JVN Blog

#Charities & #SocialMedia DO mix

 Charities often struggle when it comes to marketing – they either need a wealthy benefactor to fund it, be a household name so donations can be syphoned off to different budgets, or to rely on a partnership or two with well-known brands that will tell their story for them.

Social media, on the other hand, represents a level playing field for charities and not-for-profit organisations.  That is in terms of exposure, of engagement, of community building, and of budget too.

Social Media provides another option for marketing that doesn’t require a big run of paper advertising budgets.  It doesn’t need a large in-house team of tweeters or “Facebookers” to get your story heard.

It takes patience; savvy sharing of stories and – the key element – engaging.  Broadcasting content or your messages out there simply won’t work… no matter what type of brand you are in whichever vertical sector.

We are seeing through our own work on twitter, for example, that it is possible for smaller charitable organisations to get their message out there.  To build connections with like-minded people.  To engage with our audience and impact on their lives.  To build a strong and loyal digital community.

Social media is a great channel through which charities and NFPs can raise awareness for fantastic causes that otherwise wouldn’t have a voice or wouldn’t be heard.

Charities are missing a big trick if they’re not at least learning how to leverage social media to increase their profile!  It gives them a great way to get information out there quickly and easily, connect with the right people, and drive engagement with their brand.

Investment in social media marketing doesn’t necessarily mean money.  It requires investments of time, learning as you go along, and building experience to get results.

This applies to companies in any sector, but particularly resonates with charities and NFPs owing to their very limited resources and budgets.

But let’s take a step back for a moment.  How often do you see volunteers with moneybox outside WH Smiths asking for donations?  Not that often.  It used be a common and relatively effective way to spread the word of your charitable work and get some hard-earned pennies into the charity’s funds.

Unfortunately, to make a difference, you would need literally dozens of volunteers across as wide a geographic area as possible.  And they would all need to be prepared to stand in the cold and wet, and to be ignored by 80% of the people who walked by!

Now?  Well, social media is global.  It has no limits or restrictions.  The weather doesn’t impact on your efforts.  Indeed, stormy weather could be better for you as people stay indoors and turn to their tablets or laptops to engage on the Social Web instead of getting soaked through!

And the great news is that charities are no longer wondering if they should be using social media.  Instead they are trying to figure out how to make it work for them.

Below are some of our top tips for charities looking to make social media work for them:

1. Original content is (still!) King

• To really leverage the new rules of digital engagement, you have to realise that content is crucial to your success.  Create your own content – be profound, be practical, teach your readers something, say something different, and don’t be afraid to be opinionated if it helps get a fantastic benefit across.  And you must experiment with different forms of content too: the written word, video, visual infographics, witty captions on images, and so on.  Good content requires smart thinking, not big budgets.

1. Share, share and share some more

• There is so much interesting content being produced by other people…multiple times every single day!  Instead of just your own opinions, share relevant content that is related to your charity.  Finding this content is quite easy – you can search specific hashtags to tailor content to a particular topic, or you could use one of the many free tools out there to curate relevant content for you!  And if you’re feeling over-whelmed by the volume of content you want to share… then don’t be.  Again, there are plenty of free tools out there that can help you schedule when they should go out and how frequently.

1. Be authentic

• Don’t try to force a tone or persona onto your tweets or updates.  Your content and your social media conversations should always be true to your charitable organisation – your brand’s personality and ethos is key.  After all, people buy from people, not corporate monotones.

1. Measure, learn, adjust

• Social media should be about continual improvement.  You’re not going to get it right first time.  And you’re not going to get it right all the time.  It’s about testing and learning what type of content resonates best with your target audience.  And don’t be afraid to ask questions of your digital community.  See what works, and what doesn’t… and don’t be afraid to have a few damp squibs along the way!

1. DO engage – DON’T broadcast!

• Our last tip is arguably the most important.  There is nothing worse than any type of brand simply pumping out content (whether it’s their own, someone else’s or a combination) and sitting back waiting for the followers to flock to them and engage with them.  Wrong!  The clue is in the term: “social media”.  Be social – think of these social channels as networking but in real-time with a far larger group of people.  When you go to a networking event you don’t just stand there talking about yourself and talking at people…not if you want to make friends, acquaintances and contacts!  Instead, you introduce yourself and are proactive – start up conversations and ask about them and their interests.  It’s just the same in the Digital World we live in.  Communicate and engage with your followers and those outside your network every day.  Engage with followers of other charities that are similar to your own.  Get on their radar and let them know you exist and have good stuff to share and talk about.  Even simple retweets of their content can help.  The simple rule to remember is: you get out what you put in.  The more you engage with others, the more others will engage with you.

Do you need to make social media work on a shoestring budget?  We’d love to hear your thoughts on how you’ve found it and what your experiences have been!  And please do share this post across your own networks – we all need all the help we can get!!