Progressive Communicators of D.C.

Summer of Social
Media Plan
June 28, 2016
By Jessica Zahurak
Objective
This summer, PCDC will work with MatchMap Media intern Jessica Zahurak to
increase social media presence as well as better document our activity to
ensure more coordinated and strategic tactics, and to add more variety and
diversity within our community.
Timeline
June 28-August 17
Context
First, we will start with a basic history and a synopsis of the social media
platforms. PCDC has been on social media since 2009, and we have a Twitter
page, Facebook page and a Google Plus page.
The PCDC Facebook page has been running since January 12, 2010. There
are currently 1,354 people who liked the page. The home page link is posted
on the page. The current admins on Facebook are Brandi Horton, Patricia
Brooks, Sue Roth, Margot Friedman, Valerie Holford, Gloria Pan, Hua Liu and
Jessica Zahurak.
The PCDC Network Twitter was started in August 2009. The Yahoo Group link
is on the profile of the Twitter account. The Twitter handle is @PCDCNtwk. We
have 8,986 tweets, 2,504 following and 2,407 followers.
On the PCDC Google Plus platform, there is a link to the main website and a
YouTube video from Patricia Brooks. An introduction to PCDC is on the home
page as well. There are two contacts on the home page:
jodiochstein@gmail.com and
mfriendman@dupontcirclecommunications.com. We will change Jodi
Ochsteins to Patricia Brooks at patricia@matchmapmedia.com. There has
been one post on Google Plus since it started, which just included Follow
PCDC on Google +.
On the Facebook account, the job postings and event postings seem to get
the most shares or likes. The majority of the posts do not get comments at
all. Twitter does not get much engagement with the PCDC Network Daily
posts other then a like or share every now and then. There is not much to go
off of when it comes to what is working on the Google Plus page because of
the lack of postings. From other Google Plus accounts, there is a lot of
freedom when it comes to posting. Posts with engaging photos seem to do
best.

The basic upkeep of the pages needs to be updated. All of the pages should
be linked to all of the other pages. The logos on the pages need to be
updated. Facebook needs a cover photo that is not blurry. There are two
options: use the current photo and add a background to make the photo less
pixelated or use a new photo that is not pixelated at all. For the first option,
the original photograph is required in order to edit it with a background. For
the second option, we will need people to submit other photos that would
work as a new cover photo for the page. These photos can be requested and
sent through the listserv. In addition, the Twitter photo needs to be updated
as well. Currently there is a photo that is longer than the square box viewed
on Twitter. A square PCDC logo is needed to update Twitter. In addition, the
photo that is chosen to by the cover photo on the Facebook page should also
be used as the Twitter cover photo. The photo on the Google Plus account
should be updated as well with the square logo. The cover photo should also
be used on this platform.
There is not currently a system in place for posting on social media, so we
can improve by creating that system. The suggested system is to have
Jessica Zahurak update at least one weekly post on all of the social media
pages. Jessica will create an editorial calendar through Trello, which is
explained more thoroughly in the Tactics section. It is important to maintain a
moderate presence on social media, but not much more than that because of
Jessica leaving in the fall.
Currently there is not a LinkedIn page or Instagram account for PCDC. We will
research what options we would have if we were to start using both of these
social media platforms. The information found on the platforms will be
shared in the progress reports in August so that PCDC can decide if it would
like to use the platforms in the future.
Guidelines
PCDC is a rather informal community, so the guidelines for our social media
posts are not extensive; however, there are some basic rules of courtesy.
First, we try to keep our volume of posts to a consumable level while aiming
to keep engagement higher. If we are going to be putting out significantly
more in a period of time, we let members know in advance. For example, we
would tweet out plans to live tweet before starting.
Second, we will not share anything in regards to a specific political
candidate. It is important to stay away from anything that is controversial or
would go one way or another among progressives. For example, Paris COP
agreement was favorable to some environmental groups and not favorable to
others. Furthermore, there are some who are not interested in climate
change at all, so we want to ensure we do not alienate any group of
members. We try to stick mostly to tips for how to do well in PR, but keep in
mind that most of the people work in support of progressive organizations
and non-profits. Retweets and shares are fine, but we would not want to

engage with anyone who is a foe of the progressive community. PCDC should
not use the social media platforms to pick arguments with Conservatives. Reposting of other PCDC community members is encourages. Third, we will
share information from the list onto the social media pages. However, we
also need to recognize that PCDC is a closed lost, and social media is public.
We want to avoid sharing confidential information to the public, but we do
want to post useful information.
Contingency
We need to plan for Jessica leaving at the end of summer and prepare for
what will happen to the social media in the fall. In order to maintain a social
media presence once she leaves, Patricia will continue to post the listserv
information to the platforms. In addition, she will continue to post the PCDC
Network Daily to Twitter. Anything that is found to be helpful on the social
media pages, we will continue. At the end of the summer, we will post an end
survey to determine how the members liked the content, and what we
should do to keep it up.
We need to let the PCDC community know that we will be updating the social
media in the summer, and the presence might decrease in the fall because
of the lack of assistance with the social media platforms. However, we will
still aim to share more of what they like and less of what they do not.
Goals:
- Exceed 9,051 tweets on Twitter (64 more additional tweets), which
would mean tweeting at least once a week in addition to the other
weekly PCDC Network Daily posts
- Increase the followers on Twitter by 100 followers, which would give
the PCDC Network Twitter 2,507 followers
- Increase the likes on Facebook page by 1,400
- Increase the followers on Google Plus to 100
- Increase member activity on the social media pages by getting at least
2 shares or comments on each Facebook post, 2 retweets or replies on
Twitter to each tweet, and 2 shares or comments on each Google Plus
post
- Determine if there are any other medium where we should be reaching
our community such as Instagram and LinkedIn
Audience
The audience is the members of the PCDC network. There are also potential
members of the PCDC network such as students at local universities who are
interested in getting involved in PR, communications professionals who have
been in the field for a while, professors of communication and members of
progressive non-profits.
Message

PCDC is a network of professionals that serve progressive organizations by

fostering a community to share tips, strategies and best practices. The social
media message encompasses the ideals and focus of the organization by
sharing and promoting communication strategies, best practices and events.
Join us; were a fun, friendly and intelligent group of people.
Mediums
- Facebook
- Twitter
- Google Plus
- Potential others, pending evaluation
Tactics
- Update members of Summer of Social plans with a post about the plan
to update the social media presence
Facebook and Google+
Twitter
- Update listserv of the updated social media plan
- Weekly communication article or app every Wednesday morning on
Facebook, Google+ and Twitter
Facebook and Google+:
June: An app that makes it easy to move appointments around
and annotate them Does this sound like an app that would be
helpful? What other daily organizers do you find helpful?
https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/june/2016/06/02/531b
9a8e-273b-11e6-ae4a-3cdd5fe74204_story.html
Are you an SEO expert? Experts: what tips and tricks do you
have for learning SEO?
https://moz.com/seo-expert-quiz
Moz Academy has a bank of videos for learning SEO link
earning, social media, brand and content marketing. Share your
favorite videos!
https://moz.com/academy
Twitter:
A new app that makes it easy to move appointments around and
annotate them. Does this sound helpful or not?
http://wapo.st/1PE26CE
Test if you are an SEO expert http://bit.ly/1Kt2jRY
Check out a Moz Academy. They have videos for learning SEO
link earning, social media, brand and content marketing
http://bit.ly/24CSucT
- Update photos on Facebook, Twitter and Google Plus
- Create an editorial calendar in Trello so that creative content can be
managed and posts can be reviewed. This calendar will be updated to
show events, anniversaries and holidays that are going on through the
summer, and can be used to create material for the posts. In this
calendar, future posts for each social media platform will be created by
10 a.m. Wednesday by Jessica. Patricia will either approve or edit those

posts in Trello by 11:30 a.m. so that Jessica has time to publish the
approved posts to the pages.
At least once a month, phrase weekly post to reach out to potential
audience members
Facebook and Google Plus
Want to learn more about SEO link earning, social media,
branding and content marketing? Moz Academy has a bank of
videos to help you learn! Be sure to join the PCDC community for
more communication tips and advice.
https://moz.com/academy
Twitter
Check out a Moz Academy for learning SEO link earning and
much more! Join the PCDC community for more tips and advice
http://bit.ly/24CSucT
Reach out to the top 5 universities in the area and communication
professors to introduce this to their students to attain at least 5 more
PCDC community members
Reach out to 5 major non-profits like idealist, PR News

Monitoring and Evaluation

In order to monitor the success of Summer of Social, we will do a bi-weekly
report of how we are doing in relation to our goals. This report will be in an
excel file in order to evaluate the true success of the plan. The goal is just a
target, and it does not indicate success or failure; but the goals will keep the
plan on track to see if progress is happening.
August 2, we will begin reporting process with a closing memo of what we
have done and progress.