Everybody uses social networks. They're as much a part of how we communicate with one another as real-world conversation. Naturally, marketers have used that to great effect - according to Hubspot, 80% of marketers who put in the time to run a social campaign saw a noticeable increase in traffic as a result.
I'm certain you can see where I'm going with this.
"In almost every part of modern life, the digital revolution creates a democratizing opportunity that is unparalleled - maybe since the printing press was mechanized," Knight Foundation CEO Alberto Ibargüen explained to The Miami Herald. "I don't want to deal in hyperbole but whether it's Kickstarter or whether it's the contests we run for arts journalism, you can engage and inform in much more effective ways than before."
In other words, social networks have changed charities - and that's very, very good news.
Well...it is if you know how to leverage social media for your own charitable organization. It isn't simply a matter of creating a Facebook page or Twitter feed, after all. There are certain rules you have to follow, certain truths you need to know, and certain elements you need to understand.
The first is that in some ways, even with social media, nothing's really changed at all.
"In my experience, social media is only truly effective for fundraising when there is a disaster of incredible magnitude, or perhaps in a high-profile political campaign," writes HBR's Morra Aarons-Mele. "For every other cause, you create real action not by chasing the reassuring trending topics, but with old-fashioned organizing. You need a great idea, and you need the network in place to create the wildfire of discussion among diverse networks of online influencers."
In other words, just as it was before social media, setting up a successful, widely-discussed fundraiser or event requires several months of work. It requires that you get in touch with partners, sponsors, and potential donors. It requires not only a desire to help, but a healthy dose of marketing savvy.
And most importantly, it requires a network. It requires that you draw in a crop of like-minded individuals, men and women who want to change the world just as you do. People who want to do some good.
But how do you attract those people, exactly?
"The majority of charities and social enterprises, of all types and sizes, are to varying degrees aware of social media's power and potential," writes Carlos Miranda of The Guardian. "Many organizations have truly embraced social media and have, appropriately, embedded it into their fundraising and marketing strategies...however, the bottleneck has shifted. The conversation now is not whether or not an organization should be on Facebook or Twitter, but rather how businesses can make them work."
"The answer is content," he continues. "Content is the material that demonstrates your success on social media. In fact, it's fair to state that you will never maximize the potential or full power of social media until you are proactively creating and strategically sharing your own original content."
Okay. So you need content. What kind of content? And how should you distribute it? And how often? And what exactly does Miranda mean by 'proactively create' and 'strategically share?'
As in many other fields, the best way to understand what you need to do is to look at campaigns put together by other charities that have things figured out, like #Icebucketchallenge and #MyChildsMyWorld.
These campaigns - and indeed, most every successful social charity fundraiser - have the following factors in common:
-
They encourage and reward audience participation (selfies, videos, etc.)
-
They're attached to a hashtag or tagline that's easy to remember (and not easily hijacked)
-
They make use of rich media such as video in promotional materials - video is known to increase conversions by up to 30%.
-
At one point or another, they caught the attention of a celebrity participant. This is the one thing you can't really exercise any direct control over. All you can really do is implement an outreach campaign, get in touch with celebrities you feel would support your cause, and hope they pay attention.
Social networks have become as much a part of how we communicate as in-person conversation. Charitable organizations can use that. By understanding how to integrate social into their campaigns, they can greatly improve their chance of success in the long run.