5 Tips for a Thoughtful and Successful Social Media Presence
I struggled to write this post because there are so many different ways to treat Social Media in the non-profit world and most are not very thoughtful. As I discussed in the social media section of The Thoughtful Approach's website, non-profits have latched on to the idea that they must have a presence on social media. But many do so without thoughtfully planning out what it will take to create a social media presence. A presence on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, et. al., that is worth the effort.
Development and Marketing offices go to great lengths to increase their LIKES and Followers but to what end? Now don’t get me wrong. I want this blog to be LIKED, and I want Followers. I have asked my readers to do both of those things. I seed Facebook and Twitter every time I publish a new post. That is a far cry from hoping to get your social media contacts will make a donation.
How do you get the people who visit your FACEBOOK PAGE to visit the donor page on your website? Or do you use a program that allows people to give directly from FACEBOOK? Do you tweet out a link to your donor page or use a tweet for dollars program? Both are options but then you have three online financial streams to reconcile each month. You do reconcile every month – right?
Since it is safe to a say that social media sites are here to stay. The question is how do you set them up and use them to your organization's advantage, not Mark Zuckerberg’s. He is, after all, the only one who makes money off of all those LIKES.
First and foremost, think of your Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin sites as auxiliary to your main website. Don’t make the mistake of allowing any of these programs to become your default online presence. I have seen this happen, and it can cause messaging problems for the organization. Here are my FIVE top suggestions for managing your social media presence.
Suggestion 1.
Add a sign-up button to your Facebook Page that allows people to give you at a minimum their Email Address, First Name, and Zip Code.The fields you use will depend on your personal preferences. Remember that the more data you request the fewer responses you will receive. Facebook Page buttons are simple to make by following Facebook's instructions on APP and Widget creation under Settings. My sign-up button updates my CRM. I am using MailChimp, but most CRM's have the ability to integrate in this way. You should use the same CRM to collect prospect data on your social media sites and on your website.
Suggestion 2.
Add a CONTACT US tab to your page. This is easily done through the settings functions in Facebook. I recommend having it go to the contact page on your website. That way you do not have to keep two places updated, and you are driving traffic to your site.
Suggestion 3.
All roads should lead back to your main website. Build the content on your site and then push it out to Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, et.al. Here is an example of how this post will be pushed out via eblast, Facebook post, and tweet. Notice the hyperlink. It sends you to the full blog on the website.
TWEET
Is your social media presence worth the effort? Learn 5 steps to having a thoughtful presence. #NCYAFP http://scan.me/n5p24z9
and/or
Non-profits go to great lengths to increase their LIKES and Followers but to what end? #ThoughtfulApproach http://scan.me/n5p24z9
Include a graphic in your Tweet. Tweets with graphics get more views and retweets than those without graphics. Even a stock graphic like the one below will work
.
Because of the nature of Twitter I usually send at least two tweets for every post. The first one when the post is published, the second a few days later. In between are regular posts that play off the whole site.
FACEBOOK PAGE POST
I struggled to write this post because there are so many different ways to treat social media in the non-profit world and most are not very thoughtful. As I discussed in the social media section of The Thoughtful Approach's website, non-profits have latched on to the idea that they must have a presence on social media. But many do so without thoughtfully planning out what it will take to create a social media presence. A presence on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, et. al., that is worth the effort. Is yours worth the effort click to find out - http://scan.me/n5p24z9
EBLAST TEXT
I struggled to write this post because there are so many different ways to treat social media in the non-profit world and most are not very thoughtful. As I discussed in the social media section of The Thoughtful Approach website, non-profits have latched on to the idea that they must have a presence on social media. But many do so without thoughtfully planning out what it will take to create a social media presence. A presence on FaceBook, Twitter, LinkedIn, et. al., that is worth the effort.
Development and Marketing offices go to great lengths to increase their LIKES and Followers but to what end? Now don’t get me wrong. I want this blog to be LIKED, and I want Followers. I have asked my readers to do both of those things. I seed Facebook and Twitter every time I publish a new post. That is a far cry from hoping that your social media contacts will make a donation.
How do you get the people who visit your Facebook Page to visit the donor page on your website? READ THE FULL BLOG HERE.
Suggestion 4.
Do not start something you cannot finish. Be realistic about which social media platforms you can keep updated. You should post a new blog entry on a regular schedule (once a week or twice a month), Facebook page post at least once a week and three or four tweets a week. Many social media experts recommend as many as seven or eight tweets a DAY! Timely posting is integral to a successful social media presence.
Suggestion 5.
Learn to use integration and aggregator to schedule your posts and tweets. Both Twitter and Facebook have built in APPs and Widgets to allow you to cross-post. The other way achieve cross posting to use an aggregator. I use Hootsuite, but there are others that work as well. A future post will look at different aggregators.
These five suggestions are starting points for you to explore ways to integrate your web presence and your social media presence. Making it easy for people who LIKE and FOLLOW your organization to learn more about your cause and possibly make a gift. That is the ultimate goal of all of your effort - right.
