Oh no, not another social media marketing blog. Haven't we see enough generic advertising advice on the internet? What can you say that any advertising agency or SEO manager doesn't already know?
Short answer: Nothing.
Long answer: I created this website and blog not for the social media directors, agencies, or SEO experts, but for small organizations and non-profits who need to do this online thing alone. I dedicate this space to all those who hear, "You got to be on Twitter," five times a day without a clue where to start. The time and money it takes to get a social media footprint can fill an entire company with dread and anxiety. It's even worse when you have a digital strategy and its not working.
I'm a recovering Executive Director of a small non-profit that helped high school students and adult learners succeed in college. My staff of me and a few interns worked in a spare, upstairs room of a church on a shoestring budget that made buying coffee look like a luxury item. Nobody knew we existed, and we shouldn't have lasted one year.
However, with the help of some really bright college students, we started leveraging social media as our main source of marketing. Using mostly Facebook, bloggers and some non-profit tools (Network for Good, Goodsearch, etc), we brought in new clients and new donors. It seemed that we friended every single person in our county on Facebook, and that opened up avenues for dialogue relating to college access. Not only could we help people face-to-face, but now we served clients virtually on their terms.
Our online activity also helped us sell our services in the real world. Schools asked for partnerships, fundraisers became larger events, donors gave monthly donations, and clients started calling saying, "I heard from so-and-so that you can help." In the five years I served, we grew from a utopian pipe-dream to a stable, growing organization. That would never have happened without the power of a strong online presence.
Now I help other non-profits and small businesses expand their online outlets. We use the philosophy that social media exists for conversations and not gaudy advertising space. To spend time and energy blasting out one-liner ad slogans becomes tiresome and pointless, and quite frankly, we all have better ways to use your time. By really taking the care to connect and listen to our followers, we get to spend our time doing something that's truly enjoyable.
And expand our customer base.
And break into undiscovered markets.
And greatly increase our word-of-mouth marketing.
Doing social media right could be the thing that takes your organization from merely successful to sensational!
NOTE: I don't intend this blog to be a teaching tool, but rather a conversation. Please comment and tell us your story if you agree with my philosophies, and definitely if you disagree.
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