Are you one of those businesses claiming your constituency doesn’t really do social media, so you don’t really need it?
Let’s begin with the fact that, according to Business Insider, “Americans spend more time on social media than any other major Internet activity, including email.”
In a nutshell, I’ll bet you or your boss or board are thinking one or all of the following:
I’m afraid of it, and just don’t really understand it.
If you’re the type of person who finds it difficult to admit there’s something you don’t know how to do, then I’ll bet you often also think what you don’t know probably isn’t that important. Oh, yeah, you may hire folks to do it. But you’re not really invested because you don’t “get it.” Hmmn… isn’t that a bit egotistical?
Well, guess what? You can channel that to your advantage with social media. Brian Solis has been arguing for years about how digital has given rise to an “egosystem.” The most influential businesses will find success within this ecosystem and its interconnected customers.
Is your ego so large that you think you can stand apart from the prevailing egosystem of connected potential constituents?
TIP: Channel Your Ego through Social Channels that Promote You as an Expert in Your Field
- LinkedIn is terrific for this. You can create an organizational profile; then join existing groups or start your own group. Create discussions. Respond to queries. If you have a blog, link your comments back to your blog posts to drive folks to your website. This is the very best platform for sharing your content. Other than blogging, Jay Baer points out that LinkedIn publishing offers several key benefits for practically all businesses—among them, audience quality and overall reach.
- You can do the same thing on Facebook and create different groups with different interests. This is a terrific way to tailor your communications to segmented constituencies.
- Video is great for this as well. Do you have some research to add to your field? An editorial opinion that’s relevant to one of today’s top news stories? Put something up on YouTube for all the world to see.
- Don’t forget to channel the egos of your employees. Employee advocacy is underutilized, yet highly trusted. Encourage your staff to promote your cause on the channels they frequent, particularly the ones where prospective supporters are likely to hang out.
- Make sure to use social media to build your brand. Pick a domain name that reflects your message and choose social media profiles with that name. Maintain a consistent look and feel throughout your channels. That’s the best way to build brand recognizability!
I fear it will be time wasted because our supporters don’t really use it.
In my experience, the number one reason leaders tell me their constituents don’t really require social media outreach is because they don’t use it themselves. So they imagine everyone is like them. Stop thinking everyone else is like you.
On average, they aren’t.
You’re living in the past. Something has fundamentally altered the rules of the game – and how folks get their information. Yes, it’s called the digital revolution – something that has altered business as usual. It’s why bookstores are disappearing… newspapers are folding… and brick and mortar retailers are seeing declines. Thought leader Brian Solis labels today’s online connectors as “Generation C” for “connected” – and this “generation” knows no age boundaries. In fact, Generation C made the Ice Bucket challenge go viral.
Do you really not want to have access to this prolific and socially active demographic?
TIP: Engage with Folks who Share the Values Your Business Enacts
- Make a list of your top 25 supporters. Folks who already share your values are likely to have friends who share them as well. Your goal is to get them to let their friends be yours. LinkedIn, again, shines here. See if they’re on LinkedIn. If so, connect with them. See what groups they are members of. Consider joining in their discussions. “Like” their comments. Flattery will get you very far, and this is a great way to show your donors you know them and care about more than their wallets. Treat these folks like friends, and before you know it, they’ll be opening doors for you.
- Show some volunteer and donor love by praising your supporters in front of other folks in their networks. Endorse them on LinkedIn. Send a Twitter shout-out singing their praises. Repin something from their Pinterest board to one of yours. Retweet their posts. Send a laudatory email with updates on their latest personal or professional accomplishments or life cycle events to others in their group (e.g., alumni association, advisory committee, auxiliary, giving club).
- Ask your supporters what social channels they engage in. Find them and friend them. Follow them. Network with them. Ask them to do things; asking is are way to stimulate conversation and active participation with you. You can ask for comments and retweets. You can ask folks to sign a pledge or petition. You can ask folks to volunteer, play a game, enter a contest, or respond to a survey. You can ask folks to simply share their accomplishments or social updates with you. Or ask them to share inspiring quotes, reading recommendations, funny photos, memories, or stories.
- Hang out with your peeps. When you put something up on your social media page(s), why not hang out for a few minutes to engage with your network? Don’t call it ‘posting’ but ‘planting seeds.’ Want your relationships to grow? Nurture them.
It will eat up too much of our limited resources.
Another excuse for not embracing social media is that folks can’t imagine where they’ll find time to add it to their already overloaded work schedule. So, why bother when so few folks who matter are using it? (Hopefully we’ve debunked that myth, above).
There’s so much you can do on social media that takes much, much more time without it. How about donor research? You used to have to purchase expensive research systems, hire a researcher, or spend hours in the library. No, you can simply “Google” people. Or looked for them on LinkedIn and see their virtual resume.
Can you really not find an hour a day to get access to a large group of potential supporters?
TIP: Build a Social Media System You Can Manage in Just One Hour Daily.
- Prioritize engagement to get the biggest bang for your buck. This is where the action is. Simply creating a Facebook page and counting your fans won’t get you far. Make sure someone pays attention to your sites. Two of the most important words in social media are “Thank You.” Show that you’re grateful for your constituents’ participation. Show that you’re listening!
- Define your target audiences. Who are the folks who can help you? This includes influencers. What do they need? What can you give them? It’s your job to speak to your prospect’s needs. Now spend time with these folks who really matter.
- Write down your engagement strategy into a plan with assigned responsibilities and deadlines. Stick to your schedule. If you budget 60 minutes a week to create or curate content, stay disciplined. You’ll find you save time, work faster, and get the job done! Simply forcing yourself to do something within stated boundaries makes you more productive.
- Automate your social media posting to work smarter. Automation can take your daily social media work from a few hours to 30 minutes, perhaps, allowing you the ability to use your time wisely. Don’t over-automate; the goal is not to become a robot. To make the most of social media automation and extend efficiency beyond simple scheduling, integrating hyperautomation software can help streamline workflows across marketing, sales, and customer support, combining AI, RPA, and analytics for more intelligent task automation.
We aren’t like “businesses” that use it to “sell” things.
Social marketing is shifting away from company-to-buyer marketing and toward peer-to-peer influence marketing. And there’s almost nothing that positively influences behavior as strongly as learning that someone you respect does it or recommends it. Robert Cialdini tested this out and advocates for peer influence in his groundbreaking 6 Principles of Influence.
Social media is just about the best way to use peer influence that’s ever been invented! Need I say… “Ice Bucket?”
When it comes to persuading folks to donate to you, do you really want to ignore one of the key principles of persuasion?
TIP: Turn Social Media into a Prospect Generation Machine that Converts Visitors into Philanthropists
- Use social media to find new donors. It’s a brilliant way to generate leads (friends of friends, as discussed above), and an even better way to build sustainable relationships with those leads.
- Approach your work from an organization-wide perspective that centers on your customer. Where do they get their news and information? Who might they listen to? Do you have board members, donors, staff or other influencers who might persuade them to act? As Daniel Pink writes in “To Sell is Human,” we’re all in sales now. It’s true for nonprofits as well. We’re all in the persuasion business.
- Use available social analytics tools to determine who most appreciates your content. Once you know who likes your content, you can spend more time with them and not waste your time trying to persuade folks who’ll never convert to donors.
Try out these four strategies and see if your social media use becomes more focused and effective. Or let us know if you’ve got a better strategy!
