Category Archives: Twitter
7 Reasons Why Non-Profits Should Be On Twitter
Twitter turns seven today and to mark the occasion here are seven reasons why nonprofits should be on Twitter.
- You get quick access to what’s new in the nonprofit world
- You can engage donors and potential donors for fundraising
- It allows you to monitor conversations about your organization
- It raises your profile on a global stage
- You can connect with other professionals in your field
- It helps drive more traffic to your website
- It lets people share your work with their networks and beyond
Raise funds for SVP with a simple tweet
Today, Friday 7th December, Sage is asking you to help raise money and awareness for their chosen charity, St. Vincent de Paul, by sending the below tweet from your own twitter account:
For everyone that tweets using the hashtag #SageXmasGiving Sage will donate €1 to St. Vincent de Paul @SVP_Ireland.
For those that would like to create their own tweet, it will still count as long as they use the hashtag #SageXmasGiving.
At the end of the day Sage will count up all of the tweets that were sent and for every person that tweets using #SageXmasGiving they will donate €1 to St. Vincent de Paul (www.svp.ie) up to a limit of €1,000.
#SageXmasGiving
Why you should listen and observe before joining twitter
Recently, the website PR News, outlined 7 tips to make your brand a must follow on Twitter. It contains some good advice on how to make the most of this platform, and to me the most important, is to listen and observe before jumping on the twitter bandwagon.
Many organizations are quick to jump on the Twitter bandwagon, but incessant tweeting isn’t the same thing as encouraging engagement with your new and longtime followers. To really matter on Twitter—to listen and engage and inspire sharing and interaction—takes commitment and experimentation. There is no set formula. You have to find out what works for you and your brand ~ Danielle Aveta, PR News
So ask yourself the following questions before engaging:
1. Why should your audience follow you?
2. What do you have of value to offer them? (i.e. conversation, information)
3. What can you add to the online conversation? (hint: it’s not more noise)
When you have a clearer idea of how you can best leverage Twitter as a communications platform, only then, should you engage. It’s the same message I repeat here time and again, strategy before tools!
Treat the creation of online communities as you would any other line of business activity — a community is not just a marketing vehicle. Define the strategic outcomes you want from the community, specify the audience it will serve, develop the business metrics and measures needed to report outcomes and the operational plans to build and run the community over time. ~ Vanessa DiMauro – Social Media Today
Are you guilty of these Twitter turn-offs?
This handy infographic designed by DK New Media presents data supplied by eConsultance from a ‘TwitPoll’ about why Twitter users opt out of wanting to know news and views from other Twitter users.
The number one reason people unfollow accounts on Twitter is too much tweeting, followed by too much self-promotion. Other turn-offs include infrequent/ no tweets from an account, boring tweets, or too much repetition.
Related Post:
Tweet For A Cause: How To Fundraise with Twitter
PayPal meets Twitter with Chirpify, Twitter’s commerce platform.
Designed for small businesses and musicians to sell their products, Chirpify also has good potential for non profits to raise funds. Here’s how it works:
- Tweet a request for donations via Chirpify.com.
- Followers reply to your Tweet or Retweets with the word “donate.”
- Donors and your organization receive receipts via email and DM (direct message)
The main advantages I can see to using this service for fundraising are its speed and ease of use (Twitter users can donate to your organization, cause or campaign with one simple “@” reply); your ability to schedule tweets at different times of day using a platform like Hootsuite or Buffer (do advance research into best times to tweet) and the social aspect of Twitter (users more likely to retweet your call for donations, and/or that they donated to your cause).
Twitter users are often on-the-go, accessing their account from mobile devices. You can see the advantage of being able to act on your fundraising request, with one simple click, without having to leave the Twitter app and go through a multiple step sign-up process. As an added advantage, they will receive an instant DM to acknowledge their donation.
Immediate and secure payment
Chirpify transforms your Tweets into transactions. When someone donates to you on Twitter, Chirpify automatically triggers a PayPal transaction between your account and the donors. Your donation appears in your account immediately.
As Chirpify is integrated with the PayPal platform, you have the guarantee of PayPal protection and a process for resolving payment problems.
How much does it cost?
For fundraising accounts there is a flat 4% commission fee which also gives you unlimited tweets and your own fundraising page.
Full details at http://chirpify.com
How to leverage yourself as an expert with social media (infographic)
The business consultant network Zintro pulled research from more than a dozen sources including Mashable, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google and Quantcast to put together this infographic, which will help you figure out which social network is best suited to your social media strategy.
Although a lot of this information may not be new to you, I love the at-a-glance way of seeing the different ways in which social media platforms function. I also see it as a great presentation tool to introduce new clients to the wonderful world of social media.
Twitter Etiquette
Don’t
2. Use someone’s Twitter handle to get their attention
3. Have a public disagreement via Twitter
4. Tweet too much
5. Over-use hashtags
Do
2. Pay It Forward
3. Respond to others in timely manner
4. Thank people for retweets and acknowledge their comments
5. Strike a balance between being personal and professional
6. Use professional language
Whether you are new to Twitter, or you have been tweeting for some time, following these tips will make sure you are minding your manners on Twitter.
Do you have any other Twitter etiquette tips to share?
How to bring your on and off line audience together
2011 has been a great year for conferences. I’ve attended more meetings this year than I have done in the past few years combined and it’s all thanks to social media. Some of these meetings, I’ve been physically present at, but equally I’ve been able to take part virtually through using social media tools.
Not all of your target audience can physically attend your events – it might be logistically awkward for them, or work and family commitments may prevent them from going along. But that’s no reason for them to miss out, nor is it a reason for you to miss their input. Here are two ways to bring your on and off-line supporters together at your next event.
1. Twitter
Set up a twitter hashtag for your event and encourage attendees to tweet live from the event. I see this working to great effect when I attend conferences – people love to tweet highlights of talks, photos of those present, the room, the speakers, everything they can. It creates a dynamic feel to your event. Your off-line audience get to follow along with the talks and the conversation and they can join in too by tweeting their own questions and comments (using the same hashtag). They can also join in at anytime online by doing a twitter hashtag search. Assign someone from your event management team to curate the twitter conversation using a tool such as storify, which makes no distinction between who is attending in-person and who is there virtually.
2. Live Streaming
Using UStream or another live streaming site you can stream your event live and even let off-line viewers take part with their questions and comments. At the recent Bloggers International forum which I took part in, the organisers used UStream to great effect. Also at this event, organisers ran spot prizes specifically for off-line viewers and those following along on Twitter. They were asked a question and tweeted their answer and the correct answer won a prize. This could easily be adapted for an online auction for your next charity fundraising event.
Do you attend events off-line? What works for you if you do? Can you suggest other ways of bringing on and off-line audiences together?
10 Social Media Conference Tips Every Business Needs To Grow
