how to craft a strategic nonprofit online communications plan - second half

Part 2

Let’s Review! We identified a goal for our communications efforts.

We wrote down SMART objectives to make sure we can measure our success.

We listed tasks to carry out to reach the SMART objectives.

We reviewed the best ways to use your nonprofit website, email list, and social media accounts.

We reviewed some examples of great nonprofit social media content and types of content and stories to post and share.

(c) 2016 JCSM www.jcsocialmarketing.com 2

Social Media Calendar – sheet 1 Website updates

Blog

Email campaigns going out

Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc. (don’t have to post to all of them every day)

Review – 10 best types of content and story types


Know the Science of Social Media Facebook: Post 5-7 times weekly (at least once on the weekend)

and then monitor your Insights. Post visually appealing photos and graphics and now that the new Reactions are live, test positive and negative content to see which inspires more engagement. Limit post text to 80* characters or less.

Resource: http://www.nptechforgood.com/2016/11/08/10-social-media-strategies-that-increase-engagement-and-inspire-donors/


http://www.nptechforgood.com/2016/11/08/10-social-media-strategies-that-increase-engagement-and-inspire-donors/

Know the Science of Social Media Twitter: Tweet or retweet every one or two hours. Visually

compelling photos or graphics receive 3X the engagement as text tweets – especially if the images are properly sized for Twitter Mobile (800 x 420 pixels).

Use Buffer or Hootsuite to schedule tweets in the evenings and on the weekends.




Know the Science of Social Media Instagram: Post or regram once per day alternating between

morning and late afternoon. Nonprofits that consistently use hashtags have up to 3X more followers.

Use the Repost mobile app (it’s free in the Apple store).




A Word On BloggingQ: Do you need a blog?

A: It depends. Do your donors use Google?

The key to effective blogging – quality over quantity!

“You can’t beat the Internet on volume, but you can beat it on quality, clarity and perspective.”

– Rich Brooks @therichbrooks

(c) Julia Campbell 2016 www.jcsocialmarketing.com 8


http://marketingland.com/generational-content-gap-how-different-age-groups-consume-content-138810

Remember Your Audience When Blogging You are writing for YOUR specific

audience.

You don’t need to have 500,000 subscribers to have a great blog.

You just need to tell your story, share your insights, and authentically connect with your audience.


Blog Calendar – sheet 2 Call to Action – Fundraising, advocacy, engagement, more

Ideas – Organize your thoughts around keywords

Title – Sometimes you think of this first!

Status – Research needed? Draft format?

Due Date – Keeps you accountable

Date Posted – Compare with due date to see if your goals are reasonable

Notes – Was it popular? Was it hard to write? Do you want to explore more like it?


Social Media & Blog Calendar Tips Save it somewhere like Dropbox,

Google Docs – accessible anywhere at any time.

Use your smartphone to record ideas.

Color code and assign tasks.

Review regularly – staff meetings, Board meetings, Social Media Committee meetings!


Four Tools to Find Great Content1. Daily by Buffer – they provide handpicked content suggestions

daily

2. LinkedIn Pulse – Customized stories and updates from the influencers and companies you follow on LinkedIn and your direct connections

3. Medium – Browse the collections and the trending lists for the most popular and widely shared content

4. Twitter – Search on relevant hashtags and explore what influencers in your industry and cause are tweeting about Finding


Best Types of Content & Story IdeasContent Types

1. Stories

2. Videos

3. Photos

4. Quotes

5. Thank Yous

6. Advocacy

7. Current Events

8. Education

9. Compelling asks

10. Paid social ads

Story Ideas

1. Creation Stories

2. Continuous Improvement Stories

3. Behind-The-Scenes Stories

4. User-Generated Stories

5. Impact Stories


1) Create two weeks’ (if not more) worth of ideas!

2) Fill in that calendar and assign responsibilities and choose dates to post.


Facebook & Instagram AdvertingSocial media advertising 101:

Ads can be used to get more fans/followers, to promote event registrations, to promote online donations, to get more email sign ups, to promote a link to your website, and more.

You design the ads using your wording, headlines, and images.

You choose the specific demographics of your target audience.


Facebook & Instagram Adverting You can “boost” posts that you have already posted, or you can

create brand new ads. (Only promote awesome!)


Facebook & Instagram Adverting


Facebook & Instagram Adverting1. Identify the goal for your ad.

2. Choose your measurable call-to-action (sign up, donate now, register).

3. Determine a budget – lifetime or daily.

4. Select high-quality, unique, non-text heavy,eye-catching images.

5. Pick relevant demographics for the target audience.

6. Measure results.


Buffer & HootsuiteBenefits:

Schedule tweets and other messages

Include visuals

Can schedule retweets (Buffer)

Manage multiple social media accounts

Run reports

Create trackable short links


Visuals Are Vital 90% of information transmitted to the

brain is visual. Visuals are processed 60,000X faster in the brain than text.

Videos on landing pages increase average page conversion rates by 86%. Resource: Wishpond http://blog.wishpond.com/post/70300587846/10-

reasons-visual-content-will-dominate-2014


http://blog.wishpond.com/post/70300587846/10-reasons-visual-content-will-dominate-2014

Video Creation Tools

Animoto (robust tool with templates for creating professional marketing videos)

Adobe Spark Video (add text to photos; coming soon also add video clips as in this video example)

Adobe Spark Post (image creation app, now with some animated effects for short videos)

iMovie (use on mobile or desktop to quickly edit/stitch together video clips)


https://www.facebook.com/Animoto/

https://www.facebook.com/games/?fbs=-1&app_id=601306493265283

https://www.facebook.com/adobespark/

https://www.facebook.com/pages/iMovie/106068412757167

Video Creation Tools

Instagram and Snapchat

11 more video tools listed here: https://www.facebook.com/marismith/videos/10153807326840009

Plus, Facebook's native slideshow (organic: https://www.facebook.com/help/818247301636195 or ads: https://www.facebook.com/business/help/149759192130274)


https://www.facebook.com/marismith/videos/10153807326840009

https://www.facebook.com/help/818247301636195

https://www.facebook.com/business/help/149759192130274

Lots of Places to Get Free Images!

Beth Kanter created a great List.ly:

The Ultimate List of Free or Low Cost Image Collections!

http://list.ly/list/703-the-ultimate-list-of-free-or-low-cost-image-collections

iStock photo

Creative Commons

Photopin.com

Morguefile.com

Getty Images


http://list.ly/list/703-the-ultimate-list-of-free-or-low-cost-image-collections

InfographicsHubSpot found that brands that

publish infographics increase their website and blog traffic an average of 12% over those that do not.

This photo: http://visual.ly/what-infographic-2


http://visual.ly/what-infographic-2

InfographicsInfogr.am

InfoActive.co

Piktochart

Easel.ly

Venngage

HubSpot

HubSpot has

free PowerPoint templates: http://offers.hubspot.com/how-to-easily-create-five-fabulous-infographics-in-powerpoint


http://offers.hubspot.com/how-to-easily-create-five-fabulous-infographics-in-powerpoint

Word CloudsWordle.com

Tagxedo.com

Tagul.com

WordItOut.com

ImageChef.com


QuotesQuozio.com

Recitethis.com

Behappy.me

QuotesCover.com

Inspirably.com


Enhanced PhotosUseChisel.com

Pinwords.com

PowerPoint

PicMonkey.com

Pixlr.com

This photo: http://www.pinterest.com/pin/430164201878271362/


http://www.pinterest.com/pin/430164201878271362/



Mobile AppsBoomerang

Prisma

Ripl

WordSwag

Over

Picstitch


My Favorite ToolsCanva.com


My Favorite Tools

WordSwag


What Tools Do You Recommend?



Resource: http://www.bethkanter.org/sowhat/

http://www.bethkanter.org/sowhat/

How to Find the Right Online MetricsStart with measuring the interest in your

website!

Use the free resource Google Analytics to measure the following:

Unique Visitors

Bounce rate

Referrals

Most Popular Pages


How to Find the Right Online MetricsThen measure the interest in your email

campaigns.

New email sign ups

Opt-outs/unsubscribes

Open rate

Engagement/click through rate

Most popular subject lines


How to Find the Right Online MetricsThen measure the interest in your social

media content.

Number of fans and followers

Engagement

Share counts

Video views

Most popular post (When posted? What type of content?)

Highest reach


Measurement Spreadsheet Overall website analytics

Website content (pageviews)

Social referrals to website

Facebook Insights

Twitter Analytics

Instagram Analytics

Email Marketing


How to Find the Right Online MetricsSay So What To Your Data Three Times:

1) Today we got a huge spike in website traffic! So what?

2) Wow, it came from Reddit! So what?

3) Turns out that Reddit picked up a news piece about a related topic that linked to our website. So what?

Did the huge spike in traffic result in a spike in donations or email signups?


Resource: http://www.bethkanter.org/sowhat/

http://www.bethkanter.org/sowhat/

Does Social Media = Donations?To determine if the referrals to your donation

page from social media channels have resulted in completed donations, you need to ask deeper questions and go beyond simple website traffic numbers and Facebook reach.


Google Analytics Goals Your way of telling Google what is important to track

There are many benefits:

Make informed decisions about which referral sources are the most valuable;

Which advertising platform gets the most signups;

Whether your social media efforts are driving quality site traffic.

You have to manually set these up in Google Analytics.

Read more: https://www.wholewhale.com/tips/google-analytics-goals/


https://www.wholewhale.com/tips/google-analytics-goals/

ResourcesJCSocialMarketing.com

JohnHaydon.com

BethKanter.org

TSNE.org


Nonprofit Capacity Series

December 14, 2016 Strategic Nonprofit Communications Trainer: Julia Campbell

January 12, 2017 Strategic Financial Management for Nonprofits Trainer: Gretchen Upholt

February 15, 2017 Technology Literacy for LeadersTrainer: Jenn Taylor

March 16, 2017 Fundraising 1.0 (1/2 day) and Grant Writing (1/2 day)Trainer: Jenn Hayslett

Questions/Assistance: Michael DeChiara [email protected] 413-732-2858

Margaret Everett [email protected] 413-732-2858

• All sessions to be held at Hadley Farms Meeting House, Hadley• Session duration approximately 9:00am to 4:00pm, unless otherwise noted

ResourcesJCSocialMarketing.com

SocialMediaExaminer.com

SocialMediaJosh.com

HubSpot.com

www.jcsocialmarketing.com @JuliaCSocial