Using social media, non-profits can spread awareness for their cause, drive traffic to their website, and increase community involvement.
Consistency Across All Accounts
Make sure that all information, imagery, and branding is correct and consistent across all social media accounts and that the information reflects what is on your website. A social media branding guide can help establish a tone-on-voice for your organization’s online presence, what topics are appropriate and inappropriate to talk about, and how to respond to different types of follower comments and interactions.
Develop a Content Calendar
Have a monthly social media content calendar to plan ahead and keep track of your posting. Plan posts around upcoming events, national and social media holidays, and marketing campaigns. Outline everything in a spreadsheet and see where you can fill gaps in your weekly social posts.
Many publishing tools have free options and offer discounts for non-profits:
- Hootsuite offers a free plan that includes one user login and up to 30 schedules posts per month across three connected social media accounts on both desktop and a mobile app. Nonprofit pricing is also available.
- Later offers a free plan that includes one user login for one social profile on each of four connected platforms: Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest. Each platform can have between 30-50 schedule posts a month. Nonprofit pricing is also available.
- TweetDeck is a free online monitoring and publishing tool exclusively for Twitter. Simply sign-in with your Twitter account to post, reply, retweet and follow topics from a streamlined dashboard. This is a great first tool for anyone looking to learn more about social media management.
Content that Drives Action
Inform your followers on what the organization is doing and how they can get involved. People looking to get involved with a nonprofit are more likely to join one that appears active on social media. Catch their attention in the news feed by including images of volunteers and the impact of the organization’s efforts. Share links to your nonprofit’s donation page or volunteer sign-up on your website and include a clear call-to-action that encourages followers to click through.
Write Sharable Content
If you have a blog on your website, find a balance between informative and buzzworthy content that fits with your organization’s brand. Write blogs that answer commonly searched questions that people might have about your organization. Highlights important needs in the community and address ways in which people can easily get involved. Give followers great content, related to your organization or cause, that your followers will want to share with their own social networks.
Sharpen Your Skills
Take advantage of free online courses and certificate programs to improve your skills. Encouraging your volunteers to take free online courses can help to strengthen your non-profit as a whole. Here is a list of courses that we recommend for specific social platforms and for social media management.
- Facebook Blueprint offers free online courses for learning how to use Facebook and all of its associated products. Paid certification exams are also available.
- Twitter Flight School offers free online courses for learning how to create Twitter Ads and understand profile analytics.
- Hootsuite Academy offers paid online courses and certifications for learning social media management. However, some courses are available for free without the purchase of a Hootsuite license.
- HubSpot Academy offers free online courses and certifications on different topics relating to social media management and advertising.
With certified social media experts on staff, BlaineTurner Advertising is able to help clients turn their social media profiles into vehicles for action and engagement. Learn how BlaineTurner can help with your social and digital marketing strategy!
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