You have a great logo, a solid elevator pitch, and a website you’re not embarrassed to call your own.

“There is no marketing cure for sucking.”
— Mark Schmulen, Constant Contact

When you’re new to social media, getting people to notice you is near the top of the To Do list.

How many times a day should you post? How do you get new followers? How do you even get people to notice you? But the real secret to social media success? None of that stuff matters.

OK, I lied: It all matters. But not when you’re getting started.

Once you’ve learned the basics, push those strategic questions aside before you short-circuit your efforts: Social media is a revolving showcase of shiny objects for the easily distracted – from world events to lolcats — and if your content sucks the rest is just unhelpful detail.

Substance > Style

Celebrating content as king – queen, if you prefer – is nothing new. But even if the core of social networking is a text box and a send button, there are countless ways to use that itty-bitty space to benefit yourself and your business. People are often drawn in by the weird, cute and trendy — but what really sticks is relevance.

Think specifically about the people who will be beneficial for you to connect with (hint: this is not “everyone”): Past customers, potential customers, related businesses. Focus on those who have a need for the product, information or service that you offer.

• What can you share on a regular basis that will be meaningful to them?
• What questions do people often ask?
• What might people be hesitant to ask in person?

If you sell a product, sharable information could include maintenance tips or new developments. If you offer a particular expertise, sharing tips or reminders can be valuable. News and events that are related to your business will keep your audience informed — and help establish you as an information resource.

Occasionally, you can remind people that your business is available to help — but hold onto these wise words from Margaret Thatcher:

“Being powerful is like being a lady. If you have to tell people you are, you aren’t.”

If you spend all your time telling people how great your business is, they’ll never be able to judge for themselves just how awesome you really are — and they won’t stick around to find out.

Getting back to details

Once you have a steady stream of useful information worked into your routine, and a growing community of people who are interested in what you have to say, the nitty-gritty becomes much more relevant — and easier to figure out.

• When do people typically respond to the information you send?
• Do the people in your network login from work, or is it more of an evening-and-weekend crowd?
• What information do people find most useful, and would reposting it help connect with new people?

Social networks are not a build-it-and-they-will-come marketing miracle, but with focused brainstorming and attention to the information that matters, you’ll be well on your way to getting the results you’re looking for.

Impulse actions — a retweet on Twitter, a like on Facebook — can seem small, almost insignificant. But could these same people be among your nonprofit organization’s strongest supporters?

I recently co-moderated a panel, From Slacktivist to Activist: Partners in Change, One Small Step at a Time, as part of Social Media Week in Toronto. Over the next few blog posts, I’ll review some of the session’s discussion. To start: My opening thoughts about enabling supporters to take small actions that have meaning to them.

How do you move people to get involved?

"The Trust Pyramid" by John Haydon

Your organization has a relationship with every person who comes in contact with it: staff, volunteers, donors, casual passersby. Generally speaking, there’s a continuum that each may follow towards taking action:

• I know > Awareness of your organization/cause
• I understand > Understanding what you do and why
• I believe > Belief in what you do and why
• I do > Action towards a common goal

This progression may take seconds for someone donating a dollar or two at the cash register; it may take years for a major donor. And individuals will shift depending on a number of factors including personal goals and commitments.

The question is: How do you keep people consistently moving towards action?

Moving towards action

Traditionally, communication plans focused on a number of strong tactics:

• Earned media (TV/radio/newspaper)
• Internal or owned tactics (your organization’s newsletter/website/email)
• Advertising and collateral materials (if time, budget, and/or expertise is available)

These tactics have reach but it’s generally outward; you send your best work into the world and hope something sticks. You may gain some idea of impact – for example, a spike in web traffic after a front page article in a major newspaper (awareness), or even an increase in registrations for an event (action).

But what happens in the middle? These decisions are personal, internal — how can you figure out what moves people from knowing to doing?

In short: Small actions matter if they have meaning to that person

Looking Up, by Allan Foster

Those questions formed the basis for the panel discussion, which will be recapped in future posts. To wrap this post, I’ll leave you with a couple of third-party observations. (Emphasis below added by me.)

A report last year from Blackbaud and the Hartsook Institutes for Fundraising cited that “…there is an emerging body of evidence that those individuals who do interact through two or more channels can be significantly more loyal” to an organization.

A quarterly newsletter is not enough to stay top-of-mind; you need something more.

Mobile giving — spontaneously sending a text that adds a donation to your next cell phone bill — is another small action that in many ways feels disconnected to me. However, one comment on my Facebook page from Cate Edmond gave me pause: She texted a donation to the same organization she both volunteers and fundraises for at other times of the year after seeing a poster on the bus.

“I feel it is somewhat freeing to give and move on, only because there is only so much one person can do, and you can’t give your time to every cause out there. So I give what I can, and spend my time on the projects that are really meaningful to me.”

One shift that’s increasingly clear is that communication is less focused on reaching the masses, and more focused on building relationships with the people who already care.

What do you think — is this a move in the right direction? Are there any organizations you think are doing a great job of making this shift?

Yesterday, I had the benefit of co-hosting a Social Media Week panel called “From Slacktivist to Activist: Partners in Change, One Small Act at a Time” with my non-profit communications colleague Karen Luttrell, of Luttrell Communications.

An excellent panel of speakers generated more than an hour of interesting and inspiring discussion; I know more than one person left the session with new ideas percolating!

While a few more detailed blog posts will come, here is the overview Storify summary featuring highlights from the Twitter hashtag, #SMWTOslacktivist.

How does a Facebook “like” or a retweet on Twitter move your cause forward? The impact of these impulse actions can seem almost insignificant.

But could these same people be among your non-profit organization’s strongest advocates? “From Slacktivist to Activist: Partners in Change, One Small Act at a Time” on Feb 13 in Toronto looked at how these small acts can strengthen relationships and lead to greater collaboration with your supporters.

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Moderated by Amy Sept and Karen Luttrell, From Slactivist to Activist: Partners in Change, One Small Act at a Time features four expert panelists:

Kirstin Beardsley, Canada Helps

How can non-profit organizations use social media to support their fundraising efforts? Kirstin Beardsley, marketing and communications manager at CanadaHelps, will discuss this as well as CanadaHelps’ ability to facilitate collaboration between organizations and their donors and supporters.

Tierney Smith, TechSoup Canada

As community manager for TechSoup Canada, Tierney Smith will speak from her experience using social media tools to empower non-profit organizations in their use of technology and bringing people together through offline Meetup groups.

George Irish, Amnesty International

In May 2011, Amnesty International launched AI50 — a one-year campaign that marks Amnesty’s 50 years of fighting for human rights. This campaign focuses on six key issues, and encourages social activism to help make a difference; since launch, more than 15,600 actions have been taken to help move these issue forward. George Irish will speak about the campaign and how collaboration with a corporate partner  has been key to its success.

Boyd Neil, Hill and Knowlton Canada

As social media practice leader at Hill & Knowlton Canada, Boyd Neil is an expert about moving people from slacktivism to activism; after speaking about it at NXNW in Toronto last year, he’s set to take the stage at the SXSW conference in Texas next month.

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If you would like more information about this panel, please get in touch. Hope to see you there!

Did you attend the MyCharityConnects conference?
Take a moment to say “Hi”: @AmySept on Twitter or email amy@nimbyist.com.
Also, check out my Storify coverage of my conference experience: Update from Day 1, update from Day 2.

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My session at MyCharityConnects

MyCharityConnects was a conference in Toronto, held June 6 and 7, 2011 to kick off Net Change Week. A great chance for nonprofit folks to connect and learn more about “being online for public good”.

During my June 6 session, You’re on social media – now what? Finding the next steps, I looked beyond the tools to the basic elements behind a social media plan.

UPDATE: During the session a few questions were asked by folks and I said I’d add some related info to this page; I’ve added that additional information to the end.

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More about Astronaut Abby

During my presentation, I mentioned a young woman named Abby who’s using social media to pursue her dream of being an astronaut. To learn more, follow her on Twitter (@AstronautAbby) or visit her blog.”Abby has wanted to be an astronaut since she was 7 years old and this desire has grown very strong this past year as she has been mapping out plan for high school, college and beyond to make the goal a reality…” Read more…

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Social media statistics, metrics, and other info

Following are links to statistics, benchmark studies and other resources that I think will be helpful to you as you get your social media efforts off the ground.

A few of the many sites for info about nonprofits and social media

• Mashable: for social media or for social good
• Social media marketing for nonprofits, from John Haydon
• CharityHowTo.com offers regular webinars, including a selection of great webinars for free
• NonprofitWebinars.org also offers regular free webinars
• If you’re on Twitter, give these Twitter chats a chance and learn from your nonprofit colleagues

Trends and social networks

• IDing the right social networking tools for your nonprofit, by Nancy E. Schwartz
• Seniors Presence on Social Media Doubles (May 2010)
• What are the (many) different social media networks and what are they good for? Have a look at The Conversation Prism, by Brian Solis and Jess3
• 2011 Nonprofit Communication Trends report, by Kivi Leroux Miller (download free with email registration)

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Nonprofit benchmark information

The Nonprofit Social Network Benchmark Report (download free with email registration)
Provides interesting insight into social media results by sector, as well as fundraising results and details about internal social network use.

2011 eNonprofit Benchmarks Study (download free with email registration, incl. related materials)
This report covers a number of subjects: enewsletters, social media, fundraising, advocacy and more. Offers a lot of charts.

2011 Convio Online Marketing Nonprofit Benchmark Index™ Study (download free with email registration)
This study also covers a number of subjects: web traffic, email, online revenue. The subjects are somewhat different from the eNonprofit Benchmarks Study, but the data is cushioned by much more context and analysis.

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Setting objectives and figuring out metrics

Measuring Online Engagement: A beginning, by Debra Askanase
“I’ve defined three different kinds of measurements: status, engagement, and activism measurements. We need all three measurements to understand the strength of a company’s online presence, stakeholder engagement with a cause or organization, and what percentage of them are moved to action by the organization.” Read more…

25 SMART social media objectives, by Beth Kanter
“The process includes beginning with identifying intent.  Next, make it specific by adding a number, percentage, increase/decrease and a date.   Some nonprofits find it hard to do because it takes hitting the pause button.  Also, there may be a feeling that one is getting “graded” if they don’t make the deadline or hit the target number.   SMART objectives can be revised along the way” Read more…

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From the session: Questions

Q: “When should you tweet and how often?”
A: In broad terms, tweeting first thing in the morning as people get to work – or, optimally, 4p.m. on Friday afternoon (via Fast Company, Tip 9) – has a good reputation, but I think it really depends who you’re trying to reach. To find out what works for your own followers, Christopher Penn wrote this helpful “how to” article that uses Twitter searches and Google Reader. This post from oneforty.com links to several tools that might also help you pinpoint your ideal time(s).

Q: “With social media and all these online activities, is there still a place for direct mail?”
A: Direct mail is not my area of expertise, but the opinion among my fundraising friends seems to be a resounding “Yes!” Here are a few recent posts on the subject that you might find interesting.

• Survey research can lead fundraisers to trouble, by Jeff Brooks
• 2011 donorCentrics Internet and Multichannel Giving Benchmarking Report, from Blackbaud

I also suggest you tune in to the Twitter chat #smNPchat on June 17 at noon ET; this is a group of nonprofit professionals, many of them experienced fundraisers, and the topic of the chat will be the report from Blackbaud. (What is a Twitter chat? A “how to” post.)

Q: What’s the cost of social media?
A: This actually came out of a private discussion rather than the session, but I wanted to include it here. The context of the conversation was an organization wanting to launch onto social media, but perhaps some misunderstandings about how much time and effort might be involved. To argue the case for more resources, here’s an interesting infographic that shows the cost of social media. While it may not be directly applicable to a non-profit organization, it outlines some of the costs that should at least be considered.

There was also some discussion about social outreach plans and social policy, and someone in the group suggested this presentation from last year’s MyCharityConnects conference: If you fail to plan, you plan to fail: Developing a social media strategy.

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Do you have other nonprofit and/or social media resources you turn to on a regular basis? Please add them in the comments!

The Dec. 16 #smNPchat looked at what makes a story newsworthy and how to improve your chances of getting attention. A well-written press release can make the difference between getting coverage and being overlooked; here are a few important pieces of advice.

Positive attention for your organization that’s free – who doesn’t want that? If you want your chance at the spotlight, you need to stand out.

I once asked an organization why people should donate to them.
The response? “Because we do good work.” That is true – of your organization and every other nonprofit out there. You need more than goodness to earn media coverage: You need a relevant, newsy story.

How to write a press release

The reporter who hasn’t returned your call doesn’t have anything against you or your cause; they’re stretched just as thin as you are.
Try to make their job as easy as possible.

I approach every press release as if I’m writing the story on the reporter’s behalf: I try to anticipate the information they need, write in the same style, and include an expert quote or summarize an interesting story.

Your release should answer the Who, What, Where, When, Why and How about your topic. Once you’ve figured out your messages, here are a few concepts that will make life easier for you and the reporter: The three Cs and the inverted pyramid.

Introducing the three Cs

I had the three Cs drilled into me through journalism school: Keep your writing clear, concise and conversational. How does this translate into your press release?

• Use plain language and don’t be too creative. A reporter won’t use Google to figure out what you’re trying to say, so really work to keep the jargon out. If a 12-year-old wouldn’t understand what you’ve written, it is worth taking the time to try again. Also, particularly with your headline, don’t be too creative – if you’re writing about an event this weekend, say so.

• Get to the point. I recommend limiting your information to one page (approx. 500 words). If you need more than a page to cover your key points, focus on the main message – with a few strong supporting facts or quotes – and trim the rest.

Techie Tip: If you have background information, supplemental reports or statistics, post the information to your website and include a link with your news release.

• Be conversational – but not chatty. You should be able to read your release out loud easily; if your tongue trips over any spots, those sections need more work. However, conversational should be more Job Interview style than Drinks After Work On Friday. Don’t use slang or common expressions like “hey”, and unless included in a quote you shouldn’t need to use exclamation marks.

The inverted pyramid

When you read an article online or in a newspaper, chances are the headline grabbed your attention first. You read the first paragraph or two; it the topic is interesting you keep reading. If not, you move on. Your press release will face the same scrutiny.

Your release cannot follow the dramatic structure you learned in English class: If you try to build up to a climax you will lose attention and run out of space! What you need is the inverted pyramid.

I believe a newspaper editor I wrote for in high school told me that when he needed to shorten an article he started cutting from the bottom up.

Perhaps that’s true, or maybe he just wanted to get his point across: If the important information is anywhere but the top of an article, it may not make the final cut.

Every significant piece of information should be covered in the first two – brief – paragraphs. (The only exception is contact information, which I would list in your final paragraph.)

After your opening paragraphs, add your supporting information: for example, a quote from a client about the difference your program has made in his life, followed by a quote from your executive director about the goal of the program. Perhaps include a few carefully-selected statistics to highlight the scope of the problem or reflect the impact your work has had.

When you think you’ve finished your press release, check (and double-check) the opening paragraphs and make sure the important information is there – and if possible, get a someone else to review your release, too.

A few last tips

• Include appropriate contact information in the article. Properly formatted, a press release ends with “-30-” or “###” followed by the media contact’s information. These markers set a boundary that says “anything below this is not to be included”. Add any relevant contact information above the marker – the last paragraph of your release is a great spot.

• Don’t add editorial comments unless they’re in a quote. One of my early mentors criticized any release that started with “We are pleased to announce…” The fact that you’re sending a press release, she noted, makes this pretty obvious. Save the excitement for any quotes you include. For example, add a quote from your executive director that says “Without the incredible support of our community, this program would not exist.”

• Avoid exclamation marks. I mentioned this earlier, but sometimes exclamation marks get out of control.  As with editorial comments, save the excitement for your quotes and eliminate any other exclamation marks that snuck in.

 Photo by World Economic Forum, diagram from Wikipedia. Used under CC license.

Image by Wesley Fryer on Flickr (cc)

Your nonprofit organization has an event next month, you’re looking for ways to promote it, and suddenly creating a Facebook account seems the most brilliant way to bring out the masses.

Stop! Take a deep breath.

A quick reality check

While Wendy’s may be able to pull this sort of one-month campaign out of their back pocket – not to mention all the pre-planning, expertise and resources that go with it – your organization will need a minor miracle to do the same.

That’s not to say that you can’t get started; your event is a great opportunity to tell your fans how to find you. But don’t rush it. If you don’t already have a solid plan ready-to-go, focus on your event and get back to social media later; it should be part of your long-term marketing strategy and you’ll do better by planning ahead for next year instead of scrambling around now.

4 ways to find success – with a little help from your friends

Even without a social media presence, there are ways to tap into those networks: Ask others who support your cause to do it for you.

1) Give your fans the tools they need to spread the word. Personal social media use is growing across all age groups – adults 55+ in particular – so be careful not to jump to conclusions about who you think uses these networks. Make it easy for people to share information about your event and put together a little promo toolkit. Create a web page about the event that people can link to. Put together a short (25 words or less) promotional blurb for the event that’s easy for people to use. Think through all the different things people could use to share your message and give them what they need to do so.

2) Pitch it to your email list. If your organization has an email list, ask those folks for help. The tools you’re creating for Tip #1? Send an email that points the way to that toolkit so people who want to support your organization by sharing that info have it handy.

3) Check with your sponsors. Consider everybody from your major corporate sponsors to the mom and pop bakery sponsoring your hot dog buns; a lot of them will have their own social media channels and may be more than happy to promote their own affiliation with your cause by promoting your event to their network.

4) Ask your volunteers. Don’t forget to ask your volunteers for help getting the message out; they may have their own business, school or employer who can offer promotional support, or have their own networks they can connect with.

Bonus: Get some coverage in your local media. A majority of news outlets now use social media to distribute their news. Earning some media coverage for your event will help you offline and online – and give your other fans even more news to share.

What’s worked for you? Please add your own tips to the comments!

Measuring your social media efforts: We all know we should be doing it. It’s just so much easier not to.

Or is it?

“If you don’t take time to measure, you’re operating blind,” said Adele McAlear, director of operations, measurement and analytics with Edelman Digital in Montreal, at a recent event with IABC/Toronto’s Independent Professional Communicators.

Taking time to track what you’re doing with social networks helps you reduce your risk online – a big concern for a lot of organizations – and it helps you figure out what actually works. “If you don’t measure/analyze/monitor there’s no way for you to know whether you’re even targeting the right space,” McAlear noted.

But first, let’s talk ROI

I confess, measuring and translating data isn’t one of my strengths so I’m trying to improve. I recently read Marketing White Belt: Basics for the Digital Marketer by Christopher S. Penn which says this about Return on Investment, or ROI – a term that is often misused when it comes to social media:

“ROI is a financial term with an actual financial formula. There is no substitute for it and there are no factual, intelligent ways to weasel around it. Expressions like “return on influence”, “return on engagement” and “return on conversation” are largely invented terms by people who don’t know how to calculate ROI.”

Ouch.

Yet McAlear says the same thing: It’s an actual, hard, business plan number that shouldn’t be confused with anything else. “It’s about actual revenue from sales not Facebook likes.”

I think terms like “return on engagement” stem from the fact that, perhaps particularly with causes, there is a lot of social media-related advocacy that doesn’t come with an easy-to-measure sticker price. But that doesn’t mean your Board of Directors won’t question the money that’s been set aside for a part-time community manager.

McAlear gave a nod to that, too: “What’s the ROI of a press release? A photograph?” She argues that the value of committing resources to these activities isn’t measured – or evaluated – in terms of ROI. So while social media can be measured, it needs a different framework.

So now what?

McAlear outlined a social media measurement plan that I’ll highlight in an upcoming post. I’ve also just started reading Social Media ROI: Managing and Measuring Social Media Efforts in Your Organization (affiliate link) by Olivier Blanchard and am following what other recognized experts like Katie Paine are saying.

How hot are your social media measurement skills? Who or what would you recommend?

Sometimes there’s a gap between receiving money from donors and spending it – the space between, where something that says Thank You should be. I don’t know whether there are any statistics about it, but from conversations with fundraising colleagues and unofficial tests it seems a lot of non-profits – maybe even a majority – miss this critical step.

Why?

I suspect that sometimes, staff and volunteers are already so busy delivering services and getting money in the door that they aren’t able to put together any kind of donor recognition.

I also suspect that in some cases, good intentions get stuck behind lack of money and energy; no time to do it well, so it doesn’t get done at all.

I’ve been there; we all want what we do to be of high quality and look professional. But I’m beginning to believe that point of view can be wrong; it misses the point.

Sometimes the unpolished, the unprofessional, isn’t just all you need. It’s already perfect.

Remarkable ways to say Merci

I love getting mail from people and organizations I like. So I was thrilled to get a postcard one day from Small Change Fund – an organization I’ve written about and supported in the past.

I had made a small donation, and received this about the advocacy campaign I’d funded: “You rock and Fisher Bay is now a provincial park!”. Woohoo – I made a difference!

What more does your donor really need to know?

Earlier this week I learned about an organization called Fugees Family, an organization created by one woman who saw a need and decided to do something about it; Luma Mufleh is building a community around kids – refugee children now in the U.S. – who’ve survived war and are rebuilding their lives one step at a time.

Luma’s work has received a fair amount of attention lately; I read about it through blogger Marjorie Clayman (@MargieClayman) who is on a blogging hiatus until she reaches her goal: 400,000 new donors for this organization. I made a small contribution, and today in my email I found this.

It’s not flashy or seamlessly produced, it’s simple and real. It’s very sweet. And it gets the point across: Thank You.

What remarkable Thank Yous have you seen? Please share in the comments!