Social Media Help for Rotarians & Friends
COOL DOG ROTARY
Activate Followers
So now you have followers, what do you do with them?? Nonprofits on Facebook has amazing materials regarding how to activate your followers. Below are the tips they offer to activate your followers!
There are three areas to focus on:
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Ask People to Speak Out
Empower others to share your message. Be clear about what you stand for and how people can use their own voice to spread the word.
1. Define Actions To Take
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Rallying people online can be highly effective if you need many people to show their support for your cause, like showing public demand for a change in legislation or cultural acceptance of a marginalized group. Providing your Facebook community with concrete actions that can be taken online also helps attract new people and offers supporters quick, easy ways to participate and spread your message.
Ask people to take online actions like:
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Share a post, photo, video, article or infographic from your page
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Change their profile photo
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Sign a pledge
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Tag, email or sign a letter to encourage or thank a public figure
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Buy a t-shirt or piece of swag
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Post about your cause to inform their friends
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Share a personal story related to your cause.
Sometimes people are prepared to act right away. Other times, your page followers may want to learn more before participating. Try different approaches and levels of asks to figure out what works best for your community.
2. Craft Your Call To Action
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Inspiring people to take action isn’t just about what you’re asking people to do, it’s also about how. The way you frame a call to action is important, and there are a few things you should keep in mind when creating one on Facebook.
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Ask the right people. Hone your messages and make them relevant to people who are particularly interested in the problems you’re trying to solve. Learn about who you’re trying to reach and how to reach your target audience.
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Define the problem. Present a clear problem that evokes emotion. Describing a problem in a way that makes people feel something will naturally inspire them to seek a solution. A clearly defined problem makes the case for how someone’s help will make a difference.
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Offer a specific action. Tell people about one single action they can take in response to the way the problem makes them feel. Be concise and make the action people should take clear.
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Make it easy to do. Try to make the process of taking action easy for people. The fewer clicks, steps to take or decisions to make, the more likely they’ll finish. If you’re directing people to a website or third-party platform, send them directly to a page where they can take action. Repeat your one clear call to action at the top of the page where you send people. Place action buttons or forms near the top. Keep other content minimal and below the call to action.
3. Show a Clear Need
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People take action online when they believe it will create change in real life. Keep your requests for support ambitious but realistic. Describe the change you strive for, how it can be achieved and how the actions people take will help.
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Use examples. Show the potential for impact by referring to times when many people taking action led to a tangible result in the past. For example, a White House petition that got over 100,000 signatures in 30 days and received a formal response, or $100M raised to fight ALS thanks to people who created videos and challenged friends to participate.
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Understand where your audience is coming from. It may seem obvious to you why people should care about your cause and take action. But your audience probably doesn’t spend as much time researching your cause as you do. Consider arguments that would be compelling to them, so you can meet them where they are at.
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Don’t bury the lead. Don’t hide the call to action. Provide appropriate context for people to understand why they should act, but make sure the request for action is prominent.
4. Inspire People To Share Their Stories
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Many campaigns prompt people to post their own stories and thoughts. Posts by your supporters are powerful because they highlight why your cause matters to individuals. They also get the word out to people’s friends and can help build your organization’s reputation and following. Encourage people to contribute their own voice to your campaigns.
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Offer Examples ~ Present an authentic example of the kind of content you’d like people to share. It may be a story, quote, photo or video by someone on your team or in your community. Regularly sharing examples can inspire others to share, too. When sharing examples, consider what kinds of things people tend to share with their friends on Facebook. Is there a hashtag or logo people can use to identify that their post is part of your campaign? Can you make it easier for people to share quality photos and videos by providing a prompt and how-to guide?
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Find Content People Are Already Creating ~ People might not always contact you when they’re moved to share a story related to your cause or organization. Be on the lookout for great stories that are relevant to your work. Here are some ways you can find them:
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Search. Seek content by using the search bar to search for your organization’s name and relevant keywords on Facebook and Instagram.
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Tags. People can tag your Page by typing @ before your Page name and choosing your Page from a dropdown menu. Go to the Page Admin Tools, then choose Activity under Notifications to review posts your Page is tagged in.
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Hashtags. Search for hashtags associated with your cause to find content that are relevant to your organization, even if your organization isn’t mentioned.
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Comments. Read the comments on your own Page posts. You can start a conversation by replying to comments and asking if someone has a story they’d be willing to share.If you find a story, photo or video someone posted, you can introduce yourself and your organization by commenting on the post or sending the person a private message. Ask if there’s more background and request permission to share their story on your Page. If you do post someone’s story, give credit and thank the person unless they’ve asked to be anonymous.
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Celebrate Contributions ~ Showcasing and thanking people for their contributions can be a nice way to offer recognition and encourage people to share more. You can feature stories, photos, videos and quotes from supporters on your Page and website.
You can also look for ways to give extra acknowledgement to your most active supporters. For example, consider mentioning them at a public event, having a prominent figure thank them on Facebook or share their story in a press announcement. Your community might also enjoy a friendly competition where you can reward the most active and creative participants.
Get People to Show UP
Online communities can unite people with shared interests. Getting people together in person can further build momentum and empathy for a cause. Facebook can help you organize people both online and face-to-face.
1. Send Online Supporters to Your In-Person Activities
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By turning online supporters into participants at your events, rallies or in-person programs, you can bring in new groups, diversify your community and grow the size of your in-person activities.
Build a bridge from online to offline
Similar to an online call to action, an in-person activity needs a clear purpose, action and desired outcome. Promote in-person events as a natural extension of the actions people are taking on Facebook. You can design them to be part of the normal progression of a supporter’s journey with your organization.
Make it meaningful
In-person activities are a chance to further personalize your organization and strengthen relationships within your community. Create opportunities for supporters to interact with your team, each other and people you serve. Volunteer activities, rallies, networking events and celebrations can connect people to your organization and build their understanding of your mission.
Encourage people to bring friends
People like to share the things they care about. An event is an opportunity for supporters to introduce their friends and family to your organization. Where people invite their friends to an event, they’re also more likely to attend themselves. Consider how you can get people excited to bring their friends, such as setting up a Facebook event to make it easy to send invites and see who else is going.
TIP: Ask your staff if they would want to bring a friend to an upcoming event or activity. If not, think about how you can make the event more enticing, like hosting guest speakers or showcasing how the event will create an impact for your community.
Promote your event
To attract new audiences to an event, you can promote it with a Facebook Ad. Use Ads Manager to create an ad and select either “Raise attendance at your event” or “Send people to your website,” depending on the site where you are hosting your event.
TIP: You can use a Lookalike Audience to send your ad to people who are similar to people who like your Page.
2. Build Anticipation
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Continue to encourage people to show up to your event after they’ve expressed interest. Post often to build excitement in the period of time leading up to the event date.
Complete Your Event Page
If you create a Facebook event page, include details and a quality cover photo. Provide info that helps people understand what to expect, like an agenda, parking and registration instructions, recommended attire and what to bring. If you have photos from previous events, consider uploading a few to illustrate what your events are like. If the event is a major production for your organization, also consider promoting it on the cover photo of your organization’s Page.
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Invite Others
Encourage your staff, board and supporters to use the Invite tool on the event page to invite their friends and family to the event. Personal invitations go a lot further than invitations from an organization.
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Get People Excited
Remind people that your event is coming up by posting things like photos or graphics on your event page and your organization’s Page. Include a variety of event details, what to expect and messages about how the event will further your mission. Updates like this make it easy for people to get friends excited and answer their questions. When posting on your organization’s Page, be sure to include a link to the event.
TIP: For big events, post a countdown to create momentum the week before.
TIP: Create an event hashtag to thread together online conversations people are having about your event.
3. Encourage Sharing At the Event
Make it exciting and easy for people to share photos and posts about their experience at your event.
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Collect Attendee Info
Use a system to check in event attendees and collect their contact info so you can follow up afterward. This’ll help you track the number of participants, add new people to your mailing lists and include them in a Custom Audience if you want to use Facebook Ads to reach out to them later.
Take Photos and Video
Use in-person activities as an opportunity to capture visual examples of your organization’s culture and impact. You can use photos and videos in future reports and promotional materials. Also try to collect content that will make your Facebook Page and posts more visual.
Inspire a Photo Brag
Make a place at your event where people can take photos and videos. Use a creative backdrop, photo booth or selfie cam. Put up signs that remind people to use your event hashtag and tag your organization and their friends. Have someone from your team monitor attendee posts and re-share them on your organization’s Page. Sharing photos and videos in real time is a nice way to celebrate participants and show others what your events are like.
Give Out Swag
An event is a great place to hand out items that represent your organization. You can print your logo or tagline on just about anything. Think about what event participants would enjoy and find useful. If you’re giving away something wearable, like a t-shirt or bag, encourage people to post photos of themselves wearing their swag and to tag your organization.
Engage the Press
Draft a press release to let local media know about the purpose and details of your event. Include contact info and context on why the event may be interesting to cover. Take this step well enough in advance that press can plan to publicize and attend your event.
4. Follow Up
Close the loop and continue to engage supporters online so the excitement from your event stays with people and they want to stay engaged.
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Share memories. Post photos and video highlights that represent as many attendees as possible and tag people when you can. You might also want to create a short video to recap the event.
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Thank participants. Use Page and event posts to thank attendees for their time. When possible, send personal thank you notes.
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Report impact. Let people know what kind of impact the event had and how it contributed to your mission. Share how many people attended, how many people were served or how much money was raised.
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Share next steps. Keep up the momentum by quickly providing additional opportunities to support your organization. Ask people to continue to share time, donations and other contributions that support your mission.
Inspire People to Lead
Passionate followers can become strong advocates for the work your organization does. Find ways to inspire people who care deeply about your cause and give them opportunities to lead on your behalf, both online and offline.
1. Recruit Volunteers
Offer Regular Opportunities
Create a pattern of volunteer opportunities supporters can count on. A regular schedule makes it easier for people to build activities into their routine. You can use events on Facebook to create a volunteer calendar directly on your Page. You can also post a request for volunteers to respond in the comments if they’re available, which will help you gauge interest.
Show People What To Expect
Many people have a cause they care about, but don’t know how to help. Explain specific ways people can support your organization by outlining what you need and what they can do. Tell people about the kinds of tasks you need and how much time and effort is required so people can get a feel for what volunteering for your organization is like.
TIP: When planning, consider creating volunteer activities for pairs or groups. This makes it easier for people to invite a friend, which grows your network and encourages people to show up.
Engage People Locally
Facebook helps people learn about activities happening in their local area. If your work has a geographic focus, you can search key words on Facebook to find other people, businesses and groups in your area that may be passionate about your cause. For example, you can search for “clean water in Seattle” to find communities focused on clean water. Filter your search results by people, Pages, places, groups, events and more using the tabs at the top of the search results, then reach out about support or collaboration.
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2. Engage Your Strongest Supporters
Make Individual Requests
People are much more likely to respond to personal requests than general calls to action. Tag people who have participated in your activities in the past, or reach out to them on Messenger or by email or phone. Make it clear that you’re reaching out personally to get them involved.
Start an Ambassador Program
To give people an incentive to take extra steps to support your organization, consider creating a group with members who receive special messages, swag and recognition. You may also want to host events so ambassadors can meet and learn from each other.
Plan a Variety of Activities
Create opportunities for people to get involved at various levels of complexity and commitment depending on their interest and availability. For example, some activities might be done in an afternoon or over a weekend, like a community cleanup. Others might take many months, like fundraising or training for a race. Offering more options will give more people a chance to participate.
Provide Action Kits
Invite supporters to coordinate an event or activity on your organization’s behalf. To help manage your brand and reputation, provide action kits that supporters can use to make sure their activities are aligned with your goals. Include things someone would need to host an activity, like t-shirt graphics, printable brochures, promotional posters, gifts and more. Include instructions that explain how to use your action kit to create impact.
If cost of creating and shipping physical items is a concern, consider creating a digital action kit. You can use a file sharing service to upload resources and share the link on your organization’s Page or event.
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3. Follow Up
Express Thanks
Personally thank people for their time and contributions. Encourage your leadership team to take time to thank top supporters with hand written cards, phone calls or emails. Create a thank you graphic that you can share on your Page to celebrate your supporters.
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Celebrate People’s Work
Post photos and video that highlight your supporters’ hard work on your organization’s Page. Tag people when you can and ask people to tag other friends who joined in or supported them. If you have the resources, make videos that recap your events and remind people about your mission and how they can continue to help.