- Author: Pamela S Kan-Rice
The dynamic webinar will focus on using social media strategy to enhance the Extension narrative for diverse audiences. In this session, Doralicia Garay, UC Agriculture and Natural Resources social media strategist, and her team will explore innovative approaches to crafting and sharing stories on social media that resonate with a variety of communities.
The expert speakers will share insights, tips and real-world examples to inspire participants in refining their Extension story. Whether you're aiming to connect with different cultures, communities or demographics, this webinar provides a roadmap for creating inclusive and impactful content.
Register at https://pages.extension.org/extensions-skills-2024.
Upcoming Extension Foundation webinars:
March 14 - Telling Our Story: Visualizations in Effective Storytelling
Speaker: Deanna Schneider
Topic: Leveraging visualizations to enhance the impact of your Extension story
April 11 - Telling Our Story: Communicating with Local Officials
Speaker: Anne Megaro, UC ANR government and community relations director
Topic: Strategies for effectively communicating your Extension story to Local Officials
- Author: Pamela S Kan-Rice
To increase awareness of how UC ANR research and extension is improving life for Californians, Strategic Communications has been posting about UC Cooperative Extension activities across social media.
Inspired in 2022 by the state government boosting ANR's budget to allow the hiring of more than 100 academics and support staff, Doralicia Garay, social media strategist, wanted to show legislators and other Californians how they benefit from ANR.
“The ‘Improving Lives in California' campaign is designed to showcase ANR research as well as those who deliver it by featuring compelling content and UC Cooperative Extension advisors and specialists,” Garay said.
She targeted Californians who were interested in agriculture, pests, environment, wildfire, water, youth development, and nutrition with paid campaigns as well as regular posts on Facebook, Instagram, X (formerly Twitter) and LinkedIn.
Between March 2022 and December 2023, UC ANR's “Improving Lives in California” campaign has reached more than 600,000 people and more than 21,000 people have engaged with the posts by sharing, liking or commenting across all platforms.
“The per-post engagement rate averaged 3.5% across all social media channels, which is almost twice the average rate per post,” Garay said.
Key elements of the campaign:
- Employee spotlights: Through a series of engaging profiles, we highlight our extension experts' unique journeys and expertise. By featuring their skills and contributions to research projects, we humanize our staff and inspire a sense of connection with our online community.
Examples:
tinyurl.com/23bjz4xr Brooke Latack
tinyurl.com/yxbmybp5 Ian Grettenberger
tinyurl.com/rndcn6uz AtefSwelam
- Short videos: Bite-sized videos featuring Cooperative Extension advisors are intended to simplify complex research projects and explain their relevance to all Californians. It's also a great opportunity for our audiences to get a sense of our researchers' personality.
Examples:
tinyurl.com/mr46w65s Srabani Das
tinyurl.com/bdf68sh5 Ramiro Lobo
Series of videos: instagram.com/ucanr/reels/?hl=en
- Social media takeovers: We take our audience on a virtual tour behind the scenes of our research facilities. Through carefully crafted multimedia content, we share what makes research and extension centers and county office locations unique, and how the infrastructure enables scientists to bring innovation to life.
Example:
tinyurl.com/272xh9h7 South Coast REC
- Research impact stories: We bring our research to life by illustrating its real-world impact on California communities. Through compelling narratives, we demonstrate how the dedication of UC ANR employees to research translates into positive change with advancements in agriculture, wildfire mitigation, water issues and more.
Examples:
tinyurl.com/5y2vn4rs Hamutahl Cohen
tinyurl.com/2e3bafh3 Houston Wilson, Jhalendra Rijal and David Haviland
- Interactive Q&A sessions: Live Q&A sessions on social media platforms encourage direct interaction between our experts and online audiences. Although social media reach has recently dipped for this type of content on Facebook, we successfully engaged with our Facebook audience in 2022 during a nutrition Q&A by retaining 80% of our live audience from start to finish.
Example:
tinyurl.com/52e7jy6s Mary Blackburn, JavierMiramontes andAba Ramirez
- Employee-generated content: Encouraging employees to share their own perspectives, experiences and insights on social media platforms promotes a sense of ownership and inclusivity. It also creates a vibrant online community that encourages our audiences to participate in conversations about research initiatives.
Example:
tinyurl.com/587jcxvf GerrySpinelli
- Hashtag campaign: "#ImprovingLivesinCA is a unique campaign hashtag that serves as a unifying element, allowing us to gather user-generated content and track the campaign's reach and engagement.
“By strategically highlighting our employees in the narrative of our research efforts, #ImprovingLivesinCA strengthens the UC ANR brand identity and positions our organization as a collaborative partner at the forefront of innovation,” Garay said. “This campaign represents a comprehensive approach to leveraging the power of social media to drive reach and engagement and serve our online community.”
You can follow UC ANR on Facebook, Instagram, X (formerly Twitter),LinkedIn and YouTube.
- Author: Pamela Kan-Rice
Garay offers virtual office hours every Wednesday at 11 a.m. Join by the Zoom link below. If you need to arrange to meet at another time, email her at dgaray@ucanr.edu.
Join Zoom Meeting
https://ucanr.zoom.us/j/91408257262?pwd=dXl0a1RZbW5nR054OXcxYUVqckZtdz09
Meeting ID: 914 0825 7262
Passcode: 922249
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Dial by your location
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Meeting ID: 914 0825 7262
Find your local number: https://ucanr.zoom.us/u/abNLuVPHzv
- Author: Pamela Kan-Rice
Dora Garay, ANR social media strategist, will offer weekly social media office hours to discuss social media. Starting July 7, on Wednesdays from 12 to 1 p.m., ANR colleagues are invited to bring questions or anything they would like to share about their social media channels and community.
Join Zoom Meeting
https://ucanr.zoom.us/j/91575159341?pwd=aTVVbVpVK1NUdFpKT3hQNHdOcDE3UT09
Meeting ID: 915 7515 9341
Passcode: SM593
If the office hour doesn't work for your schedule, feel free to email her at dgaray@ucanr.edu and set up a meeting.
- Author: Linda Forbes
In 2018, an estimated 2.65 billion people were using social media worldwide, a number projected to increase to 3.1 billion in 2021. YouTube has 2 billion active monthly users who watch how-to content regularly. Roughly 70% of adults use Facebook, which is consistently a top source of online referrals to the UC ANR website.
Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube and other social platforms provide tools for UC ANR to expand our reach to more people who can use our research-based information to better their lives and businesses.
UC ANR colleagues who use social media for outreach will have an opportunity to discuss their tactics and strategies during three upcoming webinars being offered by Rose Hayden-Smith, UCCE advisor in Ventura County.
1. Nov. 25 Social Café -- Writing for Readability
Join Hayden-Smith on Monday, Nov. 25, at 11:30 a.m. for a 30-minute webinar that will provide essential writing tips designed to help you improve the readability of your work. The Social Cafe is an informal, monthly "drop in" session that explores various social media topics.
https://ucanr.zoom.us/j/751701428
2. Dec. 11 Facebook Webinar
Communicating Your Story: Facebook
Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2019
11:30 a.m. -12:30 p.m.
https://ucanr.zoom.us/j/751701428
Presenters: Rose Hayden-Smith and Strat Comm
Facebook has become an important part of communicating our stories. Ever wonder if the platform is right for you? In this fast-paced webinar, we'll cover the basics of communicating your story through Facebook, including:
- Why you might want to use Facebook;
- Techniques and best practices to get started…or get better;
- Using images and video to enhance your posts;
- Quick tips for effectively and efficiently using the site.
Participants will also be provided access to a range of resources and tools to support their Facebook efforts, including samples, tip and FAQ sheets, guidelines, and more.
3. Dec. 12 Social Café -- Setting 2020 social media goals
Join Hayden-Smith for a 30-minute Social Cafe webinar on Thursday, Dec. 12, at 11:30 a.m. The Social Cafe is an informal, monthly "drop in" session that explores various social media topics. This Social Cafe will focus on setting 2020 social media goals.