For more than ten years, I’ve been talking to non-profits about social media. Best I can tell, the two things you really need to know are:
- Everything changes. All the time.
- Social media is and has always been about relationships.
EVERYTHING CHANGES
New apps and social networks appear every few months. Some catch on, others crash and burn. Established social networks like Facebook or Twitter change their rules and algorithms without warning. As older generations adopt technology, the younger generation seeks out something new. (My favorite headline this week: “The ‘Olds’ are Invading Snapchat!”)
This means that any successful social media strategy must be nimble and focused. Know who your target audience is and seek them out on their platform of choice, even if that platform is different than it was last week.
It sounds a little exhausting, doesn’t it? So why should you bother?
RELATIONSHIPS MATTER
Social media is where word-of-mouth lives. It’s where a huge variety of asks take place. It’s where advocacy can bloom.
Social media tools such as Vine and Snapchat make telling stories easier than ever. They are creating a culture where smart phone videos can be used to greater effect than professionally-produced ones. Apps such as Instagram and Periscope have revolutionized how we use imagery to convey need and impact.
But the real reason to stay on top of these innovations is that they are still based on a relationship, even if these relationships look a little different than you might expect.
If you’ve never ventured past Facebook, you might think that social media is just about your “friends.” But there are many of other relationships that flourish in a variety of apps.
- Twitter is a place to connect over shared interests, not shared personal history.
- YouTube is a place where creators make videos requested by their fans.
- Periscope is a place where subject-matter experts educate while their audience reacts and asks questions in real time.
All of these scenarios are relationships, a two-way street of influence, learning and entertainment.
If you haven’t experienced the wild and woolly world of hashtags, you may not realize the rich and diverse conversations that are happening across all of these platforms. Want to learn more about what people are saying about a particular cause? Searching Google won’t help. Finding the appropriate hashtag and following it on social media apps however will show you the variety of questions, positions and stories that are being shared on that topic in real time.
If your social media strategy as just been to post things on your schedule, you might not realize that the best social media innovators post more than their own content. Sharing posts from others, commenting and responding to comments all show your character as an organization, a brand or an individual. It shows that you want to engage with others rather than just blasting your own message.
Major brands are pivoting to think of social media as a customer service tool. For nonprofits, faith-based and educational organizations, I would suggest that the pivot should be away from “how much can we raise” toward stewardship, impact reporting, and gathering testimonials.
Social media isn’t a gimmick. It’s not going away. While it can be vapid at times, it can also be a source of rich dialogue and incredible generosity.
What has your experience been? Have you offloaded your social media to an outside vendor or an intern? Consider how you can listen your way online into deeper and more impactful relationships with donors and with your community.
