Today was a jam-packed day at The Storytelling Non-Profit Virtual Conference! To kick things off, Clare McDowall of Socially Good presented Supercharge Your Social Media in 2014.
In the spirit of talking social media, we had lot of great discussion in the chatbox of the webinar and over on Twitter – #StorytellingNonprofit. Clare has also created a Storify of the Twitter action!
Highlights and Key Takeaways
> Only 25% of non-profits have a content strategy. Yet, non-profits have tons of great content to share that can inspire their communities.
> A must do for 2014: establish your organization’s social media policy!
> There are 370+ social media channels. You don’t have to be on all of them. Just be where your audience is.
> Social media audiences love visuals – pictures, infographics, etc.
> “The only way to have a friend is to be a friend.”
> Practice great listening. Then reply and interact.
> “It’s called social media – not broadcast your PR messages here media”
> Create a plan, develop metric, review regularly and adjust course as necessary.
A Few Resources
Winnipeg Human Society video
Small Change Fund video
Canva.com
Infogr.am
FAQs From The Session
What if using humour is inconsistent with the seriousness of your mission/vision?
Even if the work your organization does is of a serious nature, that does not mean your constituents don’t have a sense of humour.
Andrew (of the attendees) gave a great example of a disabilities organization that could create a meme of a wheel chair with giant tires and words the read, “Nothing’s gonna get in our way.”
How can we integrate personality with our HR strategies/social media policy?
Social media is all about people interacting with people. Not a faceless organization. Thus allowing some personality and brand come through your social media posts is important. Know where your boundaries lie and try to balance those with the style of the person who manages your social media.
How can we balance a need for interactions with timing considerations? It seems like you can’t really schedule a reply so how long is too long to reply?
One of the big social media challenges people face is finding time to do social media for their non-profit with letting it take over their schedules. Clare recommended using a social media management platform to schedule posts (ie TweetDeck or HootSuite).
The catch-22 of this situation is that part of social media is live interaction with followers. Clare suggests scheduling 10 or 15 daily to focus on interactions.
Do you have a question for Clare about social media? Leave a comment below!
