Comments on: 10 Tips for Non-Profit Social Media Success

By: Mila Araujo

Mila Araujo — Mon, 12 Nov 2012 16:49:56 +0000

Dear John, Thank you so much for your comment. Video is definitely something that we can easily intergarte into our strategies with the accessibility that we now have via mobile phones or other personal digital devices. Youtube also makes it easier to distribute and “house” video – so, I am very glad to hear you’re exploring this.

Facebook is definitely a strategy to use with non-profits. In fact it can be very powerful, which is why I left it aside for another post. In my presentation, I had discussed the issue of non-profits getting distracted with the number of likes, as opposed to the actual behavior of the people who were “liking” a page. The importance is that if the People are not actively involved in your Facebook pages and posts, then there is no sharing, and little reach. When it comes time to do a call to action, your “likes” will not “activate” because they are simply not involved. So the most important focus is for non-profits to create an environment for an active community and not focus so much on the number of likes. Hope this helps to clarify, thank you so much for making the point, I see my original line in the post may have been misleading – I appreciate the chance to clarify!

By: John Treck

John Treck — Thu, 11 Oct 2012 07:50:21 +0000

Thanks for these tips. I now trying a lot with video! And I a have question about #2 Why not an facebook account also?

By: Milaspage

Milaspage — Tue, 02 Oct 2012 16:13:03 +0000

margieclayman Well we are in agreement there I’m glad you raised the point though, overall, the proper behavior and goals for Facebook community is extremely important – in fact it can be the most powerful site for the non-profits, if they create a smart strategy! In my presentation I mentioned that non-profits are at an advantage because of the fact that their “traditional” operation methods usually include direct mail campaigns, therefore existing data bases of people. In the presentation, I suggested populating the Facebook page with their already “known” supporters, as a starting point. My reference to not focusing on Facebook Likes and follows more related to requesting likes, and feeling satisfield with this as a goal. A goal should never be likes, nor should the success of a social media manager be determined by the number of likes, but rather shoudl revolve around what those who are liking the page are doing. Hence the title, cultivating zombies (people who “like and run”) vs activating community. A related post that features the examples I used in the presentation is here: http://milaspage.com/seduced-by-the-numbers-the-honeymoon-is-over-the-value-of-a-facebook-like-casestudy/I also covered it here, referring to some data from the 2012 Charity Index, which I also used in my presentation:http://socialmediatoday.com/mila-araujo/851101/empowering-non-profits-drive-positive-change-social-media You have a great point Margie! Thank you so much for extending the conversation with your thoughts! It was really great to have the chance to speak with people facing the social media challenges and looking for ways to energize their communities and get social!

By: margieclayman

margieclayman — Tue, 02 Oct 2012 11:43:11 +0000

Hi Mila,Great tips! The only thing I disagree with you on a bit is the Twitter thing. I think it can be a lot easier for an NPO to harness community on a Facebook page where memes and videos can be seen. Unless you run a chat or have a specific hashtag, which is hard to maintain ownership of, community can be hard to envelope in the vast expanses of Twitter.Thoughts?