How to Create Facebook Pages with Impact: A Guide for Arab Organizations
Did you know that the average organization spends two and a half hours a week managing its Facebook site?
Wamda spends more than that, but any startup or organization looking to organize a Facebook Page may want to read Social Media Exchange (SMEX)'s recent guide for Creating Facebook Pages with Impact: A Guide for Arab Civil Society Organizations. While the Beirut-based social media organization released the Arabic version nine months ago, they just finalized the English, which has been updated to reflect Facebook's new features.
After introducing Facebook Pages and Groups the guide highlights examples from the Arab region to show how organizations are using the platform well to support specific causes. The top five include:
The guide focuses on integrating the technical aspects of using Facebook pages with the fundamentals of strategic advocacy and communication planning in nine steps:
- What pages and groups are
- Setting up a page
- Assembling a team
- Developing a strategy for building an audience
- Plan and produce your content
- Developing Interaction Guidelines
- Publishing & Promoting Your Page
- Monitoring Your Performance with Facebook Insights
To maintain activity on your page, it advises organizations to follow a "Recruit, Engage, Call to Action" cycle: recruit core friends, engage by posting relevant content, and use calls to action to encourage community interaction. It may seem simple, but this guide is a comprehensive, well illustrated handbook; at the very least, printing page 58, a checklist for engaging users, will help your startup stay on track.
