Introduction
Earth and Sustainability Science Research Centre (ESSRC) is a group that collaborates with industries, government institutions, and the community at large to research matters concerning the Earth’s environment and Climate change. Research groups constitute a significant and underrepresented segment in social media, while the most popular social media profiles in sciences are maintained by experienced communicators (Pavlov et al., 2018). Therefore, the research communities have to elaborate professional marketing strategies in order to gather public attention. The research center will benefit from Facebook due to the habit human being have for social networks, in particular the representatives of the young generation. Youngsters, especially ages twelve–twenty-nine, are fully immersed in the quickly changing social media world and have come to anticipate communication via these platforms (Bohon et al., 2013). The target age is young adults aged eighteen to thirty since these people have more knowledge of social media and are exposed digitally.
Main body
The goal is to increase the visibility of the research center to the public so that the interested persons can engage with the team. This is a crucial aim since it will make the center known to several people. In this case, the center will reach people who are interested in taking part in the research. Therefore, the objective will be to elaborate a Facebook account and get at least 300 followers who are passionate about the research topics. However, the number can be increased when more passionate people are noticed. When the Facebook account is created now, the next step is hiring professional people good in social media management. Adding hashtags and posting relevant articles can be a good approach to achieving the objective. This is due to the fact that people can easily notice what the center does and relate to it. Connecting to companies and organizations that do similar work is also a good idea. For example, National Geography can be combined or even followed. The scientific research center builds collaboration between external platforms and allows them to post and engage us by either tagging or commenting.
The other aspect of the aim is the process of encouraging young people, especially students, to be involved in current and future research. This can be possible by enabling them with a bonus on every research they do. Personal Facebook accounts can be created for each staff to give them space to do their research. Young people should also be encouraged to obtain first-hand information on the research they do. Getting information from the first person increases the credibility of the work. The strategy that can be used to achieve the goal is creating a group with similar research topics. The staff members who have accounts can link them with external platforms like YouTube, LinkedIn, and other networks. The Facebook account can also be created with two contact details; the email address and the phone number. In addition, the staff can set new targets every week. For example, they can have a weekly plan to reach ten people each. If the registered people were one hundred, they get ten each, which is one thousand people every week. The staff can also choose to advertise on different platforms where they feel there are potential people.
The plan will increase public engagement with the research center since science and related works are carried out in the field of Information and Communication Technologies and active use of the Internet. Currently, starting with students and finishing with professors, scientific works and reports are drawn up with the direct use of auxiliary platforms and software. The digital transformation of the research society stimulates the need to create communication channels that can be integrated into Internet services. The plan will increase the involvement of ordinary people as the scientific association will become more transparent and accessible in the field of distance technologies. It should be considered with the aim of popularizing knowledge and improving communication skills. The implementation of the strategy can be carried out without the use of additional hiring and recruiting. The competent separation of roles and responsibilities and adequate delegation allow people to break large projects into small steps and components. As for this case, work with the social network Facebook, and the creation of accounts can be delegated to a specialist who is responsible for the logistics and technological base of the scientific center.
Summary
To summarize, Facebook is one of the most famous social media globally after Instagram and Twitter. Most companies have grown their client base through Facebook advertisements. To get a bigger audience on Facebook, it is good to post relevant articles that most people can resonate with. For example, ESSRC needs to post things related to research, specifically environmental. A good post engagement is what increases the number of followers on any social media page. To get good attention, you have to resonate with what people want to see. Getting like-minded people together is where the growth starts. The ultimate goal for ESSRC is to involve many people in educating, training, and advocating sustainable development and solutions for adverse environmental changes through social media. Therefore, this calls for a platform where ESSRC can engage communities locally and globally, which is Facebook. Facebook is the fastest-growing social media platform that involves billions of people across the world. Therefore, this makes it to be the most preferred for spreading news or information.
References
Bohon, W., Robinson, S., Arrowsmith, R., & Semken, S. (2013). Building an Effective Social Media Strategy for Science Programs. Eos Transactions American Geophysical Union, 94(27), 237-244. Web.
Pavlov, A. K., Meyer, A., Rosel, A., Cohen, L., King, J., Itkin, P., Negrel, J., Gerland, S., Hudson, S. R., Dodd, P. A., de Steur, L., Mathisen, S., Cobbing, N., & Granskog M. A. (2018). Does Your Lab Use Social Media?: Sharing Three Years of Experience in Science Communication. Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, 99(6), 1135-1146. Web.