Making the Most of Social Media

Transcription

1 Making the Most of Social Media June 2011 Logistics Ask questions! Otherwise I m speaking to a black hole! Use the Raise Hand button Make the slideshow or demo bigger Enter questions into the Chat with Presenter box 1

2 Logistics I ll doing some wholesale muting and unmuting, but you can do it yourself as well. *7 to Un-mute *6 to Mute Wait for the recording to start 2

3 Making the Most of Social Media June 2011 Introduction Andrea Berry Idealware s Director of Partnerships and Learning 3

4 Introductions What we ll cover today Goals and Audiences An overview of the tools Key considerations for choosing Is it working? 4

5 What is Social Media? It s Online Media Words Images Messages Video 5

6 That Socializes It starts conversations is shared travels.multiplies It is Part of an Overall Communications Strategy 6

7 It s All About the Network Effect You post something And invite friends to view and engage with that piece of media And your friends engage their friends...who engage their friends who engage their friends Setting Actionable Goals 7

8 Start with the Fundamentals No marketing technique will work without A compelling story Clear goals And an understanding of your audience The Importance of Goals The social media tools you should use depend on what you want to accomplish and who you want to reach 8

9 Some Useful Social Media Goals Boost attendance at performances Attract new volunteers Connect with new major donors Move subscribers to donate Recruit new students for classes NOT Useful Social Media Goals Increase awareness Make website more interactive Keep in touch Have a Facebook presence 9

10 Direct Fundraising Is Hard It probably shouldn t be a core goal What Makes a Good Goal? What is the Purpose? How is it Measurable? What Defines Success? 10

11 Goals, Strategies and Tactics Goal: What you want to accomplish Strategies: Your approach Tactics: How you will get there Goals, Strategies and Tactics Applied Your Goal: Raise $1000 for your campaign via Facebook Strategy 1: Advertise your campaign to current fans Tactics: Get set up with a Facebook fundraising tool Post 4 times about campaign Tell compelling stories about constituents via Facebook news feed Strategy 2: Enlist your supporters to fundraise for you Tactics: Get your fans excited about your cause Give them training on how to ask their friends for money via Facebook Have a raffle for those who raise more than $50 11

12 Good Goals Encourage Integration Goals help you choose and integrate different tactics Twitter: Promote upcoming events YouTube: Post previously recorded shows/events/talks Facebook: Outreach to new organizations Or blogs, Flickr, LinkedIn or more The Tools: An Overview 12

13 Facebook Anatomy of a Fan Page Include a logo or other image Links for different types of info List people who like your page Highlight other Facebook Pages People like your page Photo Bar You (or a fan) post something Fans interact with you by liking a post or posting themselves 13

14 What s Facebook Effective For? Our research shows: Increasing feedback and discussion Driving traffic to your website and thus spreading information Building an list Attracting event attendees Twitter 14

15 Twitter Re- Tweets! 12,764 Followers Event Details, Relevant Links Interesting things What s Twitter Effective For? From our research: Connecting with likeminded organizations Connecting with the media Engaging people with frequent updates Providing near-realtime-updates Coordinating in real time 15

16 Blogs Blogs Consider a blog to tell stories from the field, promote a point of view, or provide unique information. 16

17 What Are Blogs Good For? Blogs can be very useful in the right circumstances: From our qualitative data: Publicizing your expertise Telling stories about your day-to-day work Promoting online information Just make sure you have the time and a purpose Photo Sharing 17

18 Photo Sharing If you have photos or your constituents do online tools can help promote them and your organization What are Photo Sharing Sites Good For? From our qualitative data: Getting and displaying photos from a distributed group Participating in photo communities around particular topics Finding people posting pictures of you 18

19 Video Sharing Video Sharing You can create a Video Channel to share videosperformances, patron videos, behind the scenes looks! 19

20 What s are Video Sharing Sites Good For? Our qualitative data shows video sites are particularly good for: Encouraging conversation around videos Spreading the word Asking supporters to provide videos Hosting a video channel Geo-Locating 20

21 Geo-Locating If you have a location, Geo- Locating might be for you. Hold contests for those who check in, offer discounts and deals- create a community based on place. Deciding Which Tools To Use 21

22 Define Your Goals Ask the Important Questions 22

23 Develop a Plan Key Questions to Consider 23

24 Is Your Tech Infrastructure In Order? Most social networking tactics have less bang-for-the-buck than core infrastructure like networks, websites, and Enlist people in creating content/ fundraising Basic Outreach (SEO, bloggers) Social Networking Well thought out strategy At least a basic website presence Effective and function computers and networks How Much Time Can You Commit? Rule of thumb: 2 Hours per Channel 24

25 How Frequently Can You Post? Twitter Blogs Photos Videos enews Facebook Newsletters Direct Mail Multiple Times a Day Daily Weekly Monthly Once Every Few Months Who Will Do The Work? Someone should be in charge One person will do it all Everyone will do it but they likely can t do it alone 25

26 Consider Your Organizational Voice Human and engaging Trivialities Social outreach PR message points Spam News feed Irrelevant On mission and interesting What Resources are Available? Do you already have great videos? A staff of professional researchers? Deeply committed volunteers? Build from your strengths- what is your staff using already? 26

27 Building a Community The Ebb & Flow of Social Media Action Don t heavily post to a channel in the heat of a campaign, abandon it for months, and then plan to pick it up again for the next campaign 27

28 Waves of Campaigning & Maintaining Campaign #1 Maintenance Mix Campaign #2 Maintenance Mix Campaign #3 Your Campaign Should Have Beginning & end Specific goals More tools & activities Specific success targets An evaluation plan 28

29 Think Through the Timing Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat Blog Post Facebook Post enews Blog Post Facebook Post Announcement Facebook Post Blog Post Blog Post Facebook Post Facebook Post Blog Post Facebook Post Last chance! Coordinating Communications How can you coordinate across different sites and mediums? Define the goal Think through the audience for each venue Tailor the message What are you trying to accomplish? Why are they there? What will resonate? What will best achieve your goals? Don t just spam the same message through every channel. 29

30 Responding and Shepherding Pay real attention and respond to what people are saying. Thank people Link to people Follow their lead, if they have a good idea Refine your communications according to what they say What if They Say Bad Things? Should you limit or moderate discussion within your community?? Will hurtful comments damage your community?? Where might people say these things instead?? Will it let you show how responsive you are? Consider the actual damage that will be done 30

31 Maintain Channels Between Campaigns Maintenance periods should be: Open ended Based on specific goals Your base time commitment Aimed to build & engage followers Don t just drop off the face of the earth because you don t have a current campaign. Keep the flow going Quality, Care, and Feeding Social networking sites need an ongoing commitment 31

32 What Do They Want to Hear? Useful Information Breaking News Opportunities to Get Involved Invites to Events Requests to Participate Measure To Improve Over Time 32

33 The Core Idea is to Keep Exploring What might work better? What s working for others? What tactics are available to me? What s working really well already? Measurement is Key If you can t measure it, it s impossible to know: Is it working? Is it worth your time? What you can do to improve it? 33

34 Aligning Metrics with Goals Be mindful of aligning you metrics with your goals. Are you really measuring what you think you are? Measure in a range of ways to capture the whole picture. Measuring Social Media 34

35 What Types of Things Can You Measure? Followers Views Engagement Conversion.. Measurement in Action: Boosting Attendance Goal: Increase attendance at next week s event Tactic: Promote Event on Facebook Measures Number of views of Facebook events (Views) Number of positive RSVPs (Engagement) Lift in attendance numbers (conversion) Those who tell registration or the box office they heard about the event on Facebook (Conversion) Cut out any one and you don t get the full picture! 35

36 Try Things Experience is the only bulletproof way to know what will work for you. Measure and Refine You can t reliably improve unless you track and tweak. 36

37 Nonprofit Social Media Decision Guide Questions? 37