Permalink

2

4 Social Media Engagement Tips

At the Social Media for Nonprofits conference I heard an insightful presentation on how to be proactive from Cheryl Black, a Social Media Marketing Specialist for Convio.

cheryl black convio presentation

Proactivity on social media often consists of scheduling content to be delivered at a certain day and time. But Black introduced the concept of being “proactively reactive,” which consists of 4 actions:

1. Comment

An obvious but critical online action. Commenting implies that you have invested your attention in someone else’s content.

2. Seek out Chats

Online conversations related to your areas of interest or topic are already happening. Rather than starting a new conversation it’s effective to join current ones.

3. Answer Questions

Similar to #2, but different in that you are providing a direct response to a felt need. LinkedIn Answers surprises me with the amount of unanswered questions each time I check it.

4. Say Thanks

We all feel overwhelmed with the amount of online messages. Instead of talking more about yourself why not just send a message of gratitude? These communications often return the most value for both the sender and the receiver.

Click here to view Black’s entire presentation on Slideshare. 


Permalink

0

Hearing a message from a top-scoring “influencer” might make me read, or retweet a message – but seeing it repeated by five people I actually know, like and/or trust makes it law, regardless of the measured “influence” of those people.–Tom Webster, Influence from the Bottom Up

 

Ministries and non-profits need to do the hard work of following and listening to those inside their organization, and their friends first. As I help my church with their Twitter presence, the two most important actions I can do are:

1. Follow as many people as possible in the surrounding area of our church/city. 

2. Respond to every @ reply we receive. 

These actions demonstrate concern and interest to those people. Otherwise, when we do talk about ourselves or share resources there is little incentive to pay attention.

Let’s do the hard work today of listening and paying attention to others first before we talk about ourselves.


Permalink

0

It’s Never Been About the Technology

“I say to you that the VCR is to the American Film Producer and the American Public as the Boston Strangler is to the woman home alone.”–Motion Picture Association Chief Jack Valenti

mpaa infographic

This picture comes from an infographic on how Hollywood saw every innovation in their industry as a threat rather than an opportunity.

Even more astounding is that as of 2010, 65% of the revenue from the industry comes from sources that movie studios claimed would put them out of business. I cannot even imagine what would have happened if the studios had the foresight to embrace and leverage these innovations rather than fight them.

It’s easy to see social media as a threat and even a sign of the end of a particular era of success. In churches and ministries it’s particularly easy to fight the changes that social media brings.

I’d love to see more dreaming and experimenting with online tools for ministry. I do not want to look back and realize I fought something that ended up changing the world.


Permalink

2

Charlene Li Quotes from Willow Creek Webinar

Willow Creek hosted a webinar with Charlene Li, author of Groundswell and Open Leadership on how church leaders can use social media more effectively.

Charlene Li Willow Creek Webinar

Li shared profound insight into the power of social media:

“If your voice is absent (from social media), then (it communicates to those who are) that this is not a relationship worth having.”

“If you are in a relationship then you are not in control…to think that you are in control of the relationships in your church is a fallacy.” ***by far my favorite quote

“Twitter is not a technology but a conversation, and it’s happening with or without you”

“If you are not part of the conversation, you have no influence.”

She focused her responses on how technology enhances and increases the transparency in relationships. I enjoyed her thoughts on how social media reveals the true lack of control anyone has over a conversation. Much of ministry in the last 50 years has minimized the voice of the many in favor of the few; social media has completely turned this paradigm on its head.

“Handshakes are Precious”

Li literally shook hands with the interviewer to illustrate the power of a personal connection. She clearly showed how many online actions feel the same as a handshake to people, and the potential of interacting with people online to create and enhance relationships.

Specifically for Pastors and Ministry Leaders:

“If you see something that’s interesting I sure would like to know about.”

“Take me on that journey of discovery as you prepare for your sermon.”

“Can you produce a 2 min video of something that just hit you, if you don’t like writing?”

Pastors and ministry leaders can easily apply these suggestions. The first quote shows that “the audience” (your ministry) now has expectations to hear from you not just on Sunday or the time and day you meet in person, but in between. The second quote was powerful–to use social media to provide context as one prepares for a sermon. The third tip was fantastic–I’ve run into so many ministry leaders who because of their preference for speaking struggle to update Facebook, a blog, or Twitter. Producing a short video even once a week would dramatically increase people’s engagement and provide extended opportunities to connect.

To stay updated on future Willow Creek webinars click here.


Permalink

2

Key Statistics on the Gen-Y Workforce

chewing gum

Enjoyed reading these statistics from Generation Y: The New Kind of Workforce:

One in three said he/she would prioritize social media freedom, device flexibility and work mobility over salary in accepting a job offer.

64% of college students asks about social media usage policies during job interviews and approximately 24% says it would be a key factor in accepting the offer.

There is also a high expectation of the employee for the employer to offer a flexible schedule and freedom to work remotely.

Sixty-four percent of Gen-Y fails to list their employer on their profiles, yet they add an average of 16 co-workers each to their “friend” group.

Those that do enter workforce spend an average of just over 2 years at their first job. They are job hopping multiple times in their careers.

The theme of flexibility connected to nearly every statistic either directly or indirectly. Work and device mobility, frequent job changes, and the freedom to stay active online while they work all speak to this theme.

I see more ministries embracing remote working but I believe even greater strides can be made to empower and involve people in ministry work that are not in the office. Clay Shirky’s book Cognitive Surplus powerfully communicates the potential of part-time, distributed, asynchronous work.

How are you leveraging remote work and flexibility in your ministry or organization? What are you learning? 

photo via greatist


Permalink

0

Social networks are essentially systems for distributing content among people who care about each other, and the frequency at which its users can share that content on a particular network is critical to how much value it’ll provide them on an ongoing basis.–Mark Hendrickson, former CEO of Plancast


Permalink

2

A Simple Plan to Kickstart Social Media in a Large Non-Profit

Changing a large organization’s culture often takes a large and focused push to drive adoption of a new technology or behavior.

I found this idea of Immerse and Disperse extremely helpful when thinking about how to tactically drive an organization forward in digital competency.

immerse and disperse

Immerse and Disperse:

  • 15+ people do a stint on a social media team
  • Served for approximately one year.
  • Moved on to another part of the business.
  • Result: 20+ experts, dozens more at intermediate level. T

Every organization or part of an organization reaches a plateau as it seeks to adopt social media. Either “the expert” reaches his/her level of influence, or the fatigue of staff amidst constantly changing online tools sets in and halts change. “Immerse and Disperse” can be a great strategy for moving beyond the plateau.

Large non-profits often have distributed teams that each possess their own highly customized systems for communicating and sharing resources online. Immerse and Disperse allows an opportunity to align these disparate practices and harness the best practices from a wide range of leaders.

 View the entire slideshare presentation here.


Permalink

2

The 6 Online Places Your Ministry Must Be

Interesting infographic on the 6 Most Important Communication Channels for Non-Profits:

non profit infographic social media

The top three online channels are websites, email, and Facebook. Yet many ministry fundraisers spend most of their time on Facebook, and little time on their website or email.

Fundraisers must use these channels as complements to one another instead of copying and pasting the same message in each place. If you are copy/paste mode, then you only receive a linear return on each channel, rather than an exponential one. When fundraisers vary the type and frequency of each communication channel they work together to create an exponential return of interest, engagement, and connection.

Consider telling part of a story on your blog, another part in email, and the rest in a direct mail communication. Instead of fatiguing donors with repetitive communication you will inspire, motivate, and increase their connection to you and your ministry.

via John Haydon’s blog


Permalink

2

“Most inventors and engineers I’ve met are like me … they live in their heads. They’re almost like artists. In fact, the very best of them are artists. And artists work best alone …. I’m going to give you some advice that might be hard to take. That advice is: Work alone… Not on a committee. Not on a team.”–Steve Wozniak, Apple Cofounder

via The Rise of the New Groupthink