What does this mean for your business page? To get your stories seen, you will either need to PAY for advertising OR create a QUALITY-MIX OF FABULOUS CONTENT that your readers seek out, view, and interact with regularly. 

Regular engagement is key.

FACEBOOK PAGES BECOME MORE COMPLEX in certain business sectors. 

For entities falling under the guidance of OHIO'S SUNSHINE AND OPEN RECORDS LAWS: page administrators, appointed and elected officials, and employees must take care to establish whether specific content meets the definition of a record that must be managed, kept in accordance to records retention schedules, and produced in compliance with open records laws. This MAY include personal messages, deleted and edited posts, as well as comments and responses, on a business or personal page.

In 2013, State Auditor Dave Yost stated that a check of 20 Ohio counties and cities for compliance with Sunshine laws found weaknesses in the public-records policies and procedures in eight instances, or 40 percent. Part of the problem is the increasing complexity of the law, which is only further complicated by changes in technology.

Be sure to have well-communicated policies and procedures in place, as well as consult with your entity's appropriate legal counsel for guidance.

For more information:

Ohio Electronic Records Committee Guidelines: <http://ohsweb.ohiohistory.org/ohioerc/images/c/c6/OhioERC-Guideline-Social-Media.pdf>

Ohio Sunshine Laws, An Open Government Resource Manual: <http://www.ohioattorneygeneral.gov/OhioAttorneyGeneral/files/31/316d7da7-cbb3-47ac-8dba-2bb9d5bb7ab6.pdf>

WHAT WORKS -- SOCIAL MEDIA DOESN'T EXIST IN A VACUUM. Make traditional media and social media work together.

LOCALLY PRODUCED by Kalbach, Tribute Equine Nutrition blends traditional media, corporate sponsorships, and a rich online presence to market their product.

Our client, Ty Hornick Quarter Horses of Jamestown OH, is featured in this ad on the door of the Celeste Center at the 2014 All American Quarter Horse Congress. This event attracts more than 650,000 people to the Columbus area, bringing more than $180 million to the central Ohio economy.

Ty and Karen leverage their Facebook page to add value to traditional product sponsorship agreements and to promote clients and horses in their program.

Something to talk about!

#teamhornick #justride
 

WHAT WORKS -- Here's an example of a great strategy being used by Marion County Children Services. They are blending their online presence with their real-life presence by promoting their mascot, Ted D. Bear, on Facebook. By encouraging pictures and photo tagging, their content gets pushed out further and further to the people who are tagged as well as to their friends and friends of friends (depending on privacy settings).

This was just one of the strategies we covered in a two hour training and consultation I did with their staff and The Boys & Girls Club of Marion County to help them maximize the use of their Facebook page as a tool to connect with their stakeholders.

Note: You must be sure to "allow photo tagging by others" in your BUSINESS page settings for this to work.