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talks! Social Media: Outreach & Awareness Building Presenter: Allen Gunn, Executive Director Aspiration Sponsored by

Social Media: Outreach & Awareness Building Conference Call: Access Code: Today’s Speakers Kami Griffiths TechSoup Assisting with chat questions: Jennie Frohman, TechSoup All presentation content is Creative Commons licensed :) Allen Gunn (Gunner) Aspiration

Social Media: Outreach & Awareness Building Conference Call: Access Code: Agenda What are you trying to accomplish? Online strategy overview Housekeeping 2.0 – manage your social media real estate Understand the role of each channel Coordinate channels to maximize traffic

Social Media: Outreach & Awareness Building Conference Call: Access Code: Agenda Follow essential processes to sustain –Message calendaring –Publishing matrix –Social media dashboard Learn by studying others –Know who's doing it well –Watch how they engage & tap resources –Watch how they share knowledge

Social Media: Outreach & Awareness Building Conference Call: Access Code: About Aspiration Mission: Better software for nonprofits –We work with all stakeholders in the nonprofit software ecosystem In our work, we: –Provide strategic consulting –Coach orgs on sustainable processes –Train and mentor in effective use of tools –Run user-driven collaborative tech events

Social Media: Outreach & Awareness Building Conference Call: Access Code: What are you trying to get done? When considering the role of social media in your org, know your goals – Building brand – Raising awareness and educating – Mobilizing for action – Leveraging knowledge and resources The good news is you can start slowly – Just get things in place, build from there

Social Media: Outreach & Awareness Building Conference Call: Access Code: First Things – Process Points Have an overall communications strategy and process –Know what you're trying to achieve –Have well-defined processes for creating and posting online content Do social media plan in that context –Define concrete goals for online engagement, overall and per-program

Social Media: Outreach & Awareness Building Conference Call: Access Code: Got a Strategy? Answer fundamental questions first –How do we describe our organization? –How do we explain our work? –Who is empowered to speak on behalf of the organization? –What is the process for approving externally published content? Addressing these before starting a social media project drives down costs

Social Media: Outreach & Awareness Building Conference Call: Access Code: Who Do You Include in the Process? Social media projects = organizational development opportunities in disguise –Follow transparent process for whole org –Have an internal communication strategy Include all stakeholders from the start – Don't “leave it to the techies” - ever –Interview each stakeholder to understand how the strategy should support their work –Think in terms of “publishing workflows”

Social Media: Outreach & Awareness Building Conference Call: Access Code: What to Discuss? Answer external questions next –Who are primary and secondary audiences? –What value/benefit will you provide each audience to draw them to engage? –What are your goals for what they do in response and take away from you? –What content needs to exist to support answers to all the above? Engage external audience members!

Social Media: Outreach & Awareness Building Conference Call: Access Code: Where to Start? Idealized social media process –Answer internal and external questions Know your overall goals for communications –Sketch out “information architecture” Marshall content to support that vision –Draft “user stories” Describe how audiences and staff will use your online channels –Build out infrastructure Create accounts, integrate channels

Social Media: Outreach & Awareness Building Conference Call: Access Code: What is the Staff Time Commitment? What is your online workflow? –Regular updates can be done in just a few hours per week Frequency, complexity of updates correlates to required staff time Content development is larger cost –Interactive community features up costs Responding to comments Managing discussion boards Allowing other user participation

Social Media: Outreach & Awareness Building Conference Call: Access Code: First Things – Housekeeping 2.0 Lock down your virtual real estate –Reserve any accounts you could envision using now or in the future Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, YouTube, MySpace Log in every days to keep accounts live Don't forget about domain names –Set them up to look like a family Strive for naming consistency, usually based on your organizational domain name Use consistent branding: images & language

Social Media: Outreach & Awareness Building Conference Call: Access Code: You have accounts, then what? Consider which online audiences you are trying to reach –Which channels seem most appropriate? –Initially focus on one or two –Integrate into publishing workflow Measure growth and response –Keep metrics on followers, fans, etc –Over time, where do audiences respond? –What propagates?

Social Media: Outreach & Awareness Building Conference Call: Access Code: How to Track All These Accounts? Keep an inventory of online venues –Accounts & organizational “owner” –Domain names –Renewal dates where relevant Don't associate contact info with individual staff addresses, use aliases –e.g. –Have aliases go to more than 1 staff e.g. operations manager +...

Social Media: Outreach & Awareness Building Conference Call: Access Code: Linking between accounts and site Set up links in both directions –On each social media account, specify organizational URL to link to “main” site –Update web site page template(s) to link to social media channels Best practice: with signup, above “fold” –Also to link to appropriate accounts (Facebook, Twitter) from contact page –Potentially link from staff pages

Social Media: Outreach & Awareness Building Conference Call: Access Code: Advertise on All Pages

Social Media: Outreach & Awareness Building Conference Call: Access Code: Add to Other Templates newsletter

Social Media: Outreach & Awareness Building Conference Call: Access Code: Other Best Practices Add to signatures

Social Media: Outreach & Awareness Building Conference Call: Access Code: Housekeeping Done, Now What? How does one coordinate the different channels to maximize traffic? Understand the role of each channel –Each has different purpose and value Follow three essential processes –Message calendaring –Publishing matrix –Social media dashboarding

Social Media: Outreach & Awareness Building Conference Call: Access Code: Different Roles for Different Channels Do you model your online channels as a spectrum of communications options? –Appropriateness of message to channel –Frequency of message –Tone and voice –Time and labor investment vs ROI

Social Media: Outreach & Awareness Building Conference Call: Access Code: Range of roles for Social Media You can start slowly and ramp up your use of/dependence on social media from... –Announcement service to... –Lightweight communications channel to... –Collaborative hub to... –Immersive community engagement sphere

Social Media: Outreach & Awareness Building Conference Call: Access Code: Spectrum – Target Audience Blogging Web Site Know you; want constant information and details about your work. Potential supporters, learning about your work and organization

Social Media: Outreach & Awareness Building Conference Call: Access Code: Spectrum – Tone and Voice Blogging Web Site First person singular “I” Informal and fun First person plural or third person “We” or “The org”

Social Media: Outreach & Awareness Building Conference Call: Access Code: Matching Tools to Message Blogging Web Site Late-breaking news, Real-time updates, Teasers, Flirts Opportunistic asks Planned messaging, measured narrative Urgent alerts, Intentional asks

Social Media: Outreach & Awareness Building Conference Call: Access Code: Control of Message and Brand Blogging Web Site Shared with Audience “Traditional” org control

Social Media: Outreach & Awareness Building Conference Call: Access Code: Frequency of Messaging Blogging Web Site Frequent – can be daily or more often Less frequent - Weekly to monthly

Social Media: Outreach & Awareness Building Conference Call: Access Code: Time and Labor Investment Blogging Web Site Substantial, tending towards 24/7 Manageable, based on past patterns

Social Media: Outreach & Awareness Building Conference Call: Access Code: Return on Investment (ROI) Blogging Web Site TBD; uneven, subject to change “Knowable”, based on past patterns

Social Media: Outreach & Awareness Building Conference Call: Access Code: Message Calendaring Organizational Questions: –Do you preschedule online messages? How far in advance? –Do you message within narrative arcs? Message calendars enable you to –Track messaging arcs –Sustain consistent messaging –Coordinate internal processes/projects –Avoid list fatigue

Social Media: Outreach & Awareness Building Conference Call: Access Code: Publishing Matrix Organizational Questions –Do you have an integrated way for deciding which messages go to which online channels? e.g. What's tweet-worthy, what is “just” web content? –Do you think intentionally about the different types of content you publish? Press releases, newsletters, events, blog post...

Social Media: Outreach & Awareness Building Conference Call: Access Code: Publishing Matrix Build a publishing matrix –Each row is a type of content Press release, newsletter, event, blog post –Each column is an online channel Web site, list, blog, Facebook, Twitter –For each type of content, which channels do you use? –Aspiration Example

Social Media: Outreach & Awareness Building Conference Call: Access Code: Publishing Matrix

Social Media: Outreach & Awareness Building Conference Call: Access Code: Social Media Dashboard A range of tools exist to let you track how you're being seen online –iGoogle, NetVibes, Radian6, etc Use a dashboard to track keywords –Organizational name and acronym –Campaign/issue keywords, staff names –Targets, opponents, decision-makers Is your messaging propagating? –What are the reactions?

Social Media: Outreach & Awareness Building Conference Call: Access Code: Social Media Dashboard

Social Media: Outreach & Awareness Building Conference Call: Access Code: Anything Else? Control your data! –Unity: Know your data universe and treat it as such –Redundancy: Have a complete and sustainable backup process –Control: Take steps to avoid losing access –Portability: Confirm your migration options in advance –Privacy: Honor “theirs”, assert “yours”

Social Media: Outreach & Awareness Building Conference Call: Access Code: Obligatory Admonitions Control and unify your online identity –Route as much engagement as possible through domain name(s) you control –Presume Facebook and Twitter will die violently or fade to dust See: “Friendster” –Specific case: Blogs OurEDBlog.typepad.com is a bad idea

Social Media: Outreach & Awareness Building Conference Call: Access Code: Some SM-Savvy Nonprofits to Watch Students for a Free Tibet – Humane Society of US – Rainforest Action Network – Idealware –

Social Media: Outreach & Awareness Building Conference Call: Access Code: Leveraging your networks Generate input and feedback – Ask questions of your network – Circulate job listings and other opps – Invite feedback on new designs – Invite folks to join short-term adivisories But share the love back – Thank profusely, early and often – Celebrate and publicize participation

Social Media: Outreach & Awareness Building Conference Call: Access Code: Leveraging your networks Share your organizational knowledge – Plan out “did you know” updates – Recycle existing publications – “Think out loud” – Offer opinions early and often Overall, seek to deliver value, not noise – Listen to feedback – Analyze click-throughs

Social Media: Outreach & Awareness Building Conference Call: Access Code: Summary You CAN control your online destiny Know what you want before building Process, process, process: have a plan Less is more: when in doubt, leave it out Avoid moving targets Use existing code, avoid writing new Talk to folks about what you're doing

Social Media: Outreach & Awareness Building Conference Call: Access Code: Summary Configure your online channels to advertise and link to one another Understand the purpose and norms of each channel Follow best-practice processes –Calendaring, publishing matrix, dashboard At the end of the day, it's all about the data, not the tools and channels

Social Media: Outreach & Awareness Building Conference Call: Access Code: Resources Aspiration publishing matrix sample – Aspiration's public dashboard – Online Organizer's Almanac –

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