Additional Tips for Social Media for Non Profits
Now you have a better idea of how to do social media well to attract your audience for your non profit, here are some additional tips that can help you to succeed with this media. Tips that we want to share here include figure out what your audience values, keep it real, and emphasise quality not volume. As reported on by Erin Hall (2015) for Classy, these are three tips that will help you to:
“… make quick decisions, take advantage of timely opportunities, and allow you to create deeper engagement with your social community.”
The first tip is determining what your audience values. Non profits may be tightly resourced and may not have a lot of money to spend developing flashy social media campaigns. That shouldn’t be a problem however, if you do social media well. There is no need to be trying to keep ahead of all the weird and wonderful trends for grabbing attention. Rather, it is necessary to figure out what your audience values and focus on providing that. You need to give them what they are looking for in a consistent manner, so that they gain value from your social media pages.
Rather than placing undue pressure on your non profit to try to provide zany videos or imagery that is over the top in terms of grabbing attention, instead it is better to research and find out what your audience is actually looking for. Giving that to them will be way less tiring than spending hours trying to create content that you do not have the competencies to create.
Likely, your audience will be looking for quality articles, information and news about trends, as well as potentially ideas and opinions that you have about different factors affecting your organisation and initiatives. Try out different types of posts and analyse what you have done to see what is successful and what is not. Then focus on offering that or similar each time you post.
The second recommendation is to keep it real. It is all too easy to follow inane fads on social media. One such trend includes the concept of “throwback Thursday”. If such trends make sense for your organisation, then there is no problem with going along with it and fitting it into your social media strategy.
If you do decide to take up these kinds of activities, then you need to make sure that you are reliable about it. Doing a throwback Thursday every five weeks is not likely to be particularly engaging, and you may need to undertake these types of activities weekly. However, likely in many cases these types of trends will not necessarily be appropriate, so can be avoided.
In this case it is better to ask yourself what you want your social media presence to stand for, and to focus on these types of posts instead. Maybe there is a monthly industry update that you could incorporate into your schedule for social media posts that your followers will really appreciate seeing. Or perhaps a weekly photograph of the benefits your non profit is bringing to the community could be good. Work out what it is and then keep it real for your audience.
The third tip is very important, and this is making sure to focus on quality rather than volume. In many ways this is common sense, but you would be surprised at how many organisations think that quantity is best. Focusing on quality will ensure that your audience values the posts that you make. If, however, you decide to emphasise volume, making many posts a day that do not offer value, you will be likely to face getting unfollowed or un-liked.
People do not want their social media feeds absorbed by poor quality content. Rather, by creating quality posts you will be helping your followers to see that your content is consistent and worthwhile, and then you will be more likely to build an increased audience that is interested in what you have to say via these channels. It may be best to create some selection criteria that help you to define what a good quality post is and then stick to this.
This concludes our social media guide for non profit organisations. We hope you have found our guide to be helpful and informative. Good luck, and may you generate thousands of interested and engaged followers!
Guide to Social Media for Non-Profits Part 1
Guide to Social Media for Non-Profits Part 2
Paula Newton is a business writer, editor and management consultant with extensive experience writing and consulting for both start-ups and long established companies. She has ten years management and leadership experience gained at BSkyB in London and Viva Travel Guides in Quito, Ecuador, giving her a depth of insight into innovation in international business. With an MBA from the University of Hull and many years of experience running her own business consultancy, Paula’s background allows her to connect with a diverse range of clients, including cutting edge technology and web-based start-ups but also multinationals in need of assistance. Paula has played a defining role in shaping organizational strategy for a wide range of different organizations, including for-profit, NGOs and charities. Paula has also served on the Board of Directors for the South American Explorers Club in Quito, Ecuador.
