START A FACEBOOK PAGE FOR YOUR PROJECT

Facebook and other social media platforms such as Twitter and Instagram are a brilliant way spread the word, to create awareness and support about your project. You don’t necessarily need to use all three. Focus on Facebook to start with. It is the most popular. It will gain you the most awareness in the shortest space of time.

Create a Facebook page to represent your skatepark project immediately, one that people can like, not a closed group that people have to join (although a ‘closed Facebook group’ can be very useful to share information with your Project Group, we’ll discuss this in another section).  

Awareness for your project will increase much faster with the correct use of Social Media. It will help to give your campaign an identity. It can also form part of the consultation process, which is something which the Council will have to undertake before making any decision.

Make sure it is Facebook page that people can like (sometimes referred to as Facebook for business, or a Facebook fan page), not an open or closed group that people have to ask to join.

A ‘closed Facebook group’ can be very useful to share information with your Project Group, but we’ll discuss that in another section.

WHAT TO USE AS THE TITLE OF YOUR FACEBOOK PAGE

It is easier to create a Facebook page by using your laptop rather than your phone.

Title your Facebook page something like ‘Your Town Skatepark Project’. By naming it like this, your group title clearly states your main aim to anyone visiting the page.

Do not make the title something obscure that does not explain what it is you are trying to achieve. Importantly, you want your URL (web address) to also be something that is concise and not too long. You want it to be something that is easy for people to remember when you tell them about your project.

For example ‘YourTownSkatepark’will create a URL of:

www.facebook.com/yourtownskatepark

We suggest that you do not add the word 'project' to the URL', because your page will continue to be the page for your skatepark once it is built.

You can amend your page title a number of times, but you can only amend your page’s web address once, so you must ensure you get it right, and with it communicate the right message.

WHAT TO WRITE IN THE 'ABOUT' SECTION

In the ‘about’ section, write a few clear, well written words about what it is you are trying to achieve. Make it clear that the purpose of the page is to gather support and get people involved in trying to get a new skatepark for your community. Otherwise some people may misunderstand what it is that you are trying to communicate and think that the skatepark is something that already exists, or that is about to be built in the very near future.

ADD A RELEVANT COVER & PROFILE IMAGE

Use google image search to find a relevant high resolution skateboard or skatepark photo and upload it as your Facebook cover image.  Find suitable cover image, right click on it to save it to your computer, then upload it. Do the same with a profile image. We don't suggest that you use a low or medium resolution image, as this could pixellate when viewed on a laptop or desktop computer. This just doesn’t look very good, or very professional.

ADD INFORMATION ABOUT YOUR PROJECT

Build your page, add important info to your Page so people can learn about you and what you do. Connect with people, Invite friends, email contacts and residents of your town to like your page.

ADD RELEVANT CONTENT

Find images of skateparks and upload them you get people’s imagination going with regards to  Ask for people’s input with ideas and suggestions. Post progress updates, share the link to your petition, potential designs, photos of skateparks, details of meetings, fundraisers etc.  

People are not going to ‘like’ a page that does not have regular, well written content on it. If someone visits your page, and sees that the last post was months ago, they might assume that nothing is happening with your project and therefore not like your page, or worse still, ‘unlike’ it.

ENSURE YOUR CONTENT IS WELL WRITTEN

Your content needs to be well written. Text speak and deliberate mis-spellings, a way of speaking that your friends might understand, is not going to go down very well with someone local who might be considering making a donation towards your new skatepark.

Keep your content relevant and on topic. You’re trying to get a skatepark built. People that support your project will not always be the people that will use the finished park, they may be parents or business owners for example. As much as you enjoy skating, they are not going to want to see repeated wobbly phone video clips of skaters trying out their kick-flip skills.

Find images of skateparks and upload them you get people’s imagination going.  Ask for people’s input with ideas and suggestions.  Post progress updates, potential designs, photos of skateparks, details of meetings, fundraisers etc.

ENCOURAGE PEOPLE TO GET INVOLVED WITH YOUR PROJECT

Engage with your audience, post quality content that will encourage people to like, comment, or share with their friends.

Remember, you want to encourage people to get involved, to join you in your quest to get a new skatepark and to join your project group. Regularly post this, saying that anyone who supports the idea is welcome to come to a Project Group meeting.

POST UPDATES AT THE RIGHT TIME OF DAY & DO NOT POST TOO OFTEN

Do not post too many updates. If you post more than two updates a day, people might get fed up with seeing your updates in their feed and decide to no longer follow you or unlike your page.

In the week, always post after 4pm and before 10pm. Otherwise people might not see your posts because they’re at school or at work, or because your post is too far down their feed to be seen by the time they go online.

Remember, Facebook is a marvellous communication tool for spreading the word and creating awareness, but Facebook likes alone will not get you a new skatepark.

ARTICLES RELATED TO THIS SECTION

Start a Facebook page

Start a Petition for your Skatepark

Form a Project Group

Have a Skatepark Group meeting

Write a Mission Statement