Making Facebook and Twitter Work for You
Speaker: Jon Dunn; @jon_dunn
I gotta say, if you didn’t get a chance to make this
session today, definitely look for Jon Dunn in the Internet Lounge while you are
here at the conference. If you
aren’t here, friend him on facebook. Then, be sure to ask him questions about
social media—he’ll give you an honest answer.
Ok, listen up… here’s some live-blogging about Jon’s social
media session.
·
10 million people become a fan of a page EVERYDAY on facebook.
Woah – that’s a lot of people… like, 20 million eyeballs…
AND the average facebook user has 130 friends, talking to their 130 friends,
and so on. Point is, facebook is a
place for you to get your message out there!! It’s easy, for real.
www.facebook.com
Facebook Rule #1
– Use a Fan Page for your organization!! Look at other non-profit facebook pages… Best Friends, HSUS,
etc… for examples of what a page looks like and the type of stuff on the page.
Facebook Rule #2 - Start
with your mission first. Tell folks what you’re doing and why. Then… keep the
conversation and relationship – friendship – going.
Facebook Rule #3 -You
will be an admin. Get multiple admins to help you. Be creative, maybe your
neighbor’s kids will help you!
Facebook Rule # 4 - Use “Rich” content… no, not money…. Just post
videos and photos to your facebook page! The worst thing you can do is NOT post
things! It’s about interaction. Don’t let your page sit stagnant.
Facebook Rule # 5 - You
DO have time – no matter how small you are, take just a few minutes everyday to
pay attention to your supporters who are watching you on facebook and twitter.
Ok, enough with the rules. Jon would actually tell you that
there are “no rules” in social media. J
Here’s what he also says:
It’s more about
“friend” raising vs fundraising. First, listen to who your supporters are and what they are
saying.
Once you are set up on facebook, try creating custom landing
pages using the “TAB” feature on facebook. Use it for special promotions and
events that you are doing. This is a great option for a facebook homepage
instead of using the the “wall” on your page that consists of your status news
feed (which sometimes can get cluttered with info).
Give incentives for people to follow your fan page and stay
involved. For example, tell your fans about your next adoption event and offer
them a discount on the adoption fee for mentioning they saw your offer on
facebook.
What Best Friends is using: MySpace, facebook, twitter,
change.org, youtube.com, network.bestfriends.org More resources are found on the conference website here: http://nomorehomelesspetsconference.com/resources.htm
Jon took some questions from the audience…
Q: On the fan page, can you email everyone, all the fans at
once? (just like I can do on the group page)
A: Nope. But, keep the
news feed updated. Don’t worry about blasting them via email since it may not
be the best way to communicate every time.
Q: Twitter has a language of it’s own. Where can I get more “how
to” info?
A: Looking for a how
to manual on how to get social media up & running? Kinda like a Twitter
101? More great resources at mashable.com
There’s also TweetDeck,
CoTweet (dashboards for twitter). Best Friends uses CoTweet – it allows you to
have multiple Twitter accounts with multiple users.
Q: I work for the Humane Society in Tijuana – how can I use
both English & Spanish?
A: Anyone out there
have a good bi-lingual solution for facebook?
Q: Can I get analysis on my Facebook Fan Page?
A:Yes, Facebook insights! Pages views, how many
followers, male/female, age, even where they are (city, state). Go to your fan
page (as an admin) and “insights” will be in the left rail of the page.
Q: What is a twitter hashtag?
A: This is a way to
categorize a tweet. For example, use the conference hashtag #09nmhp in your
tweet message, so you can then search this hashtag to see all the tweets about
the conference (versus getting lost in the thousands of tweets that are
posted).
Q: I live in a small town – 2500 pop – how do I make it
grow?
A: There is no silver
bullet. Hey, it’s better to have
50 people following you who truly care and get involved in your organization and what you are doing
instead of thousands who don’t. Sign up to the Best Friends Network, too!
Q: When I send a tweet, who gets
it? For example “Box of kitten on my doorstep.”
A:
Only the people who are following you will get your tweet. Also, use a hashtag!
People who aren’t following you may search for your hashtag; for your example
you could use #kittens and peolple searching for kittens can find you.
Twitter Tidbit: How can you grow your
network and followers? Search for groups on twitter in your area and follow
their followers…. They will (hopefully) ultimately follow you back!
Q: My org is has a Group Page and is a Cause on facebook. Should
I start a fan page?
A:
YES! Start it and make it your main homepage for your organization. Repurpose your
Group page to be about something specific your org is doing… for example a
“Spay/Neuter” page.
Social media, twitter, facebook…. It’s
ever-changing but a necessary agent of change. Sign up, sign on, follow, become
a fan…
Don’t forget the
TweetUp tonight at McFadden’s 8pm. Be there!
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