Social Media is a wonderful tool which enables users to create or share content. This is especially useful for global events such as the International Year of Pulses, as it allows for information sharing in real time globally and engage anyone with an interest in the cause.
There are many social media platforms and not all are equally effective. It is best to identify the best platforms that meet your needs. The main indicator is the audience you are trying to target. Keep in mind that every network has its audience, and its own writing style and etiquette. It will be important to adjust your material for each of them. Cross-posting will also be an essential element of your strategy to capitalize and expand the reach.
Be Social and Talk About Us!
IYP2016.org
The IYP2016.org website is there to be talked about! Be sure to share information from the website to help spread the word and keep awareness high.
The more information you share regarding the International Year of Pulses, or pulses in general, the more people will understand the importance behind the year and encourage future supporters. Talk about your activities, write a blog and we will post it on IYP2016.org.
Pulses.org
The pulses.org website will be developed as the consumer facing website. The site will outline the different types of pulses and serve as a home page for the These Are My Pulses video series, the recipes, as well as the Pulse Brand.
Twitter @LovePulses #LovePulses
Twitter is an online social network used to relay messages to the public in 140 characters or less. The message needs to be short and concise, while still attention-grabbing and entertaining. This can be achieved through interesting facts, humor, sharing of images or links, as well as hashtags. It is very important to use images as they are directly linked to an exponential coverage of your messages measured by the number of re-tweets and clicks.
We encourage you to re-tweet images we post on @LovePulses such as:
Keep in mind that twitter is the most popular social media platform for journalists, who use it as a prime source for investigating, contacting sources, checking facts and also for disseminating their articles.
Hashtags are used to tag your tweets so that they can be searchable by subject matter. They also help you broaden your audience and attract new followers.
Our campaign’s hashtag is: #LovePulses
But feel free to also use these as well:
Get creative with your hashtags! Don’t feel like you have to always use these 6 examples. A hashtag can include an important or exciting word in your tweet, such as #chickpea or #delicious. However, make sure you don’t overuse hashtags. The general rule is to use one hashtag, or two at most. Excessive hashtagging makes the post difficult to read, and unappealing.
Retweet us!
Retweeting is an easy way to share information and to be social on twitter. By retweeting tweets from the @LovePulses twitter page, you can increase your followers and improve the information on your page.
Tweet about pulses!
Tweeting facts about pulses, recipes and new products is a great way to catch the viewers’ attention. The goal of your tweets should be to provide information to encourage viewers to increase their pulse intake and support the pulse industry.
Keep your voice light! Don’t use overly technical terms. You want to keep your words as simple as possible to grab the viewers’ attention quickly and easily. Posting pictures of pulses, of pulse recipes and of people eating pulses is a great way to engage twitter audiences.
Some examples of good tweets are:
- Soak dried beans, dried peas and dried chickpeas prior to cooking. Split peas and lentils don't need soaking, but should be rinsed #LovePulses
- Oh la la! A new recipe collection of 70 recipes with pulses from the French Chef Regis Marcon. http://amzn.to/1cXf0ty #LovePulses
- Pasta with Lentil meatballs tastes so good, kids won’t notice it’s healthy. http://bit.ly/1KpfTW3 @USADPLC #recipes
Avoid writing tweets that read like this:
- Pulses are delicious. #LovePulses
- #recipe http://bit.ly/1KpfTW3
- #Soakdriedbeans, #driedpeas and #driedchickpeas prior to #cooking. #Splitpeas and #lentils don't need #soaking, but should be #rinsed #LovePulses
Pinterest is a website which is used to upload, share, categorize and manage images and other media by creating collections known as “Pinboards”. Content gets organized based on keywords, so when a Pinterest user searches “Chickpea recipes” a series of collections and posts with the terms “Chickpea” and “recipes” will become visible.
Pinterest is a way for users to search and share recipes – which is a great tool for promoting the consumption of pulses. Create an account to upload pulse dishes, or interesting ways to use pulses that may be considered innovative – and gain followers by following other pinboards! It’s a wonderful and friendly community of crafty individuals, mostly women, wanting to try new things. It’s a great tool to target foodies and culinary experts.
Get started by following these boards, and using them as inspiration for your posts!
Salad – Veg, Fruit & Pulses #2
Instagram #LovePulses
Instagram is a smartphone application used to share images, short videos and relay brief messages in the images captions. This is a great opportunity to share recipes and ideas and improve public’s perception of the International Year of Pulses.
Similar to twitter, Instagram users can search the application through hashtags and key words to find certain images. For the International Year of Pulses, frequently used hashtags are the same as twitter: #LovePulses #IYP2016 #beansrecipe #Healthyeating #MeatlessMondays #Recipe #Pulses
Get creative and use your own tags!
A great aspect of Instagram is the linking of separate social media platforms. You can share your Instagram posts directly to Twitter or Facebook, which makes populating all platforms easy.
Facebook is the largest social media platform globally with 936 million of daily active users. It is a great platform to share photos, videos, articles, thoughts, to engage specific groups and communities and to post links to websites, blogs and all of your social media platform home pages!
Hashtags are a newer feature on Facebook, and allow you to tag your posts with certain terms. In this case, tagging some of your posts with #IYP2016, #Pulses #Healthyeating or #beansrecipes can be useful!
Not sure what to post?
- Share when you cook pulses for dinner. Be sure to add a hashtag similar to #LovePulses, #healthyeating or #Recipe in the caption.
- Did you attend an event? Talk about it! Share your photos and mention the highlights. Talking about events can help entice others to attend them in the future.
- Did you find a recipe with pulses you would like to try? Share it to your Facebook page, and use the hashtags #Recipe, #LovePulses or create your own.
Promote your social media accounts through one another!
Use each platform to promote the other. Simple plugs which encourage users to follow you on different social media outlets are extremely effective. If an audience follows you on Twitter, there is a high chance that they would enjoy following you on your other accounts as well!
Some simple social media plugs can be similar to these:
- Follow us on Instagram for more fun! View #recipes, contests and more #LovePulses secrets. [provide link here]
- Want to learn different ways to use #LovePulses? Follow us on Pinterest to experience delicious #recipes and more! [provide link here]
Get started!
Now that you know the tools, create your social media platforms and start sharing your ideas!
Contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. if you need help getting started, or if you have any questions.