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Last week I attended the NYU-RCLA workshops on using social media to further your social justice mission. It was an amazing three days of learning about social media tools, context, and tips for implementation. Yet the big question of the week seemed to be: how do I get people engage with me?
Imagine, you’re hype about starting your twitter page and facebook thinking you have some awesome content and the masses will start clicking, following, asking lots of questions, and leaving fantastic comments.
Except this rarely happens. Unfortunately, social media is seen as a quick fix to an organization’s community building woes and when hundreds of folks aren’t following you on twitter within a week, you doubt whether or not you are really reaching people.
Before abandoning ship, consider the following tips for building engagement:
- Connect with others: The important part of social media is SOCIAL. Your goal shouldn’t just be to create something new but also to join and contribute to existing conversations. What discussions are taking place that relate to your mission? Once you find those discussions, link liberally, comment on other people’s blogs, retweet interesting postings, and reach out to others about sharing/collaborating on content creation.
- Focus on your content: At the end of the day, people won’t engage with you if you don’t have something interesting to say. In addition to providing updates about what your organization is doing, discuss general news/events related to your mission so people can see the importance of your work. Make your content easy to digest and useful so that people can share with others on their own (lists, how-tos, profiles of people, and specific advice on getting involved) and don’t be afraid of a little controversy. Have an opinion and be human!
- Put yourself out there on and off line: I have always felt that social media does not and cannot replace face to face on the ground work for social change. Instead, social media can supplement your social change efforts by allowing you to engage people in a new way. Tell your supporters and constituents that you are online and ask them to help create content. Make it easy for online supporters to meet you offline by having events and get-togethers and empowering them to meet on their own to brainstorm ways to help you. Attend conferences and meet others interested in your mission and in social media.
- Don’t ignore the people who ARE engaging you: In your quest for engagement, ease up a bit from focusing on the numbers. You may want 1,500 followers on twitter or hundreds of unique hits a day, but in reality only a handful will really comment and share your info. So make sure your interactions are meaningful. Respond to comments and retweets; take note of what kinds of content people respond to and focus on developing it more; do something fun for your readers—have a contest, feature one of them, or just ask to meet them!
- Be patient: Community building doesn’t happen over night! Don’t give up and set realistic goals for your organization based on other people’s experiences and the time you have to commit to developing your online community.
Useful resources:
Tips:
Beth Kanter: Non-Profits that Adopt Social Media Share One Charateristic: Vertigo Tolerance
Altitude Branding: There is no Social Media Tool Kit
Allison Fine: Are You Ready to Tweet?
Trends:
Rootworks: Social Change takes More than Social Media
Allison Fine: The Digital Divide and Social Change
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Comments
08.25.09
These are great tips! I find myself telling these exact things to my clients frequently. One major point that I would like to add is this:
Social media does not automatically equal revenue.
Many non-profits have this idea that they will immediately see the ticket sales or donations pouring in the minute that they post information about their event on Twitter. Sure, social media can equal revenue but only after the points outlined above are realized.
08.25.09
great rundown!
My experience with some small NPOs/NGOs is that many don't understand the benefit of getting involved in social medias. With limited resources, many feel that attention should be dedicated toward potential donors/sponsors directly as opposed to creating a good public presence.
Does anyone have a good case studies of NPOs sized 1-30 employees that have seen dramatic benefits since spending more time and energy toward social media? I think having some real examples would help push engagement
08.25.09
I especially appreciate the tip about engaging those who are in fact already engaging you. Why is it that regular readers/supporters, etc. get ignored so often?
08.25.09
add twitter and facebook to email signature
08.25.09
@ceci Absolutely! Using social media to raise money does not replace traditional forms of fundraising, nor will millions of dollars come rolling in over night. We still need to build community and be patient.
@Michael: Wild Apricot Blog has some wonderful examples of nonprofits using social media. Check out this link that not only has additional tips on using social media but some case studies http://www.wildapricot.com/blogs/newsblog/archive/2009/05/12/social-medi...
@Petya While I was in college one of the student groups I was in was so caught up in numbers that we actually LOST the people who did work with us! I see similar things happening with nonprofits online. Saying that "no one is talking to us" can actually be hurtful to those who are. Instead, why not ask them for input? What brought you here? How can we expand? Would you be willing to help?
@Earnest Of course, having your social media contact info EVERYWHERE will certainly give people more opportunities to click and explore. Just make sure youve got some good content!
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