building an online presence

Building an online presence

Labour Party training - Nov 2009

What we will cover

• Your pages on www.labour.ie

• Facebook

• Twitter

• Building a blog

• Other online options & resources

www.labour.ie

Why? What options? How?

Why build on www.labour.ie?

• Port of call for Labour contact details and information

• Easy to find on google

• No technical skills required

• Builds up centralised Labour presence

• Mostly static information - doesn’t require many regular updates

What options?

• Home page - your own text• Biography - summary of information entered• Clinics - option to add Clinic details• Local News - option to include all local press

releases• Blog - option to include a blog• Gallery - high res photos• Uploading newsletters - contact Head Office

How?

• Training manual provided

• Any other questions can be addressed to neil.ward@labour.ie or cathy.flanagan@labour.ie

Facebook

• Why use facebook?

• How do I use facebook?

• How do I set-up my facebook presence?

Why use facebook?

• Over 1 million Irish users on facebook (as of 24th Sept ‘09)

• 54% female, 46% male• 66% aged 25 or older• 32% aged 35 or older• facebook mobile usage up 300% in 12 months• 25% of all facebook users now access via mobile• Many Irish politicians on facebook, but few of

them engage beyond their friends

How to use facebook

• 3 options:– Personal facebook profile– facebook group (for campaigns)– Politician’s facebook page

• Profile should normally be kept private• Groups should be used for issue-based

campaigns• Page is the best tool for organising (no limit on

fans, demographics available on fans, ability to send mass emails etc.)

How to set-up a facebook presence

• Training manual provided

• Any other questions can be addressed to neil.ward@labour.ie or cathy.flanagan@labour.ie

Twitter

• Why use twitter?

• How to use twitter

• How to set-up a twitter presence

Why use twitter?

• Twitter (http://twitter.com) is a micro-blogging service

• Takes very little time to set-up• Takes very little time to update - 144 characters

maximum• After facebook, fastest growing social network in

Ireland• Used by many journalists• Over 50% of users access via mobile devices

How to use twitter

• Register using your real name if possible (eg. http://twitter.com/joanburtontd)

• Update 1-3 times per day

• ‘Follow’ people/businesses in your area

• Use of ‘reply’ and ‘retweet’ functions

• More personal medium than others

• Can feed from your facebook page

How to set-up a twitter presence

• Manual provided

• Any other questions can be addressed to neil.ward@labour.ie or shauneen.armstrong@oir.ie

Blogs

• What are blogs?

• Why blog?

• What options?

• How?

What are blogs/why blog?

• Blog is an abbreviation for weblog or online journal

• A blog is a website that allows you to completely control your own design and content

• Allows you to post text, pictures and videos about local issues

• Easy to set-up, free of charge, and easy to find on google

• Note - importance of using ‘tags’

What blog options?

• http://www.wordpress.com• http://www.blogger.com• http://www.typepad.com• Your Labour webpage

• For advanced users:• http://wordpress.org• Contact neil.ward@labour.ie for more info

How do I blog?

• Training manual provided

• Any other questions can be addressed to neil.ward@labour.ie, shauneen.armstrong@oir.ie or cathy.flanagan@labour.ie

Other online options

• Google AdWords• Targetted facebook advertising• YouTube - video• Flickr - photo• MySpace• Bebo• Custom web-page (eg. www.joanburton.ie)

Online resources for Cllrs.

• www.kildarestreet.com (Oireachtas monitoring)• www.electionsireland.org (Election results)• www.irishelection.com (Political news)• www.politics.ie (Political discussion)• www.labour.ie/forum (Private Labour discussion,

including Councillors forum)• http://irishelectionliterature.wordpress.com (online

archive of Irish election literature)