It goes without saying that in today’s world a non-profit must be present and active on social media networks. The most prominent social media platform, without a doubt, remains Facebook. With 2.41 billion monthly active users as of the second quarter of 2019, Facebook is the biggest social network worldwide (www.statista.com).
Let’s take a look at a few tips:
Ensure your Facebook page is registered as a charity and that you have completed all the relevant fields such as the About section, all your contact info, and that you use your logo as your profile picture. All this makes your page more trustworthy to visitors who are not too familiar with your page.
Make use of all the great fundraising tools, such as the Donate Now button that allows you to add a donation button to your page and allows people to donate to your organization. You can redirect potential donors to your donation page hosted on your website. Alternatively, visitors can complete a donation without leaving Facebook if you activated the Donate Through Facebook account setting. You can also make use of the Fundraising Tool, this is an easy way to get people involved with your page and create awareness, you can find out more on how to set this up by following the link: https://www.facebook.com/fundraisers/
Use the insights page to gain valuable information about posting times, audience demographics, reach, and much more. You can then use all the above information to ensure that you’re posting at the correct times, or at least the times that you’re bound to reach the most people, reaching your desired audience. As such, take the time to familiarize yourself with the insights page as this is often a tool that is under-utilized but offers amazing information on how to use your page to its full potential.
Now that you know who your audience is and what time your audience is online, you now when you need to schedule your posts to reach the maximum amount of people. We usually see a trend that people are online in the morning between and 08:00 and 09:00 and then again between 18:30 and 20:30 at night (this could differ on your page, therefore we advise to make use of the insights page). We recommend using the schedule tool to allow posting at desired times easier. This allows you to schedule multiple posts at any time for the future at a specific time.
To really make the most out of Facebook and create an invaluable fundraising tool, you should be posting high-quality, relevant, and compelling content that interests your target audience, as you are constantly battling for attention and screen time on timelines. You should be posting consistently, however, be careful of over-posting – here we recommend quality over quantity. Stick to no more than 3 posts a day, the ideal would be to try and limit your posting to two times a day with a good amount of time between posts, and no more than 10 posts per week.
Content is extremely important. Ensure you use high-quality content in order to make your Facebook page standout. Original photos and videos are ideal. When posting high-quality relevant content, you will likely see better results as people are more likely to like, comment, and share your post. This will automatically translate into better reach, resulting in more people seeing your content and being aware of your organization
The same rule applies to writing captions for your posts. We suggest keeping your copy as short as possible and to the point. People may lose interest should you make them read too much. An alternative is setting up a blog page and sharing the link of the blog on your Facebook page with a compelling outtake from the blog, giving people the option to read more by clicking on the link.
Another key factor: engagement is key. Take time to respond to questions, comments, and posts tagging your organization – and answer all direct messages. Reaching out to supporters individually to show the ‘personality of your organization’ gives your organization a human element and is also an excellent opportunity to create your own voice and brand identity, which assists in building trust with your audience and showing that you care and appreciate everyone interested in your work.
If you have the means, do not be afraid to spend on Facebook ads and boosting some posts. Facebook has a minimum spend of R10,49 per day (at the time of writing) and suggests a spend span of 4 days. When doing this, it will cost you approximately R42 over 4 days. Depending on your targeting, you can reach up to over 2000 people with one post. The people that are reached by this post will see this on their timeliness. This is great as it takes away the spray-and-pray element of marketing.
In a day and age where social media is a competing marketing tool, it’s crucial to utilise every aspect available to you. We hope that these tips provide a stepping stone to taking your non-profit organization to the next level.
Need a little extra help? The Blue Room’s Digital Marketing Division can assist: from social media strategies to managing and implementing campaigns on your behalf. For a quote, or for more information on how The Blue Room’s integrated marketing solutions for your NPO or NGO, email info@theblueroom.co.za or give us a call on 021 553 0315.
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Written by Juben Matthee: Digital Marketer, The Blue Room