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Use Twitter to Reach Journalists

February 26, 2010 By David Leave a Comment

Reason #27 to set up a Twitter account for your organization: journalists are using it to research stories. The Online Marketing Blog reports on the study, which says 65% of journalists are using social media to find information about stories.

The study looked at social networks more broadly, but from my own experience, most newsrooms have at least one reporter who frequently checks Twitter for story ideas. Many of them are following local nonprofits, government agencies, and companies — and will follow up when a bit of news from the Twitter feed piques their interest.

Setting up a Twitter account is free and easy, and there’s really no excuse not to have one. If you do nothing else with Twitter, set up the account, search for your local news organizations, and start following them.

Filed Under: Journalism, Nonprofit, PR, Social Media Tagged With:

Google, Real-time Search and Facebook

February 25, 2010 By David 1 Comment

There’s another great reason to have a Facebook fan page for your organization. Google has struck a deal to incorporate Facebook page status updates into its real-time search results.

This is a major development for your business, nonprofit, or state program. Real-time results are listed by Google at the top of their search results. It means your status updates will rise to the top of results for the key topics your organization covers. And it means more people will see what you’re up to, in real time, as you post fresh content to your Facebook page.

Will this change the way you use Facebook status updates for your organization, or change the priority of your Facebooking?

Filed Under: Nonprofit, Social Media Tagged With:

For ROI, You Gotta Have an “I”

February 24, 2010 By David 1 Comment

If you’re still tinkering around with social media to “see if it has any application” to your organization, you’re about 2 years behind already. The time for tinkering was 2008. But it’s never too late to start, so you need to get someone to help you put a plan in place now.

Chris Kieff nails it in a post today about the ROI of social media. Too many organizations assign an unpaid intern to their social media effort (zero investment) then complain that there’s no return on the investment.

In this case you get exactly what you pay for. Paying nothing for someone who understands the technology is foolish. It’s like hiring a mechanic to guide you to on the roads instead of a GPS.

If you haven’t begun using social media for your organization, what are you waiting for? I’m always willing to answer questions, no strings attached — and there are lots of other people out there who are answering the same kinds of questions.

The important thing is that you start making the investment, so you can start seeing the return.

Filed Under: Nonprofit, Social Media Tagged With: ,

Why the iPad Is Important to Small Organizations

February 22, 2010 By David Leave a Comment

This article is a great explanation of who’ll be using the iPad. Most of us tend to think it will be geeky computer types who snap it up. And that will be true at first.

But Matt Gemmell compares the iPad to the Nintendo Wii. You know — the hugely popular device that has blown away its rivals in terms of adoption by “regular people.”

It’s difficult to get our heads around the fact that these non-technologically-savvy users can suddenly constitute a core market for a device, yet that’s the case here. Nintendo saw it, and Apple sees it too.

If Gemmell is right, and I believe he is, what does it mean for small businesses or nonprofits?

It means you should think about ways to reduce friction for iPad users, to allow them easier access to your content. It means you should take advantage of the most popular uses of the iPad (and devices like it).

I’ll be writing more about this in the next several days. But if the iPad is a truly new platform, we should all be thinking about how our organization fit onto that platform. And that means opening the door to new content, new delivery methods, and a new way of communicating.

Filed Under: Marketing, Nonprofit, nptech Tagged With: ,

Custom Is Everything in Communication

February 17, 2010 By David Leave a Comment

Chris Brogan writes that “custom is everything.” He gives 2 examples from big companies: Disney and Hanes.

Social media allows us to customize our communication. I can talk directly to Jon Swanson, and not to preachers. I can have conversations with Glenda Watson Hyatt and not just people interested in accessibility. That means, if interested, I can talk specifically about things that matter to them, and not to crowds.

His examples are obscure — but that’s the point. Your organization has spent many years trying to figure out how to communicate with the most people. Doing that meant watering down your message so it would make sense to everyone.

Now you don’t have to water down that message. There’s still a place for general communication, but the majority of your effort should be focused on building deeper relationships with your core audience, not building more relationships with a general audience. Social networks let you customize your communication — down to the person if necessary. Doing that will make your organization stronger in the long run.

Filed Under: Branded Content, Marketing, Nonprofit Tagged With:
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