion
feature, invite and respond to
comments, start conversations,
post links and pictures that your
audience might find useful
LinkedIn ● Create a discussion
● Promote chapter events, invite
and respond to comments, start
conversations, and post links that
your audience might find useful
Twitter ● Create an account for your
chapter to tweet, and use it to
post announcements and links
that your audience might find
useful. Engage in conversation
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10. with chapter members.
● Create hashtags for chapter
events and encourage its use
● Many chapters using Twitter
actively use the backchannel
during their programs. The
backchannel is defined as an
informal channel of
communication, and in terms of
social media, the backchannel is
communication about what’s
happening at the event via
Twitter and blogs. Plan for the
Twitter backchannel, and
program or plan tweets to help
give it momentum.
Note that your chapter doesn’t need to use all of these social media tools. It is
important to create a plan for using social media and determine which tools best fit the
chapter's communication strategy and member needs. Avoid overloading members with
too many tools at once. Select a social media strategy that doesn’t intimidate your
board, one that your chapter leaders can take ownership of, and plan for it to evolve.
There is a section in the Appendix that features links to white papers, how-to
guides, and step-by-step videos for these social media tools.
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11. Creating a Social Media Plan for your Chapter
Social media, like every other mode of communication your organization uses, should
be paired with clear objectives. Use this simple four-step process to implement a
social media program that is both meaningful and measurable for your organization.
Pause for a minute and think about these four steps:
Source: http://projectignite.npowercharlotteregion.org/images/socialmediaforum/whitepaper.pdf
1. Develop a strategy by identifying your objectives and your audience.
Ask yourself what you want to achieve: Are you branding your organization? Are
you fundraising for your cause? Are you gathering feedback from supporters?
Determine your audience by asking where your supporters congregate online:
Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, texting, or e-mail?
Ask yourself, “What do I want to achieve?”
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12. 2. Launch an initiative designed to achieve your objective and reach your
target audience. This could a Facebook page, a Twitter feed or a YouTube
channel, to name a few. Be creative and original, but also look at what others
are doing and adapt it to your needs. Don’t be afraid to experiment.
My initiative will be:
3. Feed and nurture your initiative. Find the people in your organization who
can generate content to power your initiative.
My social media team includes:
4. Measure and evaluate your initiative. What worked and what didn’t. How
much time did you spend on it and did it have an effect?
My measurements include:
Once you have completed these steps, start the process again. Through
experimentation, you will find what works best for your organization.
(Source:
http://projectignite.npowercharlotteregion.org/images/socialmediaforum/whitepaper.pdf
)
Other social media marketing plan samples:
Kim, Peter. (2008). The 22 Step Social Media Marketing Plan. Accessed at:
http://mashable.com/2008/11/07/social-media-marketing-plan/
Livingston, Geoff. (2010). 5 Tips for Creating Non-Profit Online Communities. Accessed
at: http://mashable.com/2010/02/12/non-profit-communities/
Ogneva, Maria. (2010). 7 Steps for Creating a Social Media Marketing Plan.
Accessed at: http://socialmediatoday.com/SMC/207874
The Case Foundation. Social Media Tutorials for Nonprofits. Accessed at:
http://www.casefoundation.org/social-media-tutorials
Wild Apricot. Blog: Social Media Round-Up. Accessed at:
http://www.wildapricot.com/blogs/newsblog/archive/2011/02/07/social-media-round-
up.aspx
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13. Sustaining Social Media Usage
After creating a social media plan, it’s time to implement and sustain it. There are four
keys to sustainability:
1. Involve chapter leaders
Get everyone involved in some way. Whether it’s thinking about social media for
promoting an event, or actively participating in the chapter’s social media tools,
each chapter leader should have a role.
Even those who are not chapter leaders but are active in social media can
participate by commenting, posting, and tweeting. Chapter leadership can plan
posts or suggested tweets for events to start the conversation.
It is a good idea to break the plan into small pieces and delegate.
2. Create a board-level position for social media
One chapter leader should have specific accountability for the chapter’s social
media strategy. This role may be a “VP of Technology,” or “Director of Social
Media,” or “Chapter Communication Chair.”
Example: Mid-Michigan Chapter
The Mid-Michigan Chapter has a VP Technology position on their board of
directors. The brief role description is: “The Vice President of Technology’s
primary focus is to provide a technology infrastructure, including chapter
website, social networking and other communications tools in support of the
chapter.”
3. Include social media in all marketing and communication plans
Use social media to promote chapter events, communicate information, and
market the chapter.
Example: Orange County Chapter
The Orange County Chapter actively uses social media to promote chapter
events and market the chapter. In addition to using Facebook, LinkedIn, and
Twitter, the chapter has a YouTube channel with short videos of chapter events
and advertising for the chapter.
4. Involve and engage chapter members
One of the main differences between social media and simply using technology
to communicate is dialogue and involvement.
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14. Example: Central Indiana Chapter
The Central Indiana Chapter actively promoted their annual conference via
Twitter. They created a special hashtag for the conference and began using it
weeks in advance of the event. They asked conference speakers to submit short
“teasers” and “questions” related to their conference sessions and posted those
to Twitter. In addition to using Twitter for advertising, they deliberately chose to
involve and engage attendees by:
● Making it easy to use Twitter, even for non-Twitter users, by advertising ways
to post tweets via web or text messaging
● Promoting Twitter usage by holding a usage contest with an e-reader as the
prize
● Displaying Twitter fountains during conference breaks and in the main
hallway to encourage use and to show non-users the Twitter conversation.
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15. Examples of Chapters Using Social Media
There are numerous social media best practices that have been created and
implemented by various chapters. As a leader, you are aware ASTD captures those best
practices by the Sharing Our Success (SOS) program. For the latest submissions around
social media, please follow this link: www.astd.org/sos and check under the
“Communication” category:
Chapter Name of Program Description
Name
CENTRAL Using Social Media to Engage with The chapter uses a number of free
INDIANA Members social media collaboration tools to
engage with members and educate
them on the value of social media in
learning. The chapter uses HootSuite
because it’s collaborative and allows a
team of people to post news, updates,
discussions, and event information on
Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.
METRO Implementing Social Networking Participation in social networking tools
DC Tools is growing rapidly, and in response to
this trend, the chapter embarked on a
program to implement a series of social
networking tools. After reviewing the
social networking landscape, four key
tools were prioritized: Twitter (daily,
weekly updates), LinkedIn (members-
only group), Facebook (public group),
and podcasting (monthly podcast).
FORT In an effort to provide additional value
WORTH to members, the chapter implemented
podcasts to promote future meetings,
workshops, networking events, and
recap past meeting content for
members unable to attend. Not only
does this deliver an additional benefit to
members but it also makes non-
members aware of the chapter and
programs.
GREATER Yahoo Special Interest Group The Greater Atlanta Chapter created a
ATLANTA (SIG)/Geographic Interest Group Yahoo Leaders Group as a way to bring
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16. (GIG) Leaders Group together all of the 30+ volunteers that
make up the 10 Atlanta SIG/GIGs. The
leadership team for each SIG/GIG can
log into Yahoo and access the ASTD
Atlanta SIG/GIG Leadership Group.
Members of this group can post
comments, ideas, pictures and past
event presentations.
CENTRAL VP of Technology The Central Indiana Chapter didn’t have
INDIANA a point person or someone who was in
charge of their website and social media
presence. Various board members were
constantly updating the website, which
caused much confusion. To deal with
this, the chapter created a new board
position titled “VP of Technology.” The
position serves a marketing role to
recruit new members and to encourage
current members to be more involved.
HOUSTON http://astdhouston.org/social- The Houston Chapter webpage includes
network/ a social network tab, which clearly
identifies which technologies the
chapter is using and links to join them.
ORANGE http://www.youtube.com/user/ast The Orange County Chapter uses its
COUNTY doc own YouTube channel to upload clips
YouTube Channel from recent meetings, as well as
“commercials” promoting their chapter
events.
CENTRAL http://www.cnyastd.org/social___i The Social & Informal Learning
NEW nformal_learning SIG explores, discusses, and applies the
YORK theories, techniques, and tools
Social & Informal Learning organizations can use to leverage the
SIG "wisdom of the crowds."
Their goal is to increase the
understanding and expand the
application of social and informal
learning in an effort to improve
performance.
MT http://mtdiabloastd.org/meetings/past_m The chapter received SOS recognition
DIABLO eetings/2009/april_2009 for this meeting in which Second Life
participants and face-to-face
Blended meeting using Second participants had a facilitation course
Life where they learned and practiced
facilitating in avatar form.
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17. MT http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rTZX Set up a YouTube channel with an
DIABLO RxXLfJA extremely professional and attractive
YouTube channel video capturing the excitement of the
annual learning and development Expo.
MT http://mtdiabloastd.org Has built up a very attractive website
DIABLO Website integrates video that clearly reflects the chapter's
warmth and its commitment to cutting-
edge learning by placing another
attractive and well produced video on
its splash page.
MT Twitter usage at monthly meetings Live tweet keynote speaker’s
DIABLO presentation from monthly chapter
meeting – see @MtDiabloASTD
The list we’ve provided here is certainly not exhaustive; this is just what chapters have
submitted for SOS. If your chapter is successfully using social media, please submit an
SOS so that your success can be duplicated by other chapters.
The list of chapters on Twitter is posted on the Chapter Leader Community website
(www.astd.org/clc) under the “Social Media” tab here:
http://www.astd.org/NR/rdonlyres/517D7760-D992-4014-934C-
857154973DDA/0/ChapterTwitterListFlyer41610.pdf.
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18. Appendix: Resources
Examples of How to Use Social Media
Type Links to examples/How-to guides for this media
Blogs How to Start a Blog
http://www.howtostartablog.org/
Blogger: How to start a blog (YouTube video)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bU4gXHkejMo
Podcasts How to Create a Podcast: A Step-by-Step Tutorial
http://radio.about.com/od/createyourownpodcast/ss/How-to-Create-Your-
Own-Podcast-Make-Your-Own-Talk-Show-Music-Program-or-Audio-
Stream.htm
How to Create a Podcast (YouTube video)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-hrBbczS9I0
YouTube YouTube 101: How to Upload (YouTube video)
http://www.youtube.com/user/youtube?blend=3&ob=4#p/search/17/SzSwnb
xb9TY
Facebook Facebook Pages: Creating, Administering, and Editing Your Page
http://www.facebook.com/help/?page=904
How to Make Your Own Fan Page on Facebook (YouTube video)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xhP0wvAsnQA&feature=related
LinkedIn Group Managememt
http://learn.linkedin.com/group-management/
LinkedIn Expert Tip: How to Create a Group in LinkedIn (YouTube video)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2zoqw3b290o
Twitter Twitter 101: How should I get started using Twitter
http://support.twitter.com/groups/31-twitter-basics/topics/104-welcome-to-
twitter-support/articles/215585-twitter-101-how-should-i-get-started-using-
twitter
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19. Bookmarking/Taggi Social Bookmarking 101: What is Social Bookmarking and How Can it Help
ng Me?
http://webtrends.about.com/od/socialbookmarking101/p/aboutsocialtags.htm
Wikis Starting and Running a Wiki Website
http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Starting_and_Running_a_Wiki_Website
Virtual Worlds What is a Virtual World
http://www.virtualworldsreview.com/info/whatis.shtml
How to Get Started in Second Life in 10 Easy Steps
http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/how-to-get-started-in-second-life-in-10-
easy-steps/
Books
Bingham, Tony, and Marcia L. Conner. The New Social Learning: a Guide to
Transforming Organizations through Social Media. Alexandria, VA: ASTD, 2010.
Bozarth, Jane. Social Media for Trainers: Techniques for Expanding and
Extending Learning. San Francisco: Pfeiffer, 2010.
Craig, Randall. Online PR and Social Media for Experts, Authors, Consultants, and
Speakers (4th edition). 2010.
Craig, Randall and Susan Sweeney. Social Media for Business. Toronto:
Knowledge to Action Press, 2010.
Hartley, Darin E. 10 Steps to Successful Social Networking for Business.
Alexandria, VA: ASTD, 2010.
Jue, Arthur L., Marr, Jackie Alcalde, Kassotakis, Mary Ellen. Social Media at Work:
How Networking Tools Propel Organizational Performance. San Francisco, CA:
Jossey-Bass, 2010.
Online resources:
Kim, Peter. (2008). The 22 Step Social Media Marketing Plan. Accessed at:
http://mashable.com/2008/11/07/social-media-marketing-plan/
19

20. Livingston, Geoff. (2010). 5 Tips for Creating Non-Profit Online Communities. Accessed
at: http://mashable.com/2010/02/12/non-profit-communities/
Ogneva, Maria. (2010). 7 Steps for Creating a Social Media Marketing Plan. Accessed at:
http://socialmediatoday.com/SMC/207874
Project Ignite: NPower. Social Media White Paper: Four Steps to Success. Accessed at:
http://projectignite.npowercharlotteregion.org/images/socialmediaforum/whitepaper.pdf
The Case Foundation. Social Media Tutorials for Nonprofits. Accessed at:
http://www.casefoundation.org/social-media-tutorials
Toister, Jeff. How to engage customers with Social Media. Accessed at:
www.toistersolutions.com/socialmedia
Wild Apricot. Blog: Social Media Round-Up. Accessed at:
http://www.wildapricot.com/blogs/newsblog/archive/2011/02/07/social-media-round-
up.aspx http://www.wildapricot.com/blogs/newsblog/archive/2010/07/06/one-page-
social-media-strategy.aspx
How-To Videos:
Commoncraft. Twitter in Plain English. Accessed at:
http://www.commoncraft.com/twitter
Commoncraft. Blogs in Plain English. Accessed at: http://www.commoncraft.com/blogs
Commoncraft. Social Media in Plain English. Accessed at:
http://www.commoncraft.com/socialmedia
Commoncraft. Podcasting in Plain English. Accessed at:
http://www.commoncraft.com/podcasting .
Commoncraft. Wikis in Plain English. Accessed at: http://www.commoncraft.com/video-
wikis-plain-english
Schreck, Gina. Gettin’ Geeky Videos. Accessed at: http://www.synapse3di.com/gettin-
geeky-video-archive/. Videos include How-to’s for Facebook, Twitter, Second Life, and
podcasting.
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21. Sample Chapter Leadership Job Descriptions
Sample Chapter Leader Position Description #1:
Director of Social Media
Position Summary:
The director of social media will manage all social media communications with potential
and existing members by increasing member participation in these outlets to create
high levels of satisfaction among users.
Time Commitment:
Term: One year
Estimated Time Requirements per Month:
● Attending board meetings: 2 hours plus travel time
● Attending monthly chapter meetings: 3 hours plus travel time
● Communicating with administrative office about routine issues: 2-4
hours
● Create and implement social media strategic plan: 2-4 hours
Responsibilities:
Chapter Support
● Develops and implements a strategy to engage and motivate active online
advocates.
● Stays up-to-date on new tools and how other organizations are using them so
that the chapter uses these technologies effectively.
● Moderates message boards and keeps spam and unwanted solicitations in
check.
● Serves as an advocate for the community internally. Provides management
with grassroots feedback and ideas.
● Envisions and shapes web tools and direction for the community.
Board Participation
● Serves as a subject-matter expert advising the chapter board on the use
of social media in support of its mission.
● Supports and promotes the Chapter Operating Requirements (CORE), and
the strategic goals and action plans of the chapter.
● Represents the chapter professionally and ethically in all business
functions/organizational activities.
● Attends and participates in all board and chapter meetings. Participates in
other chapter events, committee meetings, and regional conferences as
available.
Qualifications:
● Commitment to the chapter’s mission, vision, strategy, and goals
● Skilled in written and verbal communication, personal interaction, and problem-
solving
21

22. ● Ability to plan, organize, and execute activities as required by the position
● Ability to complete projects within established timeframes
● Ability to delegate tasks and monitor follow-through
● Ability to fully participate in chapter programs and board meetings
● Has a willingness to advocate for the chapter
● Ability to seek others as volunteers
● National member of ASTD and a member in good standing with the local chapter
● Has a high degree of familiarity with the internet, social networking tools, and
online protocol
● Ability to solve community disputes and enforce rules
● Ability to teach, guide, and encourage others about the best practices in social
media, including patience with people new to Web 2.0 tools and culture
● In-depth familiarity with online community best practices, and experience
interacting in a variety of online contexts.
● Comfortable with blogging and utilizing social networking technology (advance
coding skills not required)
Sample Chapter Leader Position Description #2:
Director of Social Media
Note that this is another version of the Director of Social Media, as different chapters
may include different functions in this position based on their needs.
The Director of Social Media is responsible for promoting awareness of the chapter’s
presence on social media networks and engaging with the membership using social
media tools. This includes:
● Educating members on the use of social media in the learning
environment.
● Engaging with members, speakers, vendors, and potential members via
Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and LinkedIn.
● Marketing upcoming events, speakers, and news via Twitter, Facebook,
YouTube, and LinkedIn.
● Creating and managing social media contests and give-a-ways to
increase use of the tools, sharing, collaboration, and presence.
● Managing social media tools, streams, and sessions at our meetings and
conference.
22

23. Sample Chapter Leader Position Description #3:
VP, Information Technology
Position The Vice President of Technology is an elected officer of
Description the chapter who is responsible to identify, implement,
and maintain website content and features and other
technologies that will support board goals and improve
member services.
Critical Success The primary functions of the Vice President of
Factors Technology:
● Fully functional website rated useful by
membership.
Line of The Vice President of Technology supports the President
Communication and interacts within the Board as a member of the team,
making decisions by consensus and working with the
President on an as-needed basis.
Responsibilities The following responsibilities apply to the position of the
Vice President of Technology:
Operations
● Support board and chapter functions by providing
web pages, publishing interface, surveys,
discussions, webinars, online forms, e-commerce,
and other features as appropriate.
● Maintain home page and update as needed.
● Provide help in accessing and navigating website.
● Act as point of contact and liaison with website
host.
● Develop annual budget for technology function;
audit income/expenses monthly to ensure
chapter's sound financial status.
● Research, develop, and facilitate the sourcing of
new ideas and concepts for using technological
innovation to deliver enhanced services to
members.
● Attend all monthly board meetings and the
annual leadership conference.
● May be asked to write articles for newsletter.
Supported by The positions that the Vice President of Technology is
supported by:
● All board members
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24. Sample Chapter Social Media Plan
Created using the guidelines presented in:
Toister, Jeff. How to engage customers with Social Media. Accessed at:
www.toistersolutions.com/socialmedia
1) Have a clear purpose
2) Make your purpose clear to your customers
3) Execute well
1) Have a clear purpose
Look for places where members and potential members are likely to engage with you if
you were there.
��� Use focus groups, surveys, or direct conversation to ask members where they
might try to find your chapter.
��� Look at other associations and other ASTD chapters to see what they use. Are there
many using a particular social media tool, such as Facebook?
��� Identify the top social media sites (Facebook, Twitter, Yelp, etc.) where your
members/potential members are most likely to interact with you and how they might
use the media site.
��� Create a list of the types of information your members and potential members
will find useful. The best examples are integrated with your existing
advertising or customer communication strategy. Some types of information may be
meeting information, post-meeting communication, meeting summaries, etc.
Some keys to success that were identified by Best Buy:
��� Assign responsibility. Put a person or a team of people in charge of monitoring
and participating in your forums. Remember that this does not necessarily need to be
the Executive Board. It can be members who are already actively engaged in social
media.
��� Respond quickly. Make sure the person in charge of monitoring social media
sites has the capacity (time + authority + skill) to respond quickly and
appropriately. A good rule of thumb is you should respond no later than one
business day.
��� Respond personally. The person responding on behalf of your chapter should
use their name and identify the role that they have in your chapter.
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25. 2) Make your purpose clear to your customers
You risk confusing and even alienating your members and potential members if you
take a haphazard approach to social media. Make it clear why you are using each outlet
so members/potential members know what to expect from you. This includes setting up
sites like Facebook and Twitter so any visitor knows exactly why they should be a fan of
your business or follow your tweets.
3) Execute well
The checklist below will help you evaluate the execution of your social media strategy.
Monitoring Process
��� Do you have a process to monitor each of your social media tools?
��� Is there a person or team of people who are responsible for this process?
Resource Allocation
��� Have you allocated enough resources (people, time, etc.) to execute your
social media strategy?
Media Planning
��� If media (offers, promotions, or information) is a part of your strategy, have you
created this media ahead of time?
��� Is your media strategy integrated with your overall member communication or
advertising plan?
��� Have you educated your members on what information you are
sharing via social media?
Testing
��� Have you tested your various social media tools to ensure they are working
properly?
��� Did you search for any gaps to ensure you aren’t missing any member
communication?
Evaluation
��� How will you evaluate the success of your social media strategy?
��� When will you evaluate the success of your social media strategy?
��� How will you decide whether to expand, contract, or hold your social media
presence?
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