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One of the most common questions I'm asked as a social media consultant is, "Which tool is the best?" Unfortunately, there isn't an easy answer to that question. If you have a do-good project, or a small nonprofit that you want to promote, fundraise for, or build an online community around using social media, your first step is to create a plan.
If the idea of creating a social media plan sounds scary to you, just think of it as: 10 Questions to Get You Started Using Social Media for Your Nonprofit or Do-Good Project.
1. What is the goal I'm trying to achieve by using social media? Raise awareness? Build web traffic? Attract new donors? Raise money for a specific campaign or initiative? Increase membership?
2. Who is my audience? Who are you trying to reach? Are they new members, or your tried and true supporters? Are they already tech savvy, or will they need training to use the tools? What are their interests? How old are they? (Be careful making assumptions about age. Did you know that the fastest growing demographic on Facebook is people who are 35 years old and older?).
3. What are people already saying about my cause, or organization?
Search on Google, Google Blog Search, Technorati, Twitter Search, and Social Mention for your cause, the name of your organization (if you have one), and the URL of your website (if you have one). Search on Facebook too to see if anyone has already created a Facebook Page for your cause or organization. You may be able to achieve your goal, and reach your audience simply by commenting and participating on social networks that already exist.
4. How much time do I have to spend on social media? Check out Beth Kanter's post, How Much Time Does It Take to Do Social Media? to help you estimate how much time you might need, and compare it with the time you have to give. Also, what is the time line for the project? Is it for a short-term campaign, or part of your organization's long-term strategic, communications, or development plan?
5. How much money do I have to spend on social media? Many social media tools are free, or low cost to use. Basically, the more features, functions and customization you want, the more you'll pay. Your biggest cost will be your time, or a staff person's time.
6. What skills do I have? Are you, or the staff person who will be in charge of social media, using social media already, or will training be needed? Are you a natural writer? A blog may be a place to start. Do you love connecting people? A social network like Facebook, LinkedIn, or Ning might be a tool to leverage your talents. If you are a visual person, check out photo or video sharing.
7. What social media tool(s) should I use? Given your goal, the audience you want to reach, what is being said about your cause or organization online, and your time, money, and skills, what social media tools are the best fit for you?:
- Blog (i.e. WordPress, Blogger)
- Podcast (i.e. Libsyn, Hipcast)
- Video sharing (i.e. YouTube, Vimeo)
- Photo sharing (i.e. Flickr, Photobucket)
- Microblogging: Twitter, Tumblr
- Social networking (i.e. Facebook, Ning)
- Social bookmarking (i.e. StumbleUpon, Delicious)
- Wiki (i.e. Wikispaces, PBworks)
Using more tools isn't necessarily better. Putting limited resources towards building community around one tool will be more effective than barely engaging on multiple platforms. That said, many tools work well together. For example, videos can be embedded in blog posts, which can be fed into your Facebook newsfeed.
8. How will you measure success? Based on your goal for using social media, how will you measure your impact? How will you know if the tools you chose are working for you? Below is a sampler of ways you could measure
