How to Manage a State FB Page

Attachment: 4681/FB_Training_-_How_to_Manage_a_State_FB_Page.pdf

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How to Manage a State

Facebook

Page

Welcome

Welcome to the Social Media Team! (Arguably the coolest department. Non-arguably the biggest driver of web
traffic for Convention of States.) The Social Media Department’s mission is to educate, inform, recruit, and
mobilize COS supporters using one of today’s most powerful tools: social media.

As a State Facebook Page manager, your goal is to create a welcoming and informative state page that
operates in conjunction with the mission of the department.

This guide will walk you through a few best practices and will hopefully leave you feeling equipped to manage
your state’s Facebook page. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Laura Scala
<(>

lfennig@cosaction.com

<),> our Social Media Director!

You Have Four Priorities

As a Page Manager, you have four main priorities.

1.

Respond to private messages.

2.

Monitor and respond (when appropriate) to posts to the page.

3.

Monitor and Engage with commenters on your page’s posts.

4.

Create engaging state specific content to be posted to your state’s page.

Priority One: Respond to private messages.

Just like your personal Facebook page, your State Facebook Page can receive personal messages from the
general public. When your page has a new message, the “Messages” button will have a red square with a
number next to it, indicating the number of unread messages.



Responding to these messages in a timely manner is a number one priority. These individuals are prime
candidates to be recruited as volunteers!

Priority Two: Monitor and respond to posts to the page

Is there anything worse than visiting a Facebook page and seeing all sorts of vulgar Obama bashing photos,
SWEAR WORDS IN ALL CAPS AND LOTS OF !I!#%)*YH#!!!!!, or unanswered questions? I dare say, no. Welcome to

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the world of Social Media. Thankfully, we, as Social Media managers, get to keep an eye on the spam, and filter it
out so others have a more pleasant experience.

1.

Filter the spam.

a.

If people posts obviously offensive photos or language on the page, delete or hide the post.

b.

If people post advertisements for non-COS related events, pages, website, books, etc… delete
or hide the post.

c.

If people bash COS, respond with grace and intelligence. This is your opportunity to educate
that individual, and more importantly, everyone else who visits the page and sees your
incredible response! Take a deep breath before responding. Never respond in anger. This isn’t
personal. They just don’t understand all the facts, like you do. So help them understand.

2.

Respond to questions.

a.

Self-explanatory. Many people posts questions about what they can do to help, or the status of
the resolution in their state. Answer their questions, and always encourage people to sign the
petition or sign-up to volunteer. That will enable us to contact them with important Calls to
Actions and updates on the project in the future.

Priority Three: Monitor and Engage Commenters

Let’s be honest. You’re going to post some out-of-this-world content on your state page. So you’re likely to get all
sorts of people liking, commenting, and sharing your posts. Keep an eye on the comments! Like good ones,
respond to questions, hide offensive comments. Remember, negative COS comments don’t equal offensive. Be
sure to respond to questions as the page, not your personal profile.

That being said… want to take it to the next level? Use your personal Facebook profile to introduce yourself to
people on the page. People are always more responsive when they see that they’re talking to a real person.
Encourage them to get more involved, like you! (Word of the wise, be judicious about friend requesting strangers.
FB will shut your account down if you send too many friend requests that are rejected. Don’t worry – you’ll be
warned if you’re pushing it.)

Priority Four: Create Engaging State Specific Content

Alright kids. This is where the rubber meets the road. Creating engaging Facebook posts is half science and half
magic. Here are a few principles to live by:

1.

Remember: you’re posting as Convention of States, not as yourself. This is not the place to post personal
opinions, or soapbox speeches.

Remember: we are a bi-partisan organization.

You can point out the

failings of the federal government, but no name calling please. No pictures of Obama with horns and
pitchfork. Keep it professional.  If you’re going to rail on democrats, rail on republicans too. Both parties
have problems.

2.

“Too Long Didn’t Read” (TLDR) is a disease that plagues everyone on social media. Moral of the story:
keep your posts short and to the point. We generally recommend 1-3 sentences. Seem hard? Cut the
fluff. You can do it.

3.

Photos share better than links. Links share better than text-only status updates. Links (which should auto-
generate a photo with it) get more website visits than photos/memes. Think about your desired results,
and then post the appropriate type of content.

4.

Tell people what you want them to do in clear language. Example: “Like and share our petition to help
spread the word!” “RSVP for tonight’s Convention of States live broadcast!” Statistics show people are
more likely to take the action if you specifically ASK them.

5.

Your title matters. If you want to see examples of titles that work, go to Buzzfeed or Huffington post. They
dominate the title game. “5 Steps to Save America”, “Veterans Stripped of Second Amendment Rights”.
When posting a link, Facebook will allow you to change the title. If it isn’t a catchy title, change it! Same
for the blurb that shows up under the title. Ask yourself, “would this make me want to click and read the

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rest of the story?” If the answer is no, re-write the blurb. (Expert tip: lists are golden. There’s a reason
nearly every buzzfeed article includes a number.)

6.

Report success. Tell people exactly how you, as Convention of States, are fighting for their rights, hand-
delivering their petitions, or taking real tangible steps towards our goal of passing the application and
limiting the power of the federal government. Real examples get people fired up, so tell your stories!

7.

As a general rule, always try and drive traffic to the Convention of States website, either to an article, or
to page where we can capture their information. (Ex: petition page, volunteer sign-up page, leadership
application, etc.)

Content Suggestions:

Where does current content come from?

If you visit your state’s Facebook page, chances are, it’s already posting 2-4 masterful pieces daily. That’s
compliments of a little tool called Hootsuite – a Social Media Manager’s best friend. Our national office oversees
a lot of Facebook pages. Over 50, to be precise. Posting unique content on each of them daily would be a
challenge even for a Social Media Superman.

That’s where you come in.

Unless you’d like to take over complete control of posting to the page (which would be great!), we will continue
posting 2-4 times a day. We tend to post 2-3 blog posts from

www.conventionofstates.com

, and one meme

asking folks to sign the petition. None of these posts are state specific.

Feel free to delete posts that you feel are less beneficial for your state, and replace the content with your state
specific content. Our goal is to customize these pages for your local community—so don’t be afraid to take
ownership of the page!

What You - the Savvy Page Manager - Should Post

Sometimes creating good state specific content is easier said than done. We understand. Here are a few good
ideas to get you started.

1.

Spin news into “why you should support COS” stories. Did the EPA release a new regulation that will
negatively impact your state? Post a link to the story with a 1-3 sentence explanation of what they did,
what it means for the people in your state, and why COS is the solution. Posting articles with a short quote
posted in the “blurb” also tend to perform well.

2.

Are you planning an event or Call to Action in your state? Create a post to promote it! It’s always best to
create a blogpost on your state web page, or an RSVP page FIRST. Then promote linking to that page
where they can find more information. That’s the secret recipe for keeping your Facebook promos short
and catchy.

3.

Elevate stand-out volunteers by sharing their story – and photo - with a link to the volunteer sign-up page.

4.

Introduce your State Leaders. People like people. Help put a face to COS by sharing photos of your state
leadership team with stories about why they decided to volunteer with COS. What better way to
encourage others to sign-up?

At the end of the day, test, test, and test again. Test different types of messages, photos, and content and keep
an eye on what’s performing well. Find a post that’s performing particularly well? Let Laura
([email protected]) know! We’d love to replicate it on our national page, or pass it around to other state
Facebook page managers. We’re a team. Let’s share and multiply our successes.

Now get out there and start having fun.

If you have questions along the way, don’t hesitate to contact Laura!

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Created:	2024-08-15 16:10 GMT
Updated:	2025-08-16 03:00 GMT
Published:	2024-08-15 01:00 GMT
Converted:	2025-11-11 12:33 GMT
Change Author:	Bud Cornwell
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