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Nonprofits’ Tools, Tactics and Strategies for Web, Search and Social

March 30, 2012 Leave a Comment

Web, Search Marketing, Social Media for Nonprofits by Suzanne McDonald Designated Editor

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Designated Editor teaches nonprofits new media time-savers

Nobody knows the bottom line better than those in the fundraising and development industry. To remain connected to donors, sponsors, and other key publics, nonprofits must use weigh resources wisely and efficiently.

The Rhode Island chapter of the Association for Fundraising Professionals centered its March education session around these challenges.

Content and Social Media Strategist Suzanne McDonald shared her insights on how to make the most of limited resources within an organization through social media.

The first step is to be able to identify the best ways to use these tools. Designated Editor has worked with many clients to help make sure strong, concise message reach the intended audience.

You may be asking: “How do I not just reach, but ENGAGE my current donors and constituents?” There are many tools to engage current donors, but also ways to use social media to reach new ones. Some free tools (based on your needs) include:

Saves you time Great for analytics easy website updating

SEO, Google rankings

Professional, easy to use Easy to share

Sponsor-partner research Representing your brand visually

Engage with media Engage with advocates and supporters

& major influencers make it interactive, use photos & video.

on a public platform

How can you equip your advocates with the tools to create income for your organization?

Try creating video contests and sharing Facebook invites with friends
Email tools like MailChimp can bring the relationship closer (email converts better and people are more likely to see it than social media or on the web)
Make the time to access these easy – and often FREE – tools to gain efficiencies that will save your organization time and effort.

Which time-savers do you use and recommend?

Filed Under: Designated Editor's perspective, E-Marketing, Integrated marketing, Nonprofits Tagged With: AFPRI, Association of Fundraising Professionals, audience, bit.ly, charities, Content, Designated Editor, Facebook, facebook events, foundations, Hootsuite, keywords, LinkedIn, Marketing, non profits, nonprofits, Pinterest, Providence, Rhode Island, Search Marketing, search tools, SEO, Social media, social media platforms, Suzanne McDonald, tips, Twitter, web, web marketing, web marketing tips, WordPress

Social media generates brand and competitive insights

February 22, 2012 1 Comment

Do you know what social competitive intelligence is?

By taking a look at the custom shoe industry, it is becoming more and more clear to marketers across industries that a true consumer is one who believes that the things they buy contribute to their quality of life. For dedicated and seasoned shoe aficionados, there is often no ceiling for what he/she will pay for a quality brand.

During a Direct Marketing News webcast, Lindsey Mark of Compete Client Relations spoke about integrating competitive intelligence into a strategic planning process as a part of marketing strategy; the custom shoe industry is no exception.

Mark uses the custom shoe industry as a framework for analyzing industry leaders and provides recommendations for New Balance shoes. Mark has studied the presence of custom shoe retailers on social media networks, including Slideshare, YouTube, Tumblr, Flickr, and LinkedIn. Through these sites, readers can scour through the competitors’ YouTube channel to see who their subscribers are and how subscribers are engaged. So far, Compete Client Relations has observed a few particular platforms’ strengths in the custom shoe industry.

Social media platforms use by shoe retailers

LinkedIn is used to sift through profiles of the competition’s employees
Flickr’s user generated content: Converse advocates tell creative stories of how they are living with the brand
Tumblr, which also benefits the shoe industry with user generated content, has been noted for providing social insights into who the top contributors are

Traditional ways of measuring business intelligence – such as sales volumes, subscribers, and annual reports – involve static information that is hard to dissect. Using social media to learn what the competition is doing on their network is an extremely powerful tool for marketers.

There’s no shortage of competitive creativity in the industry, either. MiAdidas, whose name shows its unique approach to brand awareness, benefits mainly from paid search results. But YouTube celebrates videos of customers receiving and opening their shoe boxes excitedly.

Analyzing consumer behavior associated with particular brands is an integral part of a successful marketing strategy. From shoes to travel to automotive, Kantar Media Compete delivers digital intelligence based on consumers’ online behavior.

Follow Lindsey Mark on Twitter @linji.

Filed Under: Branding, Marketing, Social Media Tagged With: advice, audience, best practices, blogging, Branding, Brands, business intelligence, Compete, competitive analysis, consumer behavior, Converse, Designated Editor Blog, Direct Marketing News, DMNews, Engagement, Flickr, insights, Lindsey Mark, LinkedIn, MiAdidas, New Balance, Nike, Search Marketing, SEO, SlideShare, Social media, strategies, strategy, tips tactics, Tumblr, YouTube

Social Media Weekend 2012: Tips for marketers, journalists, politics

February 16, 2012 9 Comments

Top social media tips for marketers, journalists, and more

Social Media was the hot topic at Columbia Journalism School’s Social Media Weekend the last weekend of January. A whirlwind of strategies, tips, and tactics was a constant centrifugal force, but we managed to gather a few highlights for you.

Columbia Journalism School Professor Sree Sreenivasan led the 2012 Social Media Weekend (#SMWknd).

Marketers

Never cold call anyone, contact via Twitter, e-mail, then phone
Be careful of your tone so as not to seem intrusive
Important to respect the brand you work for, but also have a personal brand

Journalists

Join social journalism groups on Facebook & other platforms
Need to bring multimedia skills to the table to swim to the top in journalism these days
Keep your perspective
Speed is crucial for breaking news, doesn’t all have to be original content ~ Edelman SVP Steven Rubel, media futurist
Journalists should consider themselves as columnists: Their personal brands can be an asset to the parent company.
“We have a whole new breed of reporters coming in that are fearless; they recognize the value of personal brands.”

Political players

Social media acts as an “early warning” system for candidates, campaigns can track and respond to issues.
In politics, it’s not just about the numbers. It’s about the intensity within those numbers.

Social media is a broad-reaching topic covering many different platforms and professions. Whether you are a marketer, journalist, or political figure, social media can be leveraged to impact your initiatives.

Thank you to @Sree and all who contributed to the discussion at Social Media Weekend #SMWnd!

If you had to choose which profession could best harness social media, which would it be?

Filed Under: Social Media, Social Media Weekend Tagged With: audience, best practices, Brands, building, Columbia Journalism School, connections, email, etiquette, Facebook, Foursquare, Google, how-to, journalists, marketers, Marketing, media, network, networking, NYC, pages, panels, personal brands, platform, politics, poll, Professionals, Professor Sree Sreenivasan, relationships, Social media, social media rules, Social Media Weekend, Sree Sreenivasan, timing, tips, trends, tutorials, tweets, Twitter

Social Media Weekend at Columbia School of Journalism, a summary of best practices

February 14, 2012 1 Comment

Social Media was the trending topic of the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism the last weekend of January 2012. Hosted by the Continuing Education department, 2012 was the second annual Social Media Weekend.

Filled with panels, tutorials, workshops, networking, and idea-swapping, #SMwknd featured 50 speakers and a crowd of multifaceted social media experts. The 3-day event was led by Professor Sree Sreenivasan and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism

Social media, best practices

Grammar and spelling rules always apply
Repeat, be clear, and concise, and repeat again
Be appropriate: High school athletes LOST scholarships based on inappropriate Tweets
On all platforms be, “helpful, useful, informative, relevant, practical, timely, generous…”- @Sree
Start your social media when you don’t need it, so it’s useful when you do need it
Whatever your biggest network/platform is, put your link in smaller platforms (ex: put FB page on Twitter profile)
Visual.ly is a tool to help take facts and makes them look beautiful

Facebook

Brand pages should include lots of questions to engage audience
Tip from Edelman SVP Steve Rubel, social media strategist: Adding a Facebook experience to a website poll drives website traffic! Try it!
Building a media company within Facebook is brilliant

Twitter

120 characters or less, including @ mention, #, and link
Be mindful of what you retweet as it may be seen as a validation/confirmation of the content
Keep your follow list in constant churn: Get in new voices
Every tweet is about keeping your biggest tweeters happy says
Only 1 of every 5 tweets should be about yourself
For every tweet you’re sending out: Your mission is to engage, connect, and inform
The RT button eats your characters without getting you anything in return
Tag all your work and “gather all the stuff to bring it back” to one place, such as Tumblr
To get around the Twitter character limit, think abt linking yr tumblr 2 yr twitter account: wikihow.com/Link-Tumblr-to
Twiangulate shows who your most influential followers are
Crowdbooster another recommended Twitter tool

Foursquare

You can import your feed into your Google Calendar = Nice tracking of your schedule

5 new ways media is operating and how to adjust, by Edelman SVP Steve Rubel

1. Curate to dominate

FB, LI, etc. have all hired journalists to become their own content creators
Be a curator on a specific topic to stand out

2. Have data guide your editorial strategy

Dig through your data and be timely
Data drives traffic + there’s a raging war for page views

3. Keep media alive

4. Make media go deep and time it well

5. Be a superstar journalist

A few fantastic social media tips from the top minds in the biz. With only three days to talk about social media, it was a whirlwind event for all who attended.

Thank you Sree Sreenivasan and all other Twitter contributors for engaging so many great minds in one place to learn more about social media.

Filed Under: Social Media Weekend Tagged With: audience, best practices, Brands, building, Columbia Journalism School, connections, email, etiquette, Facebook, Foursquare, Google, how-to, journalists, marketers, Marketing, media, network, networking, NYC, pages, panels, personal brands, platform, politics, poll, Professionals, Professor Sree Sreenivasan, relationships, Social media, social media rules, Social Media Weekend, Sree Sreenivasan, timing, tips, trends, tutorials, tweets, Twitter

New media tips to land your first customer presented by Suzanne McDonald

January 19, 2012 3 Comments

Landing your first customer with new media presented by suzanne mc donald, designated editor

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How to use new media to land your first customer, a Designated Editor presentation at Boston ENET: The IEEE Entrepreneurs’ Network

Landing your first few customers, as Boston ENET: The IEEE Entrepreneurs’ Network, accurately articulates “is often one of the biggest hurdles startups face.”

Check out the slides for insights on how to “leverage digital media and traditional marketing techniques to land those first customers–without breaking the bank. Suzanne will explore customer acquisition with an emphasis on using the marketing tools of the 21st century.”

Boston ENET events gather many previously successful entrepreneurs who are venturing on new projects, as well as some freshly minted entrepreneurs. A highly engaged crowd with fantastic questions, and a fantastic venue at SwissNex Boston, along with gracious hosts: the SwissNex Boston team and Christina Inge of Boston ENET. Don’t miss future ENET events.