Digital toolkit:

tips for Erasmus+ projects

Smart social media

2 Smart social media

Introduction
Erasmus+ projects provide life-changing opportunities for participants across the UK and
sharing the stories and experiences of the organisations and people involved is a great
way to raise awareness of Erasmus+ and encourage others to get involved.

We’ve put together some expert advice, hints and tips on how organisations can
showcase the inspirational achievements of participants using the latest new media
platforms and, most importantly, how they can use their own voices to tell their
life-changing stories.

The expert’s view: digital storytelling

It has never been easier to self-publish onto the Internet. Thanks to content communities
(such as YouTube) anybody can become a creator, producing media and sharing it with
their own personal audience. Digital storytelling is the umbrella term that we can use to
describe this process of using digital tools to tell stories.

Using video, audio, writing, blogging and social media there are unlimited ways in which
we can tell our own story, or represent the stories of the participants in our projects.

By capturing the planning, key moments, behind-the-scenes activities, etc. of our projects
we are able to build up an ongoing picture of what is happening whilst it is happening,
rather than waiting to produce a final report or video at the end of the project.

This is known as process media and could include blog posts and reflections, tweeting
at events, taking photos, behind-the-scenes video interviews with participants and
facilitators and much more.

When we produce process media, we should be operating under the principle that it
is good to go as is, even if it is not quite perfect. You should be creating content that is
ready to go online. Therefore, it is worth thinking about what you do in terms of making
it look and sound good. Ensure that you have the best quality sound, that the images
are clear and that all relevant details (such as account information and related links or
hashtags) are included.
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Importantly, process media tells the ongoing story of your project in context and,
when the project is completed, provides a rich record of your participants’ journeys.

Using an overall hashtag for your project will help you to track and search for content
easily while social media curation tools such as Twitter Moments allow you to back up and
archive the material, which can be used at a later date to compile reports and evaluations,
presentations, case studies, etc.

By Jennifer Jones, digital media expert

erasmusplus.org.uk
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Why use social media?

Promotion and dissemination is an important theme and part of the Erasmus+ project
experience. It is all about sharing your project outputs to raise awareness among key
stakeholders and target audiences, as well as providing a platform to leave a lasting
legacy and create future opportunities, making an impact in the field of education and
training at local, national and EU level.

With 63% of people across the UK actively using social media, it is a great low-cost
way to share your Erasmus+ stories and experiences. Various social media, like
Twitter, Facebook and Instagram offer you a smart way to get your project news out
to a wide range of audiences. You can plan your activities to suit your project and
the people you want to reach using a wide range of content including photos, videos,
statistics and infographics.

Creating and posting content, not to mention responding to enquiries and engaging
your audiences in conversations online, takes time and skill. Being focused and
working smartly are the best ways to use social media successfully.

Be focused
The temptation with social media can be to be on all platforms at once so you don’t
miss out. That can be a lot of work, however, and it might be that your key audiences
can be better reached by focusing in one or two places. The platforms most commonly
used by Erasmus+ projects are Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Which ones you
choose depends on who you want to reach and why.
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Be smart
There are many ways to reduce the time you spend creating and posting content on
social media simply by being smart and making use of the many online tools available
to help.

Scheduling tools
You can make life easier by using free online tools to manage your social media
accounts. Many of them allow you to manage all your accounts in one place and to
schedule posts in advance and send them out at a time of your choosing. Services
such as Hootsuite and Buffer work across multiple platforms – search online for free
social media management tools to see the full range of what is available.

Reusing content
Your content doesn’t always have to be new. Reposting the same information regularly
over a period of time (providing you don’t do it too often) can be a good way of making
sure your news reaches your audience.

Involve others
Don’t be afraid to get other people involved. Perhaps one of your partner organisations
is really good at using Facebook and would be happy to run a page for you? There may
be people in your organisation who blog or use Twitter in a personal capacity and can
show you the ropes? Or why not ask another Erasmus+ project for some ideas? UK
National Agency events such as Learning Networks, the annual conference or project
start up seminars can be a great way of meeting people facing the same problems,
some of whom will have the right solution!

Online help
You can find all sorts of information and tutorials online to help you improve your social
media skills. We particularly like the courses below though others are available:
Hootsuite: https://education.hootsuite.com/collections/courses

Google Digital Garage: https://learndigital.withgoogle.com/digitalgarage/topic-library

erasmusplus.org.uk
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Finding your audience

In order to maximise your reach and impact on social media, you should first consider
who your target audience (or audiences) are.

Building up as detailed a picture as possible of their social demographics, jobs,

interests, hobbies, etc. will enable you to more effectively create content which is likely
to appeal to them.

Also remember that you may want to connect with different types of audiences on the
same platform. You might want to connect with key stakeholders in your sector but also
young people who might be interested in participating in your projects. Think about the
type of content that appeals to each audience – you don’t need to have a ‘one size fits
all’ approach. Just a simple paper exercise where you write down your audiences and
then list the sorts of things that you think will appeal to each can help, e.g. national
stakeholders may like statistics, testimonials and reflections on impact.

It is important to get an idea of each target audience’s online habits, where and when
they are online and what social media channels they are using themselves, who are
they following, whose content do they like and share with their followers?

When sharing content on your project or organisation accounts, make sure that it is
relevant to those who chose to follow you. Choosing the right platform and tailoring
content helps to engage the different audiences and makes the posts or updates feel
relevant to them.

As with all promotion and dissemination, it’s important to ask yourself, what is my end
goal? Perhaps you are looking to reach out to young people to take part in upcoming
projects? Or maybe you are looking to target local employers?

Finding and following similar users and accounts is a great way to start building your
online community and reach. Many may follow you back and you can begin engaging
with and sharing each other’s posts, thereby expanding your potential audience.

It’s important to make sure you are reaching the right people so that all your hard work
in creating interesting and relevant content isn’t wasted.
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Choosing the right

social media platforms
In order to choose the right platform to use, you should first consider who your target
audience (or audiences) are and how they access the internet. Here are the major
channels which we think would be most useful and effective for Erasmus+ projects
and participants:

Facebook
More than 75% of users spend at least 20 minutes per day on Facebook and it can
be a powerful way to reach out to individuals via their own personal accounts, often
based on a genuine personal connection. Facebook is most likely to display engaging
photos and videos from their friends and family on users’ feeds. Therefore, think about
how you can reach out through video and imagery when you post. Facebook can be a
great way to reach people who are already familiar with your project and communicate
news and updates such as tips and advice for participants, as opposed to Twitter,
which can help broaden your organisation’s reach.

Facebook has typically been the place where younger people spend most time online.
However, its demographics are changing, with more older users on the channel. This
makes Facebook a good platform to reach a wide audience.

Content on Facebook has a longer ‘life’, meaning it will appear in people’s Newsfeeds
longer than posts on other platforms such as Twitter. As a result, you don’t need to post
as frequently to share your information.

Twitter
Twitter is a hub for networking and promotion which gives users the opportunity to
share their moments, quotes, pictures and videos. It is a great tool for Erasmus+
beneficiaries and participants to share information on their activities and achievements.

This is a very fast-moving, interactive platform and with the right content you can get
your stories and news out to a wide audience. It is also arguably the most saturated
social channel, though, so you will need to work hard to make your Tweets stand out.

erasmusplus.org.uk
8 Smart social media

Using hashtags is a great way to get your content out to a wider audience on
Twitter. Useful Erasmus+ related examples in common use include #ErasmusPlus,
#erasmuslife, #ErasmusPlusEffect and #epluspeople. General and trending topics
related to your projects and activities may also have hashtags, so keep an eye out
for them and use them to join the conversation. Useful for this are national, European
and international ‘days’ or ‘weeks’ like #NationalApprenticeshipWeek. Why not start a
calendar of useful days and topics and plan your content around this in advance?

Twitter works best when you check it regularly. You don’t have to be glued to your
phone, just a few minutes each day to check your messages and respond to any
questions or enquiries can help.

Instagram
Instagram is a platform for sharing photos and videos accompanied by a brief
description or caption. Users can apply various digital filters to their images, and add
locations through geotags. You can also add hashtags in the same way as on Twitter
to link your photos to other content on Instagram featuring the same subject or overall
topic, for instance #erasmusplus, #ErasmusPlusEffect, #erasmuslife. Users can
connect their Instagram account to other social media profiles too, enabling them to
share photos to those profiles as well.

LinkedIn
If you are looking to reach professionals, particularly adults above the age of 30,
LinkedIn is particularly effective. In contrast to other digital channels, the platform also
has more male users than female.

Snapchat
A younger, rapidly growing channel for young people. More and more users are
joining Snapchat and enjoying the interactive filters and other ways to engage using the
platform. Although Snapchat doesn’t share full gender demographics, it’s suggested
that at least 70% of active users are young women, so it’s worth considering if your
target group is young females.
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Creating engaging content

Think about how you want to use your social media channels. Are you going to
deliver project news and information, participant stories, opinions? What do you think
your audience will want? Your content doesn’t have to be complicated – our advice is
to keep it simple, authentic and positive.

Photo and video: On all social media channels statistics show that posts including
photos and graphics perform much better than those which don’t, with those featuring
video content proving even more popular. Indeed, some channels, such as Instagram
and Pinterest, are designed specifically for image-led content. Creating posts with
engaging visual content is, therefore, a much more effective way of reaching and
engaging with your audience. This could include photos or videos of Erasmus+ project
participants during their activities or infographics with hard-hitting project statistics or
inspiring quotes from your participants.

Quality over quantity: Content on Facebook has a longer ‘life’, meaning it will appear
in people’s Newsfeeds longer than posts on other platforms, such as Twitter. As a
result, you don’t need to post as frequently to share your information, aim for maximum
three posts a day.

Go Live: A new phenomenon in the social media world is live content. Tools such as
Facebook Live allow you to post live videos that automatically notify everyone who
has liked your page that you are currently broadcasting. You can use live streaming for
behind the scenes information, at events, for a Q&A session – the options are endless.
Live streaming lends itself to audience involvement and helps to develop a ‘personality’
for your organisation.

Engage with your audience: Creating engaging content is important in building

your social following, but you also need to think about how to maintain this following.
Remember that social media is a two-way conversation. By liking, sharing, commenting
and replying to posts and followers you can build a relationship with your audience.
Joining in conversations can help you reach new audiences. Equally you can start
a conversation. Asking a question of your audience can be a great way to get them
engaged with your content.

erasmusplus.org.uk
10 Smart social media

Erasmus+ participant stories are always popular and can deliver real impact on social
media. Why not use participant photos, quotes and videos to bring your project to life
and enable those who benefit from your project to tell their own story? Always make
sure you get their permission before using any images or quotes (or their guardian’s
permission if they are under 18). We recommend following as many Erasmus+
projects as you can on the various platforms – they will give you great ideas on how
to disseminate your information, what sort of content you can produce, and how to
engage with your audience. You can also ask questions, share your project news and
join the active community of #erasmusplusUK projects.

For Erasmus+ projects it can be helpful to link in with European Commission

campaigns and initiatives to reach a more European audience. Follow the
Commission’s Erasmus+ Twitter account at @EUErasmusPlus and join in with their
conversations to increase your reach. Don’t forget to look out for other European level
organisations and associations who would be interested in your area of work in order to
help your dissemination at European level.

And finally: Remember that what goes on social media is there for the world to see
and is a reflection of you and/or your organisation. Always check content before
publishing for accuracy, tone of voice, etc. And always think before you post – it could
save potential problems later!

There are lots of free resources on the internet to help you get more out of social
media. See the ‘Useful links’ section.
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Top tips
Use a hashtag: Creating a hashtag which participants can easily engage with
to share updates and testimonies themselves, along with photos and videos to tell
their story, is an effective way to increase reach and engagement.

Social media should be social to be effective: Remember to tag relevant

organisations or individuals to broaden the reach of your posts (for example,
participants shown in a photograph or organisations involved in the project) and
engage with your followers.

Plan your posts in advance: There are many free tools to help you schedule your
social media when you have time to do so. Hootsuite is considered one of the most
comprehensive tools across channels. Facebook and Twitter also have their own
scheduling services in the form of ‘scheduled posts’ for Facebook and Tweetdeck
for Twitter.

Promotion, promotion, promotion: By adding links to your social media posts you
can quickly increase visits to your blog posts and websites. This also allows you to
draw attention to specific project priorities, whether that is an open call for participants
or encouraging your audience to share project results.

Measuring success
Analysing your social media statistics is the best way to check whether you’re getting
it right. You can look at simple data such as the number of people that follow your
account but it’s also worth looking at how well you’re engaging people. Are people
interacting with the content you’re producing i.e. liking it, sharing it or responding to
it in another way? Each platform has its own set of analytics which you can use. It’s
worth looking at these every so often to review your activity. Analytics will help you to
assess the type of content that is most effective and you should aim to replicate this
as much as possible. Many Erasmus+ projects use social media as a way of linking
people through to their websites to access further information. Photos, short videos and
participant testimonials can work really well for this purpose.

erasmusplus.org.uk
12 Smart social media

Blogging
A blog can help you record your project activities, best practices and participant
experiences and is an effective way to allow colleagues, friends, partner organisations
and stakeholders to follow your Erasmus+ journey.

Perhaps more importantly, a blog can also provide you with a record of your activities –
a bit like a diary – and allow you to refer back and reflect on what you have achieved.

By recording highlights, lessons learnt and your thoughts and feelings, as you go
along, you will also be developing a catalogue of material that will help you when
preparing your final report – an important requirement for most activities under the
Erasmus+ programme. Not only do blogs enable you to produce a written record, you
can also upload photos and clips to share with your network.

If you have an existing website then you can simply add a blog page.

Alternatively there are a number of blogging platforms that you can sign up to to create
your very own blog space. Blogger is a free weblog publishing tool from Google
for sharing text, photos and video with some great templates to get you started.
Wordpress is another free service that allows you to create your own personal blog
or business site. Both platforms also integrate with Twitter, Facebook and other social
media channels, allowing you to notify your followers each time you post.

An interesting alternative to more traditional blog spaces is Tumblr, a ‘micro blogging

service’. Essentially, it offers a hybrid between rapid Twitter-style updates and a
conventional blog. Posts tend to be shorter, a good option if blog contributors are likely
to be pushed for time.

Some ideas for blogging content for your project are:

• past participant stories – where are they now?
• current participant stories – what are they up to?
• stakeholder updates – what’s important right now for your sector?
• newcomer information – what can they do with your organisation?
• useful resources for your readers.
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The options are endless, but in general, people react well to two types of
information: fact and emotion. It is important to consider which of these you would
like to focus on.

Top tips
Timing: The most popular blogs are timely and relevant so if you have completed
a mobility project, write about it soon afterwards not months later. Alternatively, try
to write about topics in the news that are relevant to your project for instance on
International Women’s Day or European Day of Languages.

Consistency: If you have a website, brand guidelines or a style guide, consider

extending this to your blog as well to keep your overall style and tone of voice
consistent.

Invite guests: Create a blogging template which allows you to invite a range of people
to contribute, such as participants, staff or stakeholders.

Include images: As with other social media visual content on the page will help to
engage your audience and hold their attention for longer.

Keep it short and sweet: Information overload is common on the web so by writing
blog posts of around 500 words and signposting with subtitles and bold key words, you
can keep your reader engaged.

Let us help: If you are an organisation or individual who wants to share your project
update but don’t have the capacity to create a blog account, we welcome guest
bloggers to submit blog posts. Email us at [email protected] for more
information. You can also check out the Erasmus+ UK blog page to find examples as
well as news and advice, information about other projects and top tips.

erasmusplus.org.uk
14 Smart social media

Making the UK National Agency

work for you!
By working with us at the UK National Agency and interacting with us on social media,
we can help you to share your successes. We are delighted to share and disseminate
your project content and to feature you in our newsletter, blog and other resources.

To help with your planning and delivery, we have a webpage on the topic of promotion
and dissemination. It contains tools and resources to assist you in promoting your
project through its lifecycle and for different promotional activities, such as:
• Guides on how to apply the Erasmus+ branding to your project materials for your
events and publications
• Information on how to share your project results at final report stage on the
Erasmus+ Project Results Platform, which is compulsory for all Strategic
Partnership projects

Another way the National Agency can help is to support you to work with the media to
promote your project.

If you’re interested in working with the media you can download our press pack, which
includes press release templates; a factsheet with useful information about how to
contact the media – from timing to who to approach; and lots more.
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Useful links
General:
erasmusplus.org.uk/promotion-and-dissemination
https://mediatrust.org/communications-support/resources
https://learndigital.withgoogle.com/digitalgarage/topic-library

Facebook:
https://en-gb.facebook.com/help

Twitter:
https://support.Twitter.com
http://resources.mediatrust.org/top-tips-for-Twitter

Scheduling posts:
hootsuite.com
https://education.hootsuite.com/collections/courses
https://blog.hootsuite.com/twitter-analytics-guide
https://tweetdeck.twitter.com

Create high quality visuals and graphics for free:

canva.com
piktochart.com

Blogging:
blogger.com
wordpress.com
tumblr.com
hubspot.com/blog-topic-generator
https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/topic/blogging
erasmusplus.org.uk/blog

Handbook of Digital Storytelling – Jennifer Jones

https://issuu.com/dgmcgillivray/docs/digital_storytelling_handbook

Don’t forget to follow our social media channels so that we can

see what you’re up to and help you disseminate your project:
@ErasmusPlusUK
facebook.com/ukerasmusplus
youtube.com/user/erasmusplusuk

erasmusplus.org.uk
Find us online
erasmusplus.org.uk

@erasmusplusuk

ukerasmusplus

Erasmus+ is the European Union programme for education, training, youth and sport.
The Erasmus+ UK National Agency is a partnership between the British Council and Ecorys UK.

April 2018