Twitter serves as a great marketing tool and has become increasingly useful for all types of businesses who are looking to expand their reach. The social media network isn’t just limited to commercial entities, but is also beneficial to a wide range of not-for-profit organizations who support various causes. It can be a powerful way to spread the word and open up more avenues for productive dialogue.
The challenge for most organizations on Twitter lies in getting a good number of followers, and growing followers. When trying to increase followers on Twitter, you should always aim for a loyal following – users who will engage with your Twitter page and share your content. You can increase the number of followers with good Twitter management. It isn’t exactly a Herculean task and with these helpful suggestions, your organization is sure to make an impact.
Don’t just tweet. Build a community.
A major error that a lot of non-profits make is that they go in for a traditional marketing approach. This doesn’t work and is, in fact, quite contrary to the whole non-profit agenda. Though, it may be okay to do so for other mediums such as an e-newsletter or website, social media is all about engaging with people.
As a non-profit, you need to have or create your own personality on Twitter. Try to inspire dialogue and build a community that supports your vision and mission. Infuse a little authenticity into your Twitter communication and blend it with some personality. Share information and ask people what they think – be sensitive in times of a crisis, and share updates with users on how you plan on using the donations. This will boost your engagement and also add some credibility to your tweets.
Be polite
The second aspect of building a social media community deals with how you actually engage with your followers. Communication is a two-way setup and it doesn’t end with you just sharing information. You need to “become friends” with your followers. Follow your followers and if they tweet something out that is relevant to your field, you can re-tweet it and give them some credit.
This will start a karma-like cycle where you will get back what you give. You will create a positive image for yourself, which can go a long way in social media popularity. After all, you are the one who is going to benefit from it all. It’s one of those perfect win-win scenarios.
Post valuable content
Twitter isn’t just a hotspot for casual conversations. It’s a place for people to engage and discuss things that matter. So, if you want people to do that, then you’ll have to post content that is valuable and serves a purpose. Posting high quality content opens up doors for better engagement. It might be tough to post high quality original content all the time, but that’s okay. You can always share relevant content from other publishers or even your own followers.
You could also get some help from some of the content discovery tools listed below:
Storify: From breaking news to live events, Storify helps you find stories through social media websites and other sources. It lets you add your personal touch to the story, and then post it on various social media accounts.
DrumUp: [Disclosure: I write for the DrumUp blog] a free content discovery tool that can help you comb the web for relevant content using the keywords that you can input. The tool also lets you modify/edit content, create custom posts and schedule content for posting on your Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn accounts.
Scoop.it: a content curation tool that lets you discover content by using search functions. Once you find something that you would like to share, you can publish it to your social networks. It also allows followers to track your posted content and comment on it.
Go live
It’s one thing to post relevant and fresh content, but posting live updates can go long way in improving your Twitter engagement. If you’re hosting an event such as a fundraiser or a charity through your organization, tweet out the happenings to keep your followers in the loop. Not only will this create more engagement and publicity, your followers will also be able to see that your organization takes initiatives to promote the cause.
Take advantage of trending topics and hashtags to keep your followers engaged. Include your Twitter handle in all your marketing collateral such as business cards, posters, or brochures.
Create a profile that gets noticed
Last, but not the least, create a profile that gets noticed and is also informative at the same time. Include all the details that you think are necessary. However, do avoid unnecessary clutter. Add unique images that grab attention and make sure you keep updating them as well. Talk about your causes and create inspirational taglines to draw attention. Make sure to include your branding collateral as well, such as your organization’s logo.
Twitter is a great tool that can help you promote your organization. However, you need to pay constant attention and put in enough effort to get the results you want.
