What do all of these holidays have in common?  They are wonderful marketing opportunities for your business.

While some of you may already be sighing, thinking that “aren’t these commercialized enough?”  My answer: absolutely!  But that is not my idea here.  This is not about commercialization or fooling consumers into purchasing products or services that they don’t need or want.  What this is about is aligning your marketing message and position to the emotion of the season.

I know it sounds a bit airy-fairy, but by tying in your message to a particular holiday season you may see yourself grab the attention of a consumer who may have otherwise passed you by.

So look at your marketing materials and plan, then see what holidays are happening around the same time.  For example in the USA, Thanksgiving is universally known as a time of giving.  Perhaps in your email blasts you can send out 10 tips to giving back during this holiday season.  Or in your print advertisement you can give an exclusive discount to those who order before a certain date, then give a certain amount to a related charity.

Also, offering discounts and specials around the December holidays will really grab the attention of your marketplace.  While this is not an extremely shocking thought…do you know that many small business owners overlook this?  Offer solutions and helpful tips to making it through the holidays – you will be surprised at the response!  A great example was last year I took a chance and sent out an email blast not of marketing tips, but of holiday recipes that people could try with their families.  While, of course, I received some snarky replies, no shocker there right?  What was shocking was that 20% of the responses were extremely positive and, throughout this year, the dialogue continued with them week on week!

At the end of the day, it is good to tap into the emotions of your audience during each holiday season.  By offering them solutions to their problems, you will not only grab their attention – but you might just grab their loyalty as well.  While this may seem like a fairly elementary article, I really wanted to share it with you to drive home the effectiveness of this marketing strategy.  Hope it makes you think twice when doing outreach to your target audience!

First off, I think there is no end to the irony of starting this discussion here as I came across an article on a blog that I thought was worth mentioning. It was a great article tackling a very real topic: is posting other people’s content on your blog stealing?

Here’s the full article: http://tinyurl.com/3k8pl6q

When I posted this in a few of my LinkedIn groups….the discussion really took off – and it was very polarized.  Now it is your turn to have your say.  While the article makes some wonderful points, do you agree?

I was forwarded an excellent article by a good friend that was recently published on Forbes.com. The topic? The ten myths of social networking for business. Obviously, I was intrigued as I see lists like this cross my desk all the time. This one was different – it made good points while not sensationalizing anything. It was straightforward and had great points.
Here’s the link: http://www.forbes.com/sites/nealrodriguez/2011/08/10/ten-myths-about-social-networking-for-business/

I would love to hear what you think: do you agree or disagree with the points that Neal makes?

I just found this awesome article about this topic and it presents 10 killer ways to protect yourself. If privacy is important to you, I suggest you have a read:
http://tnw.co/p9MQAo

What other ways do you keep yourself safe online? Are privacy issues at the top of your list?

That’s why when I saw this article, I really wanted to share it with you. It talks about the 18 people behind your favorite social media accounts and has some really wonderful insight on how they make it work, their hardships, successes and more:http://tnw.co/peIWHf

What brand do you follow the most online? If you know who is managing the social media, what do you think of their approach? What do you like/dislike?

As a social media marketer myself, my team and I on a daily basis are using social media to increase the visibility, credibility and referral base of our clients.  But…what is the true value?This is where I want to share an excellent article I found on Sazbean about the 6 ways to increase word of mouth referrals with social media….it’s a great read: http://bit.ly/rki4b6

One of my main outlets for this is my board position at The River Fund New York – a nonprofit that helps people stay in their homes and off the streets by providing food, care and support.  You can learn more about them here: http://www.riverfund-ny.org.

As helping nonprofits is a passion, one question that I have been asked is how do nonprofits truly harness the power of social media to get results.  This is a huge question but one that deserves my attention.

So in today’s newsletter I would like to address the top 10 ways that nonprofits can use social media to get results!

1.  Get Strategic!

I am always banging on about the importance of a strategy, but let’s face it: with low budgets and, in many cases, volunteers doing a bulk of the work – a strategy helps create consistency, save time and maximize production.  First, you already need to have a marketing plan in place.  If you don’t….write one!  Marketing plans can be irritating to write, but will save you time and money!  I promise!  Once you have your plan together, add a Facebook Page, LinkedIn Profile and Twitter account to your list.  These are the main and most highly populated channels for you to do your outreach with.  Study each of them to make sure that you are using them in the most effective way….don’t just dive in!

2.  Messaging!

When you are doing outflow, updates, messages, comments and the rest on social sites, you really need to have a solid idea of what your brand message is.  Make sure that your posts SOUND like the brand, and not like a toddler who just arrived at the party.  You want to build credibility and visibility….so don’t use posts like this (which I have changed slightly to not shame the original poster): “great daiy 2day. Lots of qualetty donatuns REceive”.  The best part – it was a huge national charity!  Come on, would you give $100 of your hard earned cash to THAT?

3.  Stop It Already With the Pushiness!

One thing that social sites enable us to do is to engage with our audiences.  Time and time again I have said that everything you do in social media, no matter in what capacity, should bring value to your network.  You want to engage, entertain and educate.  This means not asking for money in every single post.  Mix it up.  Share some news articles that support your position that your cause is important, ask questions that are relevant, give thanks to your large supporters (and small).  You can always work in a donations request, but if you keep being so pushy….you will push people right out of your network.

4.  Video and Pictures?  Really?

Yes, really.  As a nonprofit you know about the power of a press opportunity and how public relations can greatly benefit the profile of your organization and in turn your bottom line.  Now listen up: every nonprofit should have at least ONE person who is in charge of shooting video and taking pictures at any opportunity.  When you share things like this in your social profiles, it not only illustrates the good that you do and your credibility as an organization, but it also helps donors to see what their hard earned dollars are going towards.  And I have seen nonprofits miss this opportunity again and again.  If something interesting is happening…don’t leave the camera and video camera at home.  Plus….you don’t need to be shooting like a professional.  Make the picture clear and the video solid and you are in good shape.

5.  YouTube Ahoy!

Going on from point 4, video is another component that can truly shake up your online marketing presence.  If you didn’t know already, YouTube is the SECOND largest search engine after Google.  Yes…really.  Setting up a channel is easy, its getting the content that can be tough.  That’s why you should always have your camera on you to shoot something interesting.  You can even do video blogs, or vlogs, where you can share your weekly, or even daily, news with your target market.

6.  Where’s Your Link?

Something that nearly everyone misses, nonprofit or not, is promoting their social hubs outside of the given medium.  Meaning, are you only promoting your Facebook Page on Facebook?  What about the 10,000 people that are in your email database?  Have you invited them?  Is it in your email signature?  Is there a link or “badge” on your website?  Do you tell people about it?  Is it on your business cards or brochures?  You catch my drift.  There is a whole world that wants to connect with you….they just might be elsewhere.

7.  Stop Thinking “Build it They Will Come”

Unless you are an absolutely MEGA charity with loads of national and international recognition, you will not explode on social media over night.  You have to roll up your sleeves and do outreach.  I’ve spoken at many nonprofit marketing conferences and one question I get over and over is “Why isn’t my (insert site here) working?”  The reason it isn’t working is that, on a regular basis, you are not supplying good quality content, you are not reaching out to other pages/charities/individuals, you are not sharing pictures/videos, your logo is pixellated….etc.  Social marketing takes consistent and daily interaction, not a “look-in” every once in a blue moon.

8.  Get Measuring!

Another popular question is “How do I measure the success of my campaign?”  The answer once again is, sadly, roll up your sleeves and get to work.  There is not one true blue measuring tool, you have to use various ones to track success.  On Facebook, they provide “Insights” which you can find on your nonprofit’s Facebook home page.  These are similar to Google Analytics and can be learned quickly.  For Twitter there is Twitter Grader and Klout that can help you manage your growth and response rates.  LinkedIn can be tricky, but when you view your profile it gives you a lot of useful information for tracking.  There are also programs like HootSuite (which I love) that will create reports for you across social platforms.  They may have a price tag, but time is money….and measurement can be tough!

9.  Quantity Does Not Equal Quality

In the wonderful world of social media, there are lots of “gurus” who say that you need hundreds of thousands of connections to succeed in social media.  What they are omitting is the fact that quality connections are more valuable.  For example, if your nonprofit dealt with the homeless in Salt Lake City, Utah and you had 100,000 Twitter Followers who were based outside the USA….you missed your target a bit.  Also, tools such as ManageFlitter will help you see how active your network actually is.  Sometimes you may be very surprised!  Quality people who are interested in your message are the only way social success can be reached.

10.  You Are Playing a Long Game.

The last thing that I like to point out is that social marketing is about relationship building, not direct response advertising.  What I mean by that is, unless you are a highly visible nonprofit, you won’t find instant “returns” on your campaign.  You need to start new relationships and build them, which takes months of consistent effort.  Remember – social media is an integral part of your marketing plan….it is not your ENTIRE marketing plan.  While it is effective at branding, visibility, customer service and credibility, it works best alongside a thriving marketing plan.  My advice: look at it as another marketing channel, not the golden egg of free marketing.  While membership is free, your time and effort are not.  It is a definite investment.

To round out this topic, I want to stress to all of you out there that nonprofit social marketing is extremely important, just don’t be misled into thinking that it is the only marketing that you have to do.  Events, email blasts, exhibitions, speeches, advertising, public relations, etc are all still relevant and do work.  Integrate a social element to your marketing strategy and don’t expect an immediate windfall.  Stay consistent and realistic and before you know it, the benefits will begin to roll in!

I’ve received a bucketload of these and have been working through them one by one (thanks by the way).

Most of the questions were focused on strategy, marketing, tactics, tips and the like.  However, one stuck out of the pack and really grabbed my interest.

A friend of mine asked a wonderful question, one that has been on my mind as well.  Is Facebook killing our relationships?

Professionally speaking (from a business marketing perspective) Facebook is an absolute winner as it helps us connect with people far and wide who are interested in receiving our products/services.  It helps us build visibility, credibility and brands us to no end.

But what about personally?  Think about what you have done today: logged into Facebook, checked your friends, commented on some things, ignored others, updated your profile, maybe chatted and logged off.  Now, think about this day in 1998 BF (Before Facebook).  You would have to call a friend, meet them in person, and you’d probably get scolded for sending an email (“How impersonal of you!”).

Well times may be changing…what do you think?  Is Facebook making us lazy?  Are our personal relationships suffering due to easy access of information?  I would absolutely LOVE for you all to weigh in on this one.  It is definitely a hot topic that deserves to be discussed!

11.  Where Is Your Target Market?

On Facebook, many of your target consumers have their own pages.  So it is a good idea for you to “Like” their page.  This brings you onto their radar, but also them into yours (see #12).  Search keywords in the Facebook search bar and then filter the results by Pages.  Take a look and “Like” suitable candidates.  This helps you branch out, grow your base and hit new markets.

12.  Don’t Forget Your Newsfeed!

What I mean by this is, when you are logged in as your Facebook Page, click on the Home button at the top right side of the page.  This is all of the people whose pages that you have “Liked” (from #11).  This looks very similar to your Personal Newsfeed on Facebook and works the same way.  Scroll through the postings and see what posts you want to “Like”, comment or share with your own page.  Don’t just scroll and click “Like” – browse and make decisions that are on brand and message.  Remember, it’s going to be associated with your brand….not your personal account!

13.  Trade and Cross Promote.

If you have good relationships with certain organizations or business partners, approach them with an exchange: you will send an update about their page and create a post, and they will do the same thing.  This is classic self promotion and works extremely well on enhancing your Facebook Page.

14.  Are You Ignoring Your Insights?

Facebook Insights can be accessed from your Home page and are similar in a way to Google Analytics.  This is a great way to continually check your progress and make sure  that what you are doing is creating success rather than hurting you.  It takes time to learn the ins and outs, but is worth the time.

15.  Ask Questions!

Also found on your Home page is a tab on the left called Questions.  What this enables you to do is to send through a message to your fans asking them to answer a question.  This is a great way for you to engage while also getting some feedback.  Think of it as Facebook’s answer to the survey.  The best question I have ever seen?  What sort of posts would you like to see more of/less of?  These types of inquiries will help you actually find out from your own network what’s working and what’s tanking.

Well…there you have it!  I truly hope that these 15 tips will help you reorganize your Facebook Page marketing strategy and enhance not only your numbers, but also the level of engagement of your target consumer.

But why isn’t it happening?

First and foremost, I want to let you know that just having social presence and posting updates does not equal traffic.  The number of connections you have is not a direct connection with how many hits you will get daily/weekly/monthly.

Social marketing is about building relationships on a particular site that will increase your visibility, credibility and get people to trust and buy from you.  It is not an exercise in direct response marketing in a “click here, buy now” way.

For example, there are some outrageous success stories out there about mega brands getting mega sales via social.  But what is different between your campaign and theirs?  They have a built in brand recognition, brand affinity in the millions.  If McDonald’s or Starbucks just launched a Facebook Page…it would take seconds for them to go through the roof.  But who doesn’t know these brands?  Plus, they are trusted brands – hence when they post links, their users feel safe and comfortable enough to click on them.

This type of credibility building takes time and consistency and does not happen over night.

Also, how are you communicating with your audience?  Are you simply sharing links and saying “Buy” or are you sharing information that will engage them, help them out, educate them or entertain them?  This is where traditional marketing and social split slightly, but stay in the same arena.

Think about Costco for example.  They put out a magazine that is chock full of wonderful articles, recipes, news, reviews and much more.  It also contains lots of advertisements for their products.  But, their customers can’t bring themselves to immediately toss the magazine out as it has lots of valuable information.

This is what your social strategy needs to look like in order to get better click throughs and to grow exponentially.

Give your audience things that would interest them.  If you create enough value, you can slip in an advertisement now and again.  Offer discounts, share news within your sector, share videos and pictures that are on-brand and on-message.  This is what engages your network….not just broadcasting yourself.

One thought to leave you with: Would you engage with someone who only talked about themselves and never listened to you?  You would probably not click their link either.