Successful social media campaigns for non-profits

I may have found the whole “Kony 2012” a little dumb, but I have to acknowledge that what the organization did was endure that the content went viral. I’ve never seen campaign that had many people to watch a 30- minute video about someone who you didn’t know anything about.

The video that aimed to bring Joseph Kony down in central Africa went so viral so quickly over Facebook, Twitter and other social network platforms, that I thought it would never go away.

Granted, it is the butt of many jokes. You were judged whether you supported the campaign or thought it was stupid. I also that that most people didn’t even know what organization was behind the scenes. When I think about it, what the project comes to my mind first and Invisible Children is a distant second. Sometimes, I even forget that they were behind Kony 2012.

In October, creative director for Invisible Children Jason Russell told the Times that he did get out of control, acknowledging the video of him running naked in San Diego streets.

Creating content that goes viral for non-profits is difficult. Recently, the U.S. Justice Supreme court hearing of California’s Prop 8 and DOMA has brought forth many organizations that support legalization gay marriage and equality for all. On Tuesday Facebook turned red to support the Human Rights Campaign.

Photo courtesy of Human Rights Campaign

It was hard to miss. Particularly ever other friend’s profile picture was HRC’s logo. But from what I could see no one explained why the changed their picture or who was behind the change. Yes, if someone asked the response was for marriage equality but with no further explanation.

So how do you create content that people will remember the message AND who you are as an organization. Both of these were successful enough to get the message to their audience. There’s no doubt about that. So what can you learn from them?

• Find what is so compelling. For Invisible Children it was having an adorable boy to explain the issue.
• Determine what makes you unique. Everything you execute is tied to your mission but find authentic and ways to display your messages will show your effort.
• Social media is your friend. Although I question Kony campaign sincerity, it did you use effectively with content that struck a chord with many people. Provide stories with human interest and the people will spread the word. It’s important to also have social media infrastructure in place. Build your audience before a big campaign.
• Keep it simple and straightforward. The messages were clear. You changed your profile picture to support marriage equality. There was nothing complicated about asking your audience to do that. Don’t push too many messages. You will start to lose your campaign’s vision. 

Why organization matters

This week was the start of several major group projects. I also started my internship at a local non-profit organization. With so many things going on how do I not let it stress me out? Well, organization.

In the past organization was not my strongest skill. Now, I have to make it. I’ve always tried to keep a planner up-to-date but after a couple of weeks I wouldn’t update it. Thankfully with technology it is ways to sync appointments, meetings, emails, etc. with your computer and phone.

Yes, regular planners are helpful but someone like me, who forgets to carry it around, it’s best to find something to me. I find it easier to set up asks on my computer and then let it sync with my Google account and phone. I know that I carry my phone around, therefore I won’t forget what’s due tomorrow or what tests are coming up. 

So why does this matter?

Saves Time

Leaving everything to the last minute is stressful enough but also dealing with a huge paperwork on your desk. Using folders or lists for different classes or projects helps you keep track of what’s what. You also won’t confuse what you need to do today with what’s due next week.

Reduces Stress

There will be times when everything will get overwhelming and organization is one thing that will make you feel like you can accomplish these tasks. No need to get anxious about the million of things you need to accomplish instead organize what’s more important.

Customer Service

This type of organization will also help when applying it to other jobs. If you have hundred of tweets or messages to respond to, it’s easy to organize these messages by relevancy and importance. Keeping a your brand’s reputation with customers help future business.

Job Interviews

Another reason to be organized is that it impresses employers. In interviews I get compliments about how well my portfolio is organized. It shows them you can be prepared.

And for many more reasons, organization is important. It’s something I’m certainly working on.

Know your Twitter audience

Twitter is a great social media platform for customer service or a way to interact with your followers. But every company does not benefit from using social media and according to a new study from Pew Research Center Twitter does not represent the general population.

So who exactly is on Twitter? The study shows that majority of users tend to be younger and more liberal. Only 13 percent of adults use Twitter and even less tweet regularly. So who has the bigger influence?

It seems that chasing the perfect audience depends on the content. A quick analysis of your brand and you can determine whether the social platform is for your company. It depends if it fits within your organizational goals. If your audience isn’t on Twitter then why put the effort in when you could work on more effective platforms.

You can subscribe to special platforms for Twitter or you can engage using other methods. Easy tips to reach your target audience on Twitter:

• Develop a customer profile. This is a description of your customers. This takes research and use both demographics and physiological information. It will be a great guide to know what you are looking for in an audience.
• Monitor. Treat your audience like real people. Provide them with engaging content. Don’t just promote your business but find what your audience wants and needs.
• Track hastags. When you track hashtags you can quickly search for what people are saying about your brand or anything else that is relevant. You can create a specific hashtag that will give your brand more visibility.
• Twitter lists. Twitter lists are meant to keep track a group of people without following those people. When you do a keyword search start to group influential people or people who share the same interests.

These tips will help you to determine if Twitter is right for your brand. It will also be useful to provide the right content and help keep your audience engaged. 

Pride and Prejudice Tackles on Social Media

Adaptions of classic novels, plays and even older movies happen frequently. Most attribute it to Hollywood never having an original idea and why read the book when you can watch the movie?

So when I heard that a modern version of Pride and Prejudice existed, I knew I had to watch it. But it wasn’t a TV show or a Movie; it was a series of videos posted on YouTube. That’s right the adaption, The Lizzie Bennet Diaries, is on YouTube.

Photo courtesy of The Lizzie Bennet Diaries

The modern version, posted twice a week on the YouTube, sets the Bennet family in California. Lizzie Bennet is now a communications graduate student who decides to start posting videos as part of her thesis. The whole series centers on Lizzie and her family, school and love life. And much like in the novel, Lizzie’s mother is dying to get her daughters, Jane and Lydia, to marry.

Other characters also make guest appearances. Charlotte is now the Lizzie’s video editor, Mary is now her cousin and Kitty is an actual cat. Bing Lee is a med student, William Darcy owns several digital companies and George Wickham is a swim coach.

This adaption does not only post videos on YouTube, it uses various social media websites like Storify and Tumblr to create the story. All the characters have twitter accounts. Even Pemberley Digital, Mr. Darcy’s company, has a twitter account. Spin off web series exist for Lydia and Pemberley Digital. All of this just to present the story as real as possible.

Created by Hank Green and Bernie Su, The Lizzie Bennet Diaries has a team of writers and produces just like any production and the media works on creating content for these accounts. One of the reasons for the adaption is because Pride and Prejudice is in public domain. This allowed for the production take classic novel and add a new twist.

New ways to satisfy audiences appear as media transitions to the Internet. Would a modern version of Pride and Prejudice survive on TV? Probably, it is one of the favorite Jane Austen novels. Would it have felt the same for the audience? Maybe not, the series has spawn various gifs, fan art and blogs dedicated to the series. The series relies heavily on social media interactivity.

The interactivity creates a believable story. Its strategy to include other social media platforms makes the audience invest and believe that the story is real. It’s effective story telling for digital age.  

       

To watch from the beginning visit the Lizzie Bennet Diaries’ playlist.