We are in the height of the technology age, where phones are used for everything except calling, cars park themselves, and social media is the number one source of information.
A strong social media presence is essential in the marketing efforts of nonprofits and small businesses, so it is important that you have social media expert on staff or outsource to an agency with expertise in inbound marketing through social media. Gone are the days where social media was optional. Your customers, donors, volunteers, beneficiaries and partners are all using social media to communicate, and a social media expert provides the flexibility, organization and analytical acumen to ensure your business is a part of the conversation.
Here are 5 reasons why you need to hire a social media expert today:
Recruiting Volunteers: Volunteers are the most important resource any community organization has. As budgets get tighter, the number of paid personnel stagnates or shrinks, and volunteers fill in the gaps. With social media, you have access to millions of potential volunteers, and a social media expert can help you implement an engagement marketing campaign that will provide information and inspiration for potential volunteers.
Fundraising: The end goal of most nonprofit marketing campaigns is to raise money for operating budgets. Social media experts are thoroughly equipped to turn strangers into followers and followers into donors. The average donation through social media increases each year, and with a sound social media fundraising strategy you can double, triple, and even quadruple your exposure, putting your organization in perfect position to capitalize from this encouraging trend. Still not convinced? Check out these stats:
46% of Americans check their smartphones as soon as they wake up, while they’re still in bed. Email and social media are the first apps opened.
28% of smart phone users worldwide have used a mobile payment service (such as Apple Pay, Paypal or Venmo).
With nearly half of Americans checking social media as soon as they open their eyes, it’s easy to see why it is so important to fundraising engagement, and with mobile payment services it’s easier than ever to process their donation without them having to attend a fundraising event.
Timeliness and Consistency: There is more to a robust social media strategy than just arbitrarily creating posts. With stretched budgets come even thinner stretched personnel, so it’s hard for anyone to find time to post relevant content on social media while handling all their other important duties. Timeliness and consistency are often two of the most neglected aspects of managing a nonprofit organization’s social media accounts. Creating meaningful, engaging content is perhaps the most important part of a social media experts job, but knowing when to post the content (and having the time to post it), and sharing it consistently are what maximize the exposure of your content and cause. An expert will compile the data necessary to know exactly when your target audience is using each particular social media platform and consistently deliver engaging content to them, increasing the likelihood that they follow your call to action, ending in conversion.
Content Creation: There is nothing more important to a successful social media strategy than creating engaging, relevant, platform specific content. Content is what catches the eye of followers and fans and drives them to engage in your brand. Content is what educates strangers, inspires volunteers and motivates donors. Engaging content is the heart of a social media campaign, and without it any campaign is doomed to fail. Generating content takes many hours of data analysis, social media listening and audience research to determine what will move your target demographic. Social media content is more than just words on a screen; it incorporates graphic design, video production, journalistic writing and consumer psychology. A social media expert can take all these elements and turn them into content that will tell the complete story of your organization and inform your audience on why they should care.
Increase Web Traffic: Although the focus of this blog has been on creating a healthy social media presence, a strong digital engagement strategy can help boost traffic to your website. Posts on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram all show up in search engine results, so posting consistently increases the chance someone will stumble across your profile. Your website and contact information will be prominently displayed on all your accounts so potential donors, volunteers or partners can follow your social media account straight to your website. Google analytics even tracks website visits that originated in social media posts! The residual benefit to web traffic is yet another reason your organization should utilize a social media expert.
If your organization does not have a social media marketing expert at your disposal, don’t fret! FCG has a team of dedicated individuals in our Jackson, MS and Atlanta, GA offices to help your nonprofit organization or small business with our full range of services, including marketing strategy, branding, graphic design, website and social media management. Contact us today by filling out the contact form on our homepage or shoot me an email for a free 30-minute consultation.
