CIOB social media - how to get started with us
Hundreds of thousands of people connect with us in social media. This blog is a quick fire introduction into CIOB social media and how you can get involved.
Remember Myspace? What do you mean that was before your time? Well back in 2008 Myspace was the world’s largest social media network and at its height it had over 70 million unique visitors a month. Its focus was music, and well the CIOB wasn’t ready to become a band so we didn’t pursue it. Tragically.
But around the same time the then lesser-known Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn platforms were much more relevant for us and so we started up our first accounts. A couple of years ago we also set up an Instagram account too.
This blog sets out how you can connect with us in social media. Giving you a shortcut and an overview that you can use to decide on how and where you want to engage with us.
Join us in social media
Add your voice to our conversation.
LinkedIn is the platform we see the highest volume of engagement, and where we have our largest social audiences. If you are a CIOB member or want to connect with our members then we recommend joining us in this channel.
Members tell us LinkedIn is where they expect to find us and other members. That is perhaps unsurprising considering LinkedIn is the number one social media platform for professional networks. We have several different accounts for you to connect with us. Our main company page is our most popular account, you can find it by clicking here, this is where we post all our latest updates.
We also have several CIOB hub groups on LinkedIn which is a fantastic way for you to connect with members and other professionals in your locality. These local groups post out events, CPD, local news but perhaps more importantly than that they are where you can post your news, share your expertise, ask questions and grow your network. This is where the CIOB community really shines. If you don't have a particular affinity to a local area then you can also join the overarching CIOB main group.
Our top tips
- Promote your status. If you are a Chartered Member or Fellow then help us promote professionalism by adding MCIOB or FCIOB onto your LinkedIn profile.
- Hear it first. Find out what we are doing near you by joining a CIOB Local Hub LinkedIn group. These groups are a great platform for you to build your network and to help inspire other members. You'll also hear about our local events, learning opportunities and so much more.
- Get involved. Make the most of our social networks by posting news you think other members would be interested in. You can raise your own profile, share knowledge, ask a question, post a job, give feedback. The sky is the limit.
- Connect with us. Use the hashtag #CIOB or tag us into your posts if you want us to notice what you have to say. You can also comment on the things we post. We’d love to see more members posting.
CIOB on LinkedIn
Here are our official accounts, come and join us and be part of the conversation.
If you are on Twitter you can find us by clicking @theCIOB. We use Twitter to broadcast news quickly and in short bite-sized chunks. Many of our followers on Twitter are organisations which includes the top construction brands, to government departments, educational organisations and everything in between.
In our experience Twitter is not the best platform for having a more meaningful dialogue because of its reduced character count (the amount of words you can use), and depending on how many accounts you are following posts stay in your feed for only short bursts of time.
Our top tips
- Great for big events and awards. On top of our usual updates we use Twitter to support a fast turnover of news from things like our top events and awards. As an example if you want to find out who has just won Global Student Challenge, or picked up a medal at CIOB Awards, or even the latest news from a big event - Twitter is where you can catch it first. Equally if you are at a CIOB event, or an award then we love seeing people post out their reactions. Just use #CIOB and we will spot it.
- Be seen by us. By tagging us into your post (using @theCIOB) or by using the hashtag #CIOB you can put your messages onto our radar, some of those we may share with our own audiences.
CIOB on Twitter
Connect with us here for a faster pace of news.
Not every social media platform is the same, the audiences are actually quite different. You might think only members follow us across all these channels but that is not true. What we know is that organisations make up our largest following in Twitter, in LinkedIn that is more than likely where you will find CIOB members and in Instagram our audience is largely the public. The content we post in Instagram is highly visual, either photography or film. So if you are interested in seeing the latest from our photography competition or filmed content check us out on Instagram.
Our top tips
- Film your story. When people take the time to make film content we take notice. If you are a CIOB member and have an ambition to tell your story or news in film then tag us in your post. We are particularly interested in sharing what your career means to you, why others should join this sector, and what you think of us too.
- Share your photos. We run one of the biggest photography competitions in the world to celebrate the built environment, its called the Art of Building. If you have an amazing photo of a building, a project or someone working in the industry share it with us. We would love to see how you see the built world.
- Tag us. By tagging us into your post (using @charteredinstituteofbuilding) or by using the hashtag #CIOB we will see the messages you are posting.
CIOB on Instagram
Get a very visual experience from us on Instagram.
Most of us who have a Facebook account created it to stay in touch with friends and family. Not many of our members want to use their Facebook account to connect with us. But there are still thousands of people who do use this channel to find out what we are doing and to have a conversation with us. If you are on Facebook and this is your preferred platform then you are not missing out. We take the same care over our updates and news here as we do on other channels, but if you want to be part of a bigger CIOB conversation then we recommend connecting us and our community in LinkedIn.
Our top tips
- Comment and share your opinion. Just like our other channels we welcome hearing from our members and other followers in Facebook. If you are not curating your own content you can still take part in our conversation by commenting on the posts we make.
- Tag us. If you are publishing your own content then use the hashtag #CIOB to let us, and other followers, know what you are doing or thinking.
CIOB on Facebook
Connect with us here and help us raise the profile of the industry