How to get the most from a social networking profile page

Social networking is most effective when used as part of a wider marketing and branding strategy. Your organization will have consider how best to manage an online presence.

For example, you could upload your logo, use company colours, or refer to current campaigns that are running. For more on promotion and marketing go to the Promoting and marketing your social network presence page of this guide.

Make sure your social networking page is checked often so if anyone comments, you can respond in a timely manner and people won’t get bored with your site. It would even be a good idea if it is possible, to have your page open all day so that your ‘friends’ can see you are online. They may want to contact you about a specific topic or question. For a community organization it would be a good idea to have your page set on public so everyone can access your page and your information and that then opens you up to a wider audience.

It is also a good idea to add other community organizations to your social networking page. Remember do not discuss anything you would not want the whole world to see over the social networking site.

Techsoup has some tips and tricks for using and managing your social networks wisely: 'Eight Secrets of Effective Online Networking'
(www.techsoup.org/learningcenter/internet/page8075.cfm).

It is also important to make sure you are using the right social networking site for your organisation so here are some tips to find out which social networking site may be right for you: which social networking site is right for your organisation.