Social Media Package Resources, Examples, & Spring Break Homework 3/2/23

The key to creating a social media package is to think about what will save time and make your life (and the lives of anyone on your team) easier when creating a post, or series of posts, quickly. Dealing with civic issues often means dealing with news events, which means pumping out content quickly as events are happening. Being prepared at a moment’s notice is so important.

Possible Components of a Social Media Package

I say “possible” here because the content of these packages can vary, depending on your situation, cause, organization, etc. These are just some basics to give you a start.

1. 1. Color palette
   2. Fonts
   3. Logos
   4. Sound bytes or other audio (watch for copyright!)
   5. Pre-designed graphics for different platforms
   6. Key phrases, words, language
   7. Key stats to include
   8. Hashtags and any accounts you may want to tag
   9. List of any guidelines you want others to follow (do’s and don’t’s, stylistic criteria for videos, etc.)
2. Canva is your friend!
   • Branding features are helpful
   • Re-sizing options are too (although that is a paid feature)
3. Remember that the idea with these packages is not to make every post look the same, but to make them look coordinated
   • So you don’t want repetitive posts; just posts that look like they belong together

Examples of Civic Social Media Campaigns 

These were all Webby winners or nominees in 2021 and 2022.

1. 1. Michelob Ultra Save It See It campaign for women’s sports
   2. Scarlet May deaf/ASL activism on TikTok
      1. Video 1
      2. Video 2
      3. Video 3
      4. Video 4
   3. Color of Change Justice for George Floyd and other race-based social justice campaigns

Social Media Package Sample Doc Assignment for over Spring Break

For this Sample Doc, I’d like you to create a social media package. This is less a single document you’ll be writing than a file you’ll be compiling, I suppose? Look at the list of components above, and create a sub-folder in your Google Drive folder for our class that contains those elements.

1. 1. For this exercise, I’d like you to find an issue that Hackettstown is dealing with
      • Go to local papers, look at town council meeting minutes (bet you never thought to look there!), BOE meeting minutes/video, social media groups, Patch.com, neighborhood apps – wherever you need to go to get some inside info
        • Then, consider using those sites as places to get the scoop on things going on in your own communities
      • Once you’ve chosen an issue, consider an advocacy position you’d like to take, and come up with a social media campaign you could viably launch (not that you have to)
        • Consider who your audience would be, how you would get multiple groups of community members involved, possibly, and your main objective for the campaign
   2. Create a color palette, choose fonts to use, come up with some key phrases, hashtags, and accounts to link back to, etc.
   3. Creating a logo may be tricky, but give it a shot, since you’ll have a bit more time (remember that these docs are just practice, so don’t feel like it has to be award-winning digital art)
   4. Key stats may also be tricky, but again, do the best you can, and use local resources to help
      • Doing civic work – and being a good writer, in general, I’d say – is often about being resourceful and looking beyond what’s right in front of you and easily accessible