Social Media

Social media is now part of everyday life for many of us and is an important communication tool. There are lots of good reasons for organisations to use it.

It is:

• A fast and efficient way to instantly connect with people and engage in conversation.
• A way to be creative, share stories and demonstrate your impact.
• A way to share a call to action, whether that’s a fundraising or donation request, or helping raise awareness of what you do.
• A means for people to find out information.
• A way for people to contact you.

But this doesn’t mean it’s something that you have to do.

Is Social Media right for your organisation?

The first thing to consider is whether using social media is the right thing for your organisation at all, what value it might bring and whether it will help you achieve your vision and mission.

Understanding your audience

Think about your audience – that is, who you want to connect with and who you want to get information to. If that audience is not using social media themselves, you may be better off using your time to connect with people in other ways.

If they are, see which platforms they are using themselves so that you can connect with them on the same platforms.

Choosing the right platforms

It’s sensible to limit the number of platforms you use, depending on how much time you have so that you don’t spread yourself too thinly. You’ll need to post to the platforms and engage with your followers regularly. It’s better to have one well-managed page, than several out of date that you don’t have time to keep up with.

Managing Social Media

Once you begin using social media you may start asking yourself whether you’re doing enough, spending enough time on it, and publishing the right things. Social media is a great eater of time!

Things change quickly in the social media world, trends and opinions vary and change constantly. Opinions differ about what is ‘the best’ thing to do, and just as you feel you’re getting to grips with it all, a platform changes the way it operates.

Practical steps you can take to help manage your social media work

1. Have a social media/comms plan or strategy.
2. Use your strategy to form a working plan.
3. Involve your colleagues in your plan – give them opportunities to add items they wish to promote.
4. Be clear about your expectations – ask for text, images and Alt text descriptions when people send you content.
5. Ensure your team know what the boundaries are – i.e. you will only share posts you are tagged in, rather than creating organic posts for other organisations.
6. Could you engage a volunteer to help with the workload?
7. Even if they don’t post they may be able to create images and Alt text descriptions or identify appropriate people to tag.
8. Is everyone in your organisation on board with Social Media? If not, could you give a presentation about the value of it to anyone who is not sure?
9. Try the coffee time engagement method. Each day, browse your social media platforms for 10 minutes while you have a cuppa, engaging with posts where appropriate. That is checking for direct messages, comments and shares, and responding to those, as well as engaging with accounts that you follow. Engagement is as important as adding new posts.
10. Create generic graphics that you can use for multiple posts.
11. If you get stuck and your creativity wavers – take a break and come back to it later.
12. Look after your wellbeing.