With the growing use of social media and its unique ability to bring people together, most businesses, including HOAs, are using various platforms to more effectively do business. As an HOA, your board should explore the use of social media platforms to foster communication, establish neighborly connections, and strengthen the sense of community. But, before your HOA starts creating accounts, remember social media is only effective when it’s used strategically.
The following list will help you build a social media strategy tailored to your community and its needs.
- Outline your policy. Taking time to define your social media policy and following it can protect you from the pitfalls of social media, and it increases your effectiveness. A proper policy should include audience, objectives, and moderation/standards.
- Define objectives. Once you have a policy, sit down with your board and property management company to talk about what your HOA would like to accomplish with social media. Defining objectives is crucial because it provides direction for all future content creation.
- Choose your platform. Not all social media platforms are created equal, and certain platforms work better for some businesses than others. For example, most HOAs find Facebook groups to be extremely effective at keeping everyone up-to-date on community news and activities. Choose your platform(s) based on your objectives, and don’t over commit yourself to too many platforms.
- Engage your audience. The only way you’ll find success with social media is if you gather an attentive audience. If social media is new to your community, you’ll need to spend time and energy engaging residents. This can be done by sharing photos from community events, to engaging residents for feedback on the types of events to be held next.
- Remember Confidentiality. Because social media makes sharing information so easy, always take the time to ask yourself if it is necessary or even appropriate to share something. If you wouldn’t share it at an annual meeting or in a newsletter, skip social media too.
- Most Social media platforms provide statistics showing audience engagement. Take advantage of these features and use them to identify what content resonates with your audience and what doesn’t.
- Know the law. Everything you do and say on social media is permanent…even if you delete it. You always need to consider things like copyright, plagiarism, emotional distress, or violating privacy rights of residents. Again, always think twice before hitting “share”, and if you’re hesitant, get the opinion of other board members.
Related: Millennials and New HOA Demographics
Remember, although social media seems easy, a few Facebook or Instagram updates won’t do much of anything for your community. True social media success begins with strategy, and then you have to follow through. Your association will start to notice a difference in ease of communication and improved sense of community. If you’re struggling to implement your social media strategy, give us at Spectrum a call. Let us help you achieve your objectives and avoid common social-media pitfalls!
Does having a community Facebook page eliminate the need for a newsletter because you are not reaching out to every homeowner
Hi Ron,
Having a community Facebook page is great for creating a sense of community, and being able to communicate things quickly and efficiently. It does not necessarily eliminate the need for a community newsletter though. Think of Facebook as a more informal approach, while a newsletter can stand as a more official, regularly sent document. All in all, it doesn’t hurt to have both! The more informed everyone in the community can be, the better!
We have a handful (two or three) who don’t like the HOA and its “control” over residents in the community. So often they make posts intended to “stir the pot” aimed at discontent. They thrive on “controversy”. A few times HOA directors tried to post explanations, only to be verbally assaulted. It’s hard to convey some business matters in a social media platform. About the only things the HOA feels safe to use the platform is to make announcements about events, solicit volunteers for committees and activities, or other non-controversial items. We encourage residents to attend monthly board meetings where they can voice concerns. But the malcontents say they don’t have the time and just want to complain on line. Is there any rays of hope here?
Nothing truly goes away once it’s posted on the internet. The most important thing to remember is that no matter how many times you press the “delete” button on your computer, nothing ever really goes away and may be able to be retrieved by some fairly sophisticated software and some fairly persistent lawyer. And then there are those pesky screen captures to deal with too!
Should the HOA board only have administrative rights on the Facebook page? We have several admins. And to get approval to be a member, non Board members made up questions to be accepted to the community page. They can also see the answers to them That are posed to new members. For example, are you a renter? Do you abide by the neighborhood rules? Is this a liability since they are non board members mixed with board members? And should questions be formed and viewed by only certainnon board members?