Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest are valuable tools for magazines which have discovered the value of interacting with subscribers. But how do you use these platforms effectively? And how do you keep them from draining valuable staff time? The Reynolds Journalism Institute (RJI) has offered some tips developed by Brad Best, RJI’s advertising editor, and a team of Missouri School of Journalism students after weeks of analysis of a major Midwest metro daily newspaper. Here are five tips regarding Facebook.

1. Ask questions as a way of beginning discussion about events or issues. Make sure to link back to an article about the event, in order to drive traffic to your Web site.

2. Use visuals to add interest to the layout of your Facebook page.

3. Integrate new technology and media into your page in order to keep it lively and interesting. Consider posting videos of events, authors, or themes related to an article you want to feature.

4. Find a balance between daily posts and conversations. Too many posts will clog users’ feeds, and readers will begin to unsubscribe.

5. Prompt the visitor to read the Web site article related to the discussion question on Facebook.

Download the full article at http://rjionline.org/news/how-use-email-tool-your-news-site