We know that social media is important and there have been positions, departments and companies formed around social media, such as General Sentiment. New sites like Pinterest are cropping up and becoming the next big thing. So how are we supposed to keep up with all the recommended social media strategies?
Here is Karma411′s quick and simple breakdown of Social Media411:
Twitter - You only have 140 characters to get your point across, so use them wisely! Use this network for short, to-the-point timely updates. And always remember to use your ‘at’ (@) and ‘hashtag’ (#) symbols for key buzz words to increase search-ability of your tweet. Make sure to follow people and don’t limit yourself to one tweet per day. Post a few times a day at varying times, this way you can maximize your ability to be seen as twitter is real time.
Facebook – This site is best for interacting with fans and supporters on a more personal level. Images go a long way – especially in the new Timeline format. They inspire a deeper level of engagement, as do polls about topics that interest your fans- use the poll feature and find other fb apps that you can use to your advantage.
LinkedIn – LinkedIn is a professional networking site with many uses, one of which can be connecting to your corporate donors.This site enables charities to list themselves; you can add your nonprofit the same way you would add a company. Make sure you enlist your team to link to your company homepage. Just like twitter, you can follow companies that interest you and be followed by supporters. Highlight news on your page and get involved in groups and group discussions to maximize exposure.
Pinterest – Pinterest, a virtual clipboard, is a great tool for engaging your community of supporters. Use this network for showcasing compelling images and organizing them into categorized boards, but don’t limit yourself to just images- mix it up with video, infographics and inspirational quotes. Theme your boards to share your team, volunteers and showcase your mission. And don’t forget you can fundraise right on Pinterest adding the $ banner to your images.
Google+ – Use this fastly growing network to start conversations and add specific people to them by putting a “+” before their name. You create circles of your supporters. The network offers great features like hangouts to initiate a group video chat – take advantage of this tool by using it to host exclusive chats with volunteers or clients.
This is not all- inclusive, (don’t forget about YouTube- a great place to post any and all videos that you have showing support for you cause), but gives you a good start and plenty to do! Remember to update your content weekly at the minimum and try to spend some time everyday on social media. Tools like Hootsuite make pre-scheduling content easy. Lastly, keep up-to-date on social media information as much as you can as sites and capabilities change weekly. Companies like Karma411 are good sources with blogs and free webinars, as well as sites like Mashable.
