dz use of Facebook and Twitter

[IanHarrop 42]

Hi all,

Our DZ uses Facebook pretty well. It lets us get a message out to people pretty quickly with very little effort. I am one of the few admins and its basically effortless. We use it to spread info relating to events, general good to know stuff like service bulletins and of course all the standard BS that gets posted on Facebook.

BUT I am not much of a Twitter user. I have a Twitter account but I have not bothered to tweet anything and I follow very few things, BlueSkies mag and USPA are some of the few. My experience with it is limited and the number of things I've seen tweeted by the few things I follow is also few.

Are dropzones using Twitter to communicate with their customer base?
Are there benefits using Twitter in addition to Facebook, if so what are they?
Should the DZ set up a Twitter account?

Thanks

"Where troubles melt like lemon drops, away above the chimney tops, that's where you'll find me" Dorothy

[Divalent 137]

Just my person opinion of what twitter could/should be used for, and what not to use it for:

Don't use it for:
- general advertising of basic information. I know where you are and your usual operation hours, so I don't need to be reminded/told that. And I already know how much fun it is, so no need to remind me of that.

Use it for information that I would be highly likely to want to know, but probably won't unless you tweet me. Things like:
- "although weather/winds might look iffy where you are, it's fine here and we are flying loads with no restrictions."
- "weather/winds sucks out here (or plane has mechanical issues): we've shut down for the rest of the day (or need C license or above to jump)"
- "we will be open and flying on [a specific weekday normally closed]."
- Low cloud ceiling, but we are running hop-n-pop loads.

It would be acceptable to send out a one time (or once a week at most) reminder of an up coming special event. (Canopy course, ratings course, boogie, informal competition, etc)

[SethInMI 174]

+1

The ONLY reason I am on Twitter is to get tweets from my single Cessna DZ that let me know if the plane is flying jumpers or not. IMHO twitter should be for passing word to experienced fun jumpers about DZ conditions and like Divalent said, occasional updates about upcoming events.

It's flare not flair, brakes not breaks, bridle not bridal, "could NOT care less" not "could care less".

[chaospilot 6]

Twitter also adds SEO benefit for your dz's website, based on the amount of internet traffic Twitter generates. This is beneficial for your Social Media presence and Website's Organic SEO to rank higher in search results. There are tools that will help you grow your Followers based on Location, interest, etc., and that will post your Social Media comments across your Social Media Accounts (Facebook, Twitter, etc.).

Sounds like you are using Facebook properly, I also recommend a Private Group to allow upjumpers to connect about dropzone events, rideshare, group organizing, and general dz going-ons.

Hope this helps, if you want more insight on the benefits of Twitter and other Internet Marketing for the DZ, drop me a PM.

Bryan Cavage, D-19100
AFF I, Tandem I, Vidiot
http://www.dropzonesolutions.com
-Social Media Consultant and Skydiving Gear Guru

[tkhayes 348]

we just started tweeting the weather and jumping or not on Twitter - no fdbk yet as to whether it is a good idea or not.

[Maxx 1]

Go and look for the Skydive Dubai Social media channels.. (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Vine, etc..)

They are doing a lot of things right!

[SkymonkeyONE 4]

Quote

we just started tweeting the weather and jumping or not on Twitter - no fdbk yet as to whether it is a good idea or not.

Your office staff spends quite a lot of time on Facebook, T.K. Might as well have them managing a DZ page while they are at it. Seriously.

I miss you guys!

Chuck

[tkhayes 348]

they do for the most part - we get a lot of hits on Facebook, a ton of likes and views each week - even more than the website

[SkymonkeyONE 4]

Quote

they do for the most part - we get a lot of hits on Facebook, a ton of likes and views each week - even more than the website

That's what I would suspect.

[skyjumpenfool 2]

With 5 DZ's around the Mlps. Metro area, I tend to use facebook to see where everyone is jumping on any given day. Webpages, I use for DZ specific information.

Birdshit & Fools Productions

"Son, only two things fall from the sky."

[ntrprnr 0]

Anyone's welcome to email me about this - I do this stuff for al iiving. (and own the Twitter handle @skydiver.)

Peter Shankman
@petershankman

_______________
"Why'd you track away at 7,000 feet?"
"Even in freefall, I have commitment issues."