Nonprofit Performance 360 Magazine Vol 5 No 1

Get personal Take a look at some of the social media accounts you enjoy the most. Are they posting generic status updates? Or are they speaking directly and personally to their target audience? You’ll notice immediately that it’s the latter. Social media works because it allows organizations to engage directly with their followers.That’s what makes it so interesting. Because of this, if you want your social media presence to make an impact, you’ve got to do away with the jargon and the generic comments that don’t offer any valuable information. Talk about a family your organization has helped (with their permission, naturally). Be honest and transparent about the workings of your nonprofit: how you choose grantees, or what challenges you’re currently struggling with, or how your organization has grown and evolved over the past year. Let one of your volunteers share their story. With so many social media posts to compete with, you have to make yours stand out. The best way to do that is to be authentic and transparent.

Create targeted campaigns A great way to increase your social media impact is to create campaigns that target different segments of your supporters. For example, if you want to recruit volunteers for a big event, you could create a Facebook promotion that targets people in your geographic area who’ve expressed an interest in volunteering, in community organizing, or in your nonprofit’s cause. On the other hand, if you’re trying to attract major donors for a capital campaign, you’ll want to take a different approach. You could start by writing a series of blog posts or articles that showcase your organization’s leadership in your sphere. Then you could share some of your best case studies, pulling out key statistics to use as your status updates. Whomever you’re targeting, make sure that you’re using an approach tailored for that specific audience. Trying to take the one- size-fits-all approach often means you end up with a one-size-fits-none campaign. Increase your video content Video is currently the most-consumed content by far on the internet. In fact, by 2019, it’s predicted to account for 80% of all internet traffic.

Not every video has to be highly produced in order to be successful. You can take short, 30-second clips to share on a weekly basis, for example, and invest in producing some higher-quality videos on an annual basis. Once you’ve got the video you need, share it widely on social media. You can also turn short clips into social ads that will likely perform better than your image-only ads. Social media can be an excellent resource for nonprofits, helping them spread their message more widely and attract more donations and volunteers. The key is to be efficient, be transparent, and target your audiences carefully. Shama Hyder is CEO of Zen Media, a leading digital marketing and design agency, a best-selling author, and an internationally renowned keynote speaker. Her latest book, Momentum, is now out in paperback. www.ZenMedia.com www.ShamaHyder.com

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