Social media is an opportunity for Non-Profits to tell their story, engage with supporters and get results, which means that there’s no time like the present to create or refresh their social media strategy. And nonprofits are really starting to understand how social media can support their strategies.

For non-profit organizations, social media is the most cost-effective marketing option. These organizations may be focused on furthering their social causes or advocating for share point-of view but social media can serve as a vehicle to help them reach their goals. This outline talks about the steps it takes to craft an effective strategy for non-profits and how it can help increase their brand awareness.

1. Determine What You Want To Accomplish

The social
goals should be clear. These goals should be simple and achievable for the
Non-Profit.

Some examples of goals that a non-profit might want to accomplish include:

1. Community engagement and
   education
2. Brand building and reputation
   management
3. Program recruitment
4. Fundraising

2. Identify Your Target Audience

In order to be successful on social media, a non-profit should identify the target audience. With millions of people on social media every day, finding the target audience is more important than ever. By determining the audience it will help the non-profit determine the right social channel for the cause and the type of content to publish.

In order to do that though the non-profit needs to find out everything theycan about their audiences: geographic breakdown, demographics, what content is resonating,  and how often they take action.

3.
Choose the Right Network

After a non-profit has identified their target audience, study social media demographics. Look to find out where they are active online, and focus their efforts on those networks.

Non-profits don’t need to spread themselves thin by worrying about adopting every network that comes up. For instance, they can do an excellent job on two or three networks with a large potential for reaching their audience instead of a mediocre job on five.

4. Create Policies

In order to have a successful social media strategy within your Non-Profit, you need to create a social media policy. These policies help out the organization when issues come up. First, make a plan for crisis communications. Next, train all employees about what they should and should not say online.

5. Stay Engaged

There’s no ROI without engagement. Stay active with the followers and stay authentic. This can be as simple as asking followers questions, sending them replies with images, videos or GIFS.

6. Help Instead of Sell

In conclusion, to have a successful social media strategy the main goal for the non-profit should be to provide valuable information and resources that help their audiences solve a problem. However, this doesn’t mean that a non-profit can never advertise or promote a campaign, it just means that they should be careful about how frequently theydo so.

Interested in learning more? Check out this great article on Steps to a Successful Nonprofit Social Media Strategy.

Category: Advanced Tactics