Jan 02, 2014 By Amanda Nelson

in Marketing

20 Ways to Use Social Media for Social Good

Along with losing weight and breaking bad habits, each year many people make a resolution to do more good in their community. What does that have to do with social media?

I truly believe that social media has the power to make the world a better place -- and many others believe that too. 98% of nonprofit organizations have a Facebook presence, and 72% are establishing themselves on Twitter (source). Whether you're a nonprofit or a for-profit organization, you can successfully use social media for awareness of your cause, fundraising, community growth, engagement, and more.

Here are 20 ways to do just that.

Use the social web to develop contacts within similar organizations in order to create awareness and transfer helpful information.
You've got the facts, statistics, research, and institutional knowledge already, so provide this knowledge as content to share.
Let the passion for your cause come out and highlight the stories that tug at heartstrings. Use pictures, videos, and a narrative to tell the human stories that inspire.
Use your social presence to create new relationships and strengthen existing ones. Share updates about your programs, mission, and events to show donors how their funds are used.
Coordinate your social media outreach with your events and promotions.
Once you've created your campaign and call to action, make it easy for people to donate. Get the essentials (name, address, email, and payment info) and let them be on their way.
Connect and develop relationships with social media leaders to further spread your message and have a supportive voice.
Spread positive messages to gather interest. Sharing positive volunteer experiences might encourage others to learn more about you or share your message.
Thank your community. Whether it's a donation, a comment on your blog or a helpful recommendation, it's important to acknowledge the kind gesture.
Dissect your social media data to find insights that benefit your community. Use data to uncover areas in need and find ways to get involved.
Promote your events. Attract a larger following by sharing your message on the social web.
Share messages about others more than messages about yourself. Retweet other organizations' posts, share web content relevant to your industry and post kind words and questions.
Use social media to uncover the language of your constituents. Use that knowledge to shape the content and messaging you use to communicate.
Use social media to reveal data about your audience. This includes market demographics, relevant conversations, where they spend time on social media channels.
Use social media to gather feedback via surveys and polls. Ask questions and crowdsource new ideas.
Describe your social media objectives specific to the results you want. Go deeper than "increase brand awareness" to "increase brand awareness by 10% in the next six months via a targeted social media campaign."
Ensure your social media goals are measurable. Having a specific objective will clearly show whether results were met.
Set achievable social media goals. Your goal of 90% customer satisfaction may be plausible so consider what's feasible when setting your objectives.
Ensure you have the resources for your social media plan. Get the tools and staff in place to meet your objectives.
Get specific with your social media objectives with a time frame. This makes them real and tangible.