If you have been following our blog for a little while, then you are likely engaged in social networks for your nonprofit, charity, or business. We have sought to provide advice and guidance both by drawing on our experience and by putting our readers in touch with other experts in the field.
Today we happily return to some foundational issues to bring readers to your social-media outreach program, and to keep them connected to your organization. Never hurts to be reminded of some of the basic tenets of social-networking communications.
Ellisa Nauful of Ballywho Interactive reminds us of the need to be brief, bright, and playful. “Our social networks are a marketing tool, but they’re not the place to regurgitate marketing collateral. Save the brochure-speak for…brochures.”
Instead, keep conversation light, though focused. Social networking can be overwhelming and distracting, so a dry inundation of company-speak is likely to be deleted. And if your readers get a whiff of dishonesty or even equivocation, they are likely to leave your network for good.
We should all be so happy when reviewing our inboxes!
As for building a readership via email subscriptions, Sundeep Kapur presents five ‘absolutes’ to grow and retain subscribers. Two of them involve a Yin-and-Yang outreach that explains to people why they should join while at the same time ensuring them that they can remove themselves from the email list if they so choose. The way in is the way out – and new readers want to feel in control of their subscriptions.
Once you establish your connection, treat it like a professional relationship (Send a quick response/thanks to welcome your new constituent. Do not over- or under-deliver what you said you would offer. Tailor your offerings to the preferences of your contacts…). But at the same time, keep the conversation friendly and fun.
Finally, brevity is the soul of wit – and the key to successful online interaction.
