Purpose
Information and communication in the open source ecosystem has become increasingly more social, if such a thing is possible. It is increasingly important to use social media tools to connect to users, contributors, and allies within the broad open source community.
Understanding who is reaching out to the Fedora Project is the first step in building a social media strategy. Is it users, developers, or potential contributors? How do they interact with Fedora’s online presence? How is the Fedora brand perceived and discussed, particularly in relation to Red Hat as well as other upstream projects?
As Fedora listens, it will also be in the process of sharing its own voice with the community, building conversations and content that can keep people engaged and listening to what the Fedora Project has to say. This will strengthen existing relationships and build new ones.
This social media plan is meant to codify the plan to converse with and listen to the people the Fedora Project wants to reach. Like any relationship, it will take time to build the ties we want to achieve. But with careful planning and execution, positive and measurable results will be achieved.
Content
The goals and objectives of the @fedora social media channel will be:
- Increase awareness of the Fedora Project and its many deliverables
- Establish members of the Fedora Project as thought leaders in their respective fields of expertise
- Build rapport and interest among members of the media and members of the desktop, Linux, and open source communities
- Drive traffic to Fedora Magazine and the Fedora Community Blog to increase awareness of what the Fedora Project has to offer
- Increase attendance at Fedora events (and involvement in the Fedora Project in general)
Content on @fedora will be ecumenical in nature, with a focus on Fedora and any related projects. “Ecumenical” in this instance means that while the channel’s content will focus on Fedora’s efforts, good citizenship practice in open source communities recommends posting content on other non-Fedora projects (e.g., tweeting congratulations about an important milestone for another project, such as Debian or openSUSE).
Content can include links to original content, to be hosted on the Fedora long-form content sites, as well as blog posts, technical articles, success stories, and multimedia content. Broader desktop technology-related content will also be aggregated on the best suited social media channels as well.
Social Media Tactics
The goal for participation on social media is to have an active, participating, and growing audience that's listening to and engaging with you as a thought-leader in your area of expertise. It's critical to recognize inbound clicks to the Fedora sites will not be the number one goal of posting. The clicks/impression rate on social media is abysmal. The goal should be to make connections and establish Fedora as a key influencer in our sector.
Have a Voice
Consistency, authenticity, and credibility are three things to keep top of mind when you are developing your brand's voice. Your goal is to embody the lifestyle of your brand, resonate with your audience and invite conversation. Use keywords in your post that are unique to your brand to create an insider feel to the Fedora community.
Crafting Your Posts
Write posts to be shared, not to drive clicks. Create posts that are entertaining. Post facts that are relevant to that brand's point of view. Keep it short and simple. Posts that are 100 characters or less have a higher rate of engagement and it also allows space for people to add their own comments in the form of retweets, for example. Only half of your posts should link back to Fedora domains. Avoid using dishonest or sensational copy to promote your links.
Posts with images in them have two times more engagement than tweets without pictures. Share pictures that give your followers insight into the people's lives that fuels the Fedora brand that they can't find on the Fedora sites.
Make Targeted Connections
Use social media to get in touch with users whose doors may have been traditionally closed to you to generate conversations. Retweet their content, favorite their posts, respond to their questions. Building relationships on takes time and persistence, but connecting with the right people can help take your brand to new levels.
Tips and Tricks
When retweeting a follower, try to always use a quote tweet option. Highlight what about the tweet particularly resonated with you, show support for another user or totally disagree and start a conversation.
Metrics
To measure the impact of the success of this plan, a variety of metrics will be measured that determine the quantity and the quality of communications within these channels.
A monthly report should be available to the Fedora Social Media team that will identify where things are working and where they are not. As the plan matures, areas in need of concentration will be identified in the report, with ideas of how to improve. Specific targets will be discussed and determined within the team.
The metrics will include:
- Tweets: Aggregated content
- Tweets: Original content
- Followers
- (\*)Mentions
- (\*)Retweets or shares
- (\*)Retweets or shares with comments
Starred (\*) metrics are better indicators of quality, as they represent interactivity, a highly desired goal.*
Credits
These guidelines are adapted from the proposed SOP by Brian Proffitt. The main changes were just to change the mentions of Twitter to the more general 'social media'.