Social Media is a wonderful tool for any business, more often than not it’s the Not for Profit Organisations which truly flourish in this marketing platform.
While social media is a wonderful tool for any business, Not for Profit Organisations truly benefit from its power and reach. Australia’s non-profit sector is large and diverse. With their seemingly consistent struggle to gain support and increase their volunteer base it is imperative to diminish the non-profit funding starvation cycle and stop them from walking the budget tightrope.
Social media is an inexpensive marketing tool compared to traditional marketing campaigns. It presents the sector with a technology that is comparatively cheap to run and allows subsequent levels of engagement, ideal for reinforcing and developing new relationships and marketing campaigns that achieve return on investment.
Here are 10 Social Media Tips for Not for Profit Organisations:
1. Linking Social Media to your website and vice-versa
Adding social network links to your website builds credibility and your audience reach. Add Social Media icons and links to your website and ensure you have your website URL accessible on all your social media platforms. Website traffic has become highly influenced by Facebook, Twitter, Google+, YouTube, LinkedIn, etc.
2. Don’t post bland marketing content
As a Not for Profit Organisation engaging your audience is a lot easier than you think, you are targeting people who share the same values as your organisation. By making your content relevant and visually engaging you can stop your audience scrolling past your post by capturing their attention. Use tones and jargon that are engaging and show some brand personality!
3. Blogging
Fresh content and fresh blogs about the work your organisation achieves and personal stories will drive your supporters to remain engaged. Blog on your website and share it on your Social Media. When done correctly blogs can develop into e-newsletters and build a contact list for more marketing activities!
4. Post frequently
Regular posting is imperative. Don’t leave long gaps in-between posts. Too often we see posts occur at random intervals, sometimes even months apart. Your audience may view this as a lack of communication and dedication which causes unlikes and unfollows.
5. Have a strategy
Planning is vital. Ensure you have a social media plan and understand why you are on social media and what you are trying to achieve. This will ensure your posts are relevant to your end goal.
6. #hashtag conversations
Hashtags seem to be an oversight for many non-profits. The benefits of hashtags are they make your posts searchable. By hashtagging your posts you are able to reach a more global audience and make your posts relevant to industry and global trends.
7. Be everywhere now
This also falls into having a strategy. Do not jump the gun and register on every Social Media platform. Ensure you understand which social media platforms/channels are relevant to the audience you are trying to target. Do you have enough visual imagery to support posting photos on Instagram two to three times a week? Is that where your target audience is?
8. Scheduling posts
Understand when your audience is engaging with social media. If engagement is higher on weekends ensure you schedule your post to optimise its engagement. Newsfeeds work on a time basis, newest posts on the top. Do not post early in the morning when your audience doesn’t engage until later in the evening.
9. Invest
Whilst this is a struggle for most non-profits, time and money needs to be invested into social media. Whilst most are free to set up ensure you’re investing the time to grow and develop it.
10. Tracking Return on Investment (ROI)
Most social media platforms will let you view the analytics. Do not ignore this information as it is vital to tracking your online presence and performance. Compare the data with your website visits and increases in donations.
About Authors: Nicole Donath and Josie Jong are sales marketing specialists at Digital Animals and are both passionate about using social media to help increase awareness and online reach. Digital Animals is a great source of information and has the capability to help you at every step of the online marketing process. Please get in touch, we are happy to answer any questions you may have.