Starting a Social Media Strategy - Avenir Thinking

Starting a Social Media Strategy

Non-Profit Topics

7 years ago

Social Media websites play an integral part in attracting a greater audience, creating brand recognition and as a tool for donor recognition for nonprofit organizations. In fact, these sites can make reaching out to donors and supporters easier when organizing events. The strategy for this is not much different from that of traditional social media marketing; however you need to tweak the strategy to meet the specific needs of your nonprofit.

The following tips will help you achieve the best possible results from the social media platforms.

Start Today!

It is unlikely that you will get thousands of followers the first week of your social media campaign; in fact, it is almost impossible. However, you can target your most faithful supporters to create a base. That number could grow exponentially over time. If you want that huge fan base, there’s no time to waste. Get started today.

Choose your Platforms

There are hundreds of social media platforms out there, but using more than a few is a waste of time and money. Obviously, size and popularity of a site matter, but smaller platforms can be useful if they reach the right audience for your organization. Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Snapchat, along with couple others, are the best-known options. However, they are not the only choices. Consider the mission of your organization, your target audience and the target location for your campaign and choose the platforms that provide your nonprofit with the best return on your investment.

Another consideration is whether the site allows you to open business accounts. For example, Facebook has the feature of Facebook Pages, Pinterest allows you to open Pinterest Business account and YouTube allows you to run Nonprofits on YouTube Program. The advantage is that these types of account provide you with special features like visitor analytics, which you can use measure the results of your campaign and make improvements when necessary.

Provide Clear Details

Once you’ve grabbed a reader’s attention with your post, they want more information about your organization or mission. Provide as much detail as possible (mission, location, opportunities etc.) in the profile section of the social media page and update the details whenever needed.

Consider Your Target Audience

Generating suitable content for your audience is the most important part of any social media marketing strategy. How do you determine what content is suitable? Before answering this question, you must understand what topics your audience wants from you and how they want it presented. Conduct surveys and interviews to better understand your audience and their opinions regarding topics relevant to your cause or mission. This doesn’t mean you should give up your own persona. Once you have a handle on what your audience wants, start writing immediately! Find the voice and tone that best suits the image your organization wants to project and encourages readers to engage and discuss the topic further. Most importantly, be sure your content adds value to your readers’ lives rather than simply advertises your organization.

Use Special Codes

Some social media platforms have different ways to share and highlight content. For example, hashtags help readers find content based on keywords. On Twitter, you can add a dot before username to enable all your followers to see the tweet you posted to another user.  Some tricks are less obvious, but learning to use them can significantly increase the reach of your posts.

Borrow and Share Interesting Content

It is important to generate your own content and share your knowledge with your readers. However, do not limit yourself to sharing only your own content. Share interesting and relevant content from other sources with your audience as well. Position yourself as a source for valuable information to boost return visits to your page.

Use the Potential of Image & Video Content

People love pictures. A post accompanied by a compelling image will draw more attention than the one with generic images or none at all.

Video content is a potential game changer in social media marketing strategy. Many people now prefer watching an interview or informative video over reading a long article.

Engage!

Engage with you audiences! This is the most important tip one could ever give about social media marketing strategy. If you’ve posted content that your audience is responding to, capitalize on it. Let them know you care about their thoughts and opinions. Reply to their comments, discuss and briefly clarify confusing points if necessary. You won’t get 100% positive feedback from your audience. Prepare for negative feedback. Show respect to such opinions even if they are contrary to yours. If the reader is upset, consider continuing the discussion in private chat or offline.

Stay Active!

It is extremely important to create a schedule to generate and share posts on a regular basis. If your supporters know there is always new content on a certain day or at a certain time, return visits will increase, potentially resulting in an increased number of supporters and donors. This consistency also boosts brand recognition.

Get a Volunteer if needed!

As your audience grows, you may not have time to properly engage with all the comments. However, that engagement is still crucial. Consider getting a volunteer to manage the social media accounts and respond to your followers. That engagement can turn a casual follower into one of your best supporters and donors.

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