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Chamberlain Sun’s figured out Facebook
February 27th, 2010 by Mike Knutson
On Monday, Lindsey, Becki, and I are meeting with Miner County residents to talk about Facebook Pages for businesses. Actually, we hope to do more than just talk. We’re going to help business owners set up their own pages and talk about the strategies they might employ on Facebook. It’s this last part about strategies that excites me.
Today, however, I noticed some web traffic to Reimagine Rural from the Chamberlain Sun Facebook page. When I traced the links back, I discovered the page was set up by the Chamberlain Sun newspaper to spotlight the Chamberlain/Oacoma, SD community. It’s the first example I’ve witnessed of a small town South Dakota newspaper using Facebook!
Way to go Chamberlain Sun!
I’d like to highlight what I see the newspaper doing (in other words, their strategy) with their Facebook Page because I think they’ve got some good stuff happening. Here’s a bit of it:
- They highlight community events on their wall: Stuff like, “Parents night for Boy’s BB is tonight” and “the wrestler send-off for the state tournament is going to start at….” That’s important because some of these events may not get as much notice in print materials because they are somewhat spontaneous.
- They use the notes feature to highlight some of the stories they are working on for the paper: Actually, I haven’t read the paper version of the Chamberlain Sun, so I’m assuming that stories like “Gymnasts take 6th at State” also make the print edition. I think that’s a good bet, especially since the story also appears on the newspaper’s website.
- They do a bit of advertising: Nothing over the top, just stuff like “here’s our number if you want to place a classified advertisement.”
- They recognize local stories that appear in other online sites: One example here is that they linked to my post about the Original Kimball Popcorn Ball. This is easy to do, and I think it has a huge upside. After all, I’d be much more likely to buy an advertisement if the newspaper promoted my business when there was nothing in it for them. Nice.
- They become fans of local businesses: By becoming fans of other local businesses I can see who’s all on Facebook. This might be very valuable for tourists who are travelling to and through the region.
Very impressive. I could keep going, but readers should be able to learn from and hopefully be inspired by the newspaper’s use of Facebook.
I’m going to add the Chamberlain Sun’s use of Facebook to the list of examples we use on Monday night in our Facebook class. If you know of any other great examples of businesses in small, rural communities who do a great job of using Faceboook, we’d love to be able to share them as well.
Tags: Chamberlain SD, Facebook, South Dakota, web 2.0
Posted in Community Development, Community Engagement, Rural | Comments (
4 )
February 28th, 2010 at 10:01 am
Thanks for the highlights, Mike!
The Lennox Independent also uses Facebook to promote their newspaper. And, quite a few businesses in Chamberlain use Facebook, too; some more than others, of course.
I see the SUN’s Facebook page as one more way to engage & connect people in the community. It’s another spoke in the wheel.
Thanks again!
Jessica Giard
Editor, Chamberlain/Oacoma Sun
February 28th, 2010 at 11:42 am
http://www.facebook.com/LennoxIndependent
on twitter: lennoxSDnews
We have been using social media for quite awhile, and while it is hard to measure the ROI, it is always great to be part of the conversation in your community. My tip to those businesses just starting is time management. Make a post, respond to DMs, and then move on… it really doesn’t take a huge amount of time to be there! Good luck.
February 28th, 2010 at 1:09 pm
Jessica & Kelli,
Great to hear from both of you. You are doing a great service for your communities, and I’m sure your businesses are benefiting from it.
I think Kelli hit it on the head by saying social media doesn’t have to be a time gobblin. I’s add that the time management becomes easier if your goals are well defined.
March 1st, 2010 at 9:40 pm
I agree with Kelli. It doesn’t take much time to post something fresh regularly. Even easier is that our website feeds to our FB page.
Basically, though, you get out what you put in!
- Jessica