- 15 August 2018
Should Nonprofits focus only on Facebook?
Social media has become vital in the nonprofit world as you are able to tell your organization’s story in a cost-effective way and are able to reach a wider audience quickly. If utilized effectively, this can be a powerful marketing tool for you. Most nonprofit organizations have a Facebook page but with so many other social media platforms emerging and the existing ones updating their features should you just focus on one platform or expand? It can be challenging to choose the right platform(s) for your organization. In this blog, we will deep dive into different platforms and help you to come up with the right strategy for your nonprofit.
Most popular social media platforms are:
- Youtube
- Snapchat
- Google+
- Tumblr
- Flickr
- Quora
Before evaluating each platform you must answer the following questions for your organization
- Why do you want to use social media at all and what do you want to achieve?
- Who is your target audience?
- Which social media platform is used by your target audience? What are their daily online habits?
- How many resources can you spare?
- What type of content do you typically create and enjoy creating?
- How much traffic can you handle from social media accounts?
In order to select the right platform, your organization’s social media goals, target audience’s online habits and the type of content need to be aligned. Also, your social media strategy should be integrated with your overall marketing strategy.
FACEBOOK:
Facebook remains the most widely used social media platform worldwide. Total monthly users are 2 billion and 68% of U.S. adults are active users as of Jan 2018.
Demographic Profile:
Men – 62% and Women – 72% of U.S. adults
Age Group – About 80% of 18-49, 65% of 50-64 and 41% of 65+
What to Post:
Photos, Videos, Events, Industry Updates etc.
TWITTER:
Twitter is a social networking and microblogging service and lets users post tweets which cannot exceed 280 characters. This becomes the go-to-platform for organizations that want to reach out to followers with breaking news, company announcements, new blogs and similar messages.
Total Monthly Active Users are 336 million. A lot of celebrities use Twitter to engage with their fans. 24% of U.S. adults are active users.
Demographic Profile:
Men - 23% and Women – 24%
Age Group – About 40% of 18-29, 27% of 30-49, 19% of 50-64 and 8% of 65+
What to Post:
Multiple posts or ‘tweets’ per day is recommended due to each post’s short timespan.
YOUTUBE:
Youtube is the second biggest search engine in the world after Google. Users can watch, share, upload and edit video content. Total Monthly Active Users are 1.8 billion. 73% of U.S. adults use Youtube.
Demographic Profile:
Men – 75% and Women – 72%
Age Group – About 91% of 18-29, 85% of 30-49, 68% of 50-64 and 40% of 65+
What to Post:
Videos which are good quality and are vibrant to catch people’s eye. Your organization’s story, customer case studies, how-to videos etc.
Instagram is owned by Facebook and is trending social media platform for nonprofits. Through this app, users can take and share photos, videos and post live stories from any mobile device. It lets the user share on other platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, and Flickr.
As of June 2018, there are 1 billion monthly active users. 35% of U.S. adults are on Instagram.
Demographic Profile:
Men – 30% and Women – 39%
Age Group – About 64% of 18-29, 40% of 30-49, 21% of 50-64 and 10% of 65+
What to Post:
Photos and videos from fundraisers, events, volunteer activities, supporter stories etc. Great channel for engaging with donors.
LinkedIn is a unique social networking platform that enables its user to build their professional network, discover job opportunities, and follow company and industry news. It is ideal for B2B businesses.
It is the top professional social media platform which has over 500 million members worldwide. About 25% of U.S. adults actively use LinkedIn.
Demographic Profile:
Men – 25% and Women – 25%
Age Group – About 29% of 18-29, 33% of 30-49, 24% of 50-64 and 9% of 65+
What to Post:
Build your membership through a company showcase page that tells your story and your mission, advertises jobs and volunteer opportunities, and shares employee news etc.
Well, given this information, it suffices to say that Facebook has the largest audience and can get you the most traffic. But, there are so many other platforms that you can look into. So yes, you should focus on other social media channels and not just Facebook. It is not one channel fits all organization strategies but it’ll have to be a combination of various channels to reach out to your audience effectively. And one last but very critical thing – test your ideas and have timely reviews. This helps in improving your reach.
For detailed comparative analysis of these platforms, request for a free guide here
Data Sources:
https://www.pewresearch.org/
https://www.pewinternet.org/2018/03/01/social-media-use-in-2018/
https://newsroom.fb.com/company-info/
https://www.statista.com/statistics/282087/number-of-monthly-active-twitter-users/
https://blog.hootsuite.com/
https://www.omnicoreagency.com/
