Is your social media presence a disappointment? Are you wasting hours on Facebook & Twitter without any clear outcomes? Do you dream of your social media posts 'going viral'?

The reality is that less than 1% of posts go viral and, while having a social media presence is still free, successful social media promotions require time, thought and energy to get right. So, like any other aspect of your organisation, social media needs proper planning and resourcing.

This is the first part of a 2-part course helping you to think strategically about what your organisation can achieve with social media, how to target and prioritise your efforts more effectively and economically, and how to embed online good practise within your organisation. 

This first session will introduce you to the essential features of a good social media strategy and take you through the first steps of translating your strategy into a regular pattern of effective and well-designed social media posts. Social media is primarily a visual medium, so part of this session will focus on the use of free template layout platforms such as Canva to help you design professional and engaging images and e-posters for your social media campaigns.

By the end of this session you will: 

• Understand what a social media strategy is 
• Know the reasons for having a social media strategy
• Begin to develop a social media strategy for your organisation 
• Understand the importance of visual media
• Develop your digital design skills 
• Design a visual poster for social media

This is session 1 of a 2 part course. You will get the most out of each session by attending both. However, there is not requirement to attend both. You may attend either session without having attended the other. 

Both sessions are aimed at any staff, trustees or volunteers who use or are considering using social media (such as Facebook & Twitter) on behalf of their organisation; those with responsibilities for strategy and planning; or those who coordinate staff or volunteers that use social media.