A recent article entitled "NPOs Slow to Exploit Social Marketing" prompted the board chair of The Art Connection to have me present on social networking at a recent board meeting. The presentation was well received. Here's what we learned that we'll begin to apply to our overall marketing strategy:
Web 1.0 v. Web 2.0 - Web 1.0 (think one way) is about consuming information where the content creator controls the content. Web 2.0 (think two way) is about collaboration where the audience controls the content.
The Internet Has Changed Marketing Forever - prior to the Internet, to get the word out, organizations bought advertising or depended on third party "ink" from the media. The web provides a tremendous opportunity to promote a message to a niche audience with targeted messages on a small budget.
Adoption of Social Media Is Soaring - According to a study done by the Pew Internet & American Life Project, one third (35%) of American adult Internet users have created a profile on an online social network. And, contrary to the thinking that "Generation Y" is the net generation, a larger percentage of older generations are now online.
Blogs - are an easy, effective way to get information out into the market. Search engines love them because they provide fresh content. Non-profits can publish regular posts on topics like "Where does our staff come from?" "Who makes up our board and why did they join?" "Why do people donate to us?" "Our mission in action." An editorial calendar where one person or a group of people publish to the blog a minimum of once a week is an effective way to be successful with a blog.
Facebook - is a great site for building a group online and keeping the group informed with regular news, videos, events, discussion boards, and hyperlinks to online areas of interest to your audience. With the number of Facebook members growing astronomically, you can't afford not to have a presence here.
Twitter - is microblogging that allows you to send a 140-character message made up of text updates or links to video, photos, or articles of interest to your audience. With the adoption rate of Twitter also growing astronomically, it makes sense to begin to build an audience here. You just need to understand the medium to be effective.
YouTube - is a place to post online videos. It's estimated that it could take you 400 years to watch all of the videos posted here. Non-profits can be successful with YouTube much like 1% for the Planetdid by creating a video that raised some eyebrows that they promoted via e-mail, on their website, and in the non-profit section of YouTube.
LinkedIn - is a professional networking site that allows you to create groups, manage contacts, and ask questions of your network. With over 38 million users, it's worth taking the time to organize your audience on LinkedIn to build a following here that you regularly communicate with.
Photo Sharing - sites like Flickr allow you to post photos and it's easy to organize by event, subject, etc. It's easy to comment on photos, send e-mails when new photos are posted, and have blog-style discussions there.
In summary, advertising, public relations, and direct mail are becoming less effective as marketing tools. The Internet makes it possible to communicate directly with your audience at a fraction of the cost. But, while the social networking tools seem "free", non-profits need to understand that there is a significant time commitment that needs to be understood before adopting a social media strategy and to keep a regular flow of content going back and forth with your audience.
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