Guide to Social Media for Non-profits

As of January 2014, 74% of adults online use a social network. There are billions of people using social media every single day. These people are looking for entertainment, information, and many of them want to make a difference. They want to find non-profit organizations they can volunteer their time or donate their money. That’s the reason why Media Connect Partners offers social media to promote non-profit organizations. Social media for non-profits isn’t always easy to navigate though. It can feel like we are in a room full of people and don’t know what to do or say to get noticed. Luckily, at Media Connect Partners, we are experts in marketing non-profits on social networks.

Social Media for Non-Profits Tips and Tricks

Facebook and Twitter are the most popular options for social media marketing. They provide opportunities for people to share, comment and like posts, which can lead to more exposure. That exposure can lead to volunteers and donations, so let’s get started.

Include Location on Facebook

Facebook allows non-profit organizations to enter an address for pages. This address is important because people can use the check-in feature to let their friends know they are at a non-profit organization doing great things. It can also lead to reviews! People love reading positive reviews about a company or organization, especially one they are interested in investing in someday.

This location page feature is also good because people can save the page. That makes it easier for Facebook users to find their favorite non-profit organization’s page, see posts in their feed, and share the page or posts with friends.

Change Tweets in Two Ways

For Twitter, we like the ability to show all of the replies we make to people who mention Media Connect Partners. Many people don’t know this trick, so give it a try. Simply place a period in front of @username. It looks like this, “.@username We’re so glad you’ve decided to volunteer your time!” When the period is used, all followers see the tweet, as opposed to just the mentioned person.

We all know tweets can only be 140 characters, but did you know that users who try to use up all the characters in their tweets end up with fewer retweets? Retweets are important because it’s a way for Twitter users to share tweets with their followers. Sometimes, those people want to add a comment, but if they don’t have enough free characters to use they decide not to retweet. Keep tweets around 100 characters to allow people to retweet with a comment.

Ask People to Like and Comment

Speaking of comments, they are important because it shows people are engaged with posts and it can increase reach. To increase the number of comments and likes, simply ask people to comment or like posts. It’s amazing what a little request can do!

Post Photos of Great Work

Non-profit organizations often have a lot of pictures from events, campaigns or just to increase awareness. Those pictures should be uploaded to social media. People love photos, and they are more likely to share, comment and like them, which increases their exposure and brings awareness to your organization.

There’s much more that can be done with non-profit social media marketing. Media Connect Partners will help come up with the right strategy.

References:

http://www.pewinternet.org/fact-sheets/social-networking-fact-sheet/

http://danzarrella.com/infographic-the-science-of-instagram.html#