Getting Started In Echovo
When you first log into Echovo, you’re probably itching to create content and share it with your teammates right away, but there are a few steps you need to complete first.
In short, here are the key steps to get going:
- Create a team
- Invite team members
- Create a campaign
- Create content
1. Create a team
Echovo helps you organize people into teams. It’s up to you who will be on a team. Teams often consist of volunteers, employees, friends or family members. Teams are sandboxed so only the people you invite to the team can participate and see what’s happening. Here are some examples of people you might join together as a team:
- A group of volunteers who help you get the message out about upcoming events and announcements.
- Employees who work together to share company news and messages.
- Community groups working together on civic activities.
It’s simple to create a team. First, make sure you’re signed in.
- Next, click on the “+ New” button in the top right hand corner of your dashboard and select “New Team”.
- Finally, fill out the form by selecting an owner of the team, giving the team a name and providing a description of the team.
- Leave “Activate” checked.
- Click “Next”.
2. Invite team members
After you create a team you’ll be taken to the team’s dashboard. This is where you can track all of your team’s activities and manage the team as a whole. Unless you’re going solo, you’ll want to get your team organized by inviting team members.
First, from your team dashboard click the “Actions” button and select “Invite Member”.
Pro Tip: The “Actions” button on the team dashboard is your access point to managing your team. Create campaigns, invite team members, manage team member roles, etc.
This will take you to the new team member page where you can now email an invitation. Fill out the name and email address of the person you’d like to invite and click “Next”.
That’s it. Your team members will get an invitation asking them to join your team. You can manage invitations by selecting “All Invitations” using the “Actions” button from your team’s dashboard (See pic above).
3. Create a campaign
Campaigns are ways to bucket content into specific categories or marketing themes. When creating campaigns you’re limited only by your imagination and the needs of your team. Campaigns can be for promoting events, branding, or making announcements. They can last for a day or indefinitely. It’s really up to you.
Pro Tip: You must have at least 1 active campaign to create content.
To create a campaign, from your team’s dashboard select “New Campaign” from the “Actions” dropdown button.
This brings you to the “New Campaign” page. Fill out the form options:
- Give your campaign a name.
- Give your campaign a description so people know what it’s about.
- Provide one (1) hashtag for the campaign.
- Provide up to four (4) keywords to track.
- Your campaign is active by default. Deactivate by unchecking the box.
Click “Next”
Boom. Now you’re ready to create content!
4. Create content
Phew…I know that was a lot, but trust me it’s worth it. Now that you’re super organized, the fun part begins.
The easiest way to create content is with the global “New Content” form. With this form you can create content for any of your active campaigns.
Click the “+ New” button and select “New Content” from the drop down. When using the global content form, you need to first select the campaign you want to assign content to. If you have a lot of active campaigns, use the search form to quickly find your campaign.
Next, fill out the rest of the form. Here’s a quick rundown of your options:
- Attach a photo or GIF: Click the camera icon to attach a photo or GIF.
Pro Tip: Files must meet the specifications provided by the social channel you’re uploading to. (Twitter)
- Activation Date: The activation date is the date / time when your content becomes available to your team to share.
- Deactivation Date: The deactivation date is the date / time when your content becomes inactive. Inactive content can’t be shared by the team.
- EchoStorm Leader: Leave “No Leader” selected if you want to everyone to share as original content. Select a leader from the team to be the first to share it and everyone else will play a supporting role. (We’ll go into this in more detail in another post.)
The “Content Calendar” shows you when content is scheduled to activate. Green content is active and orange content is inactive.
When you’re ready, click the “Next” button, and the content will be shared with your team at the activation date you selected.
That’s it. Hopefully, this equips you with the essential tools you need to get started.
