The Math & Science of Social Media: 20 Tips & Tricks for Nonprofits

Today’s Presentation

• The Big Picture of Mobile and Social Media

• Top 5 Facebook Best Practices

• Top 5 Twitter Best Practices

• Top 5 Instagram Best Practices

• Top 5 Blogging Best Practices

The Big Picture of Mobile and Social Media

The Big Picture of Mobile and Social Media

• All online communications are now mobile and social.

• There is an art and science to mobile and social media.

• Mobile and social media are powerful fundraising tools.

The Impact of Age and Gender

Nonprofits must now communicate with five generations of donors, supporters, and communities served:

1. Silent Generation (Born 1925-1945, aged 69-older)2. Baby Boomers (Born 1946-1964, aged 50-68)3. Generation X (Born 1965-1979, aged 35-49)4. Millennials (Born 1980-2000, aged 14-34)5. Generation Z (Born 2001-present, aged 13-younger)

Additionally, women are much more active on social media than men.

The Impact of Race and Class

• The largest racial group using Twitter is African Americans at 26% and Twitter’s user base skews urban.

• 70% of Pinterest users are female, predominately white, and come from households earning more than $50,000.

• African Americans, Hispanics and women are the most active Instagram users. Instagram’s user base also skews urban.

• In households earning less than $50,000 annually, 55 percent own Android phones compared to 36 percent who own iPhones.

Facebook Best Practices

Facebook Best Practices

1. Rather than sharing links on Facebook, upload photos with a link in the body of the status updates.

Photos get 7X more engagement on Facebook than links.

The ideal image size for Facebook photos is 500 x 500 pixels.

Facebook Best Practices

2. Experiment with only posting 4-5 times weekly or less.

The number one reason why supporters unlike a Facebook Page is because the admin posted too often.

Facebook Best Practices

3. Post at least once on the weekend through the “Schedule Post” function.

More supporters “Share” your content on Saturdays than any other day.

Important: Do not use HootSuite (or any third-party app) to post to Facebook.

Facebook Best Practices

4. Enable “Similar Page Suggestions” in your Admin Panel.

Page Suggestions are the primary source of new fans.

Facebook Best Practices

5. Positive content on Facebook receives 5X more engagement than negative content.

Finally, posts 80 characters or less receive up to 66 percent more engagement.

Twitter Best Practices

Twitter Best Practices

1. Become an expert news source for your region and prioritize getting retweeted by tweeting and curating good content.

Tweets that include links receive 86 percent higher retweet rates.

Important: Don’t feel like you must have a dynamic or casual persona on Twitter.

Twitter Best Practices

2. Experiment with posting a tweet or retweet every one or two hours.

You can use HootSuite to post to Twitter. Post at least once on the weekend and you are international nonprofit, schedule tweets throughout the day.

Twitter Best Practices

3. Follow strategically. The more often you follow, the more often your avatar is visible on Twitter.

You can organize the chaos by using lists.

Twitter Best Practices

4. Using more than two hashtags in a tweet decreases the retweet rate. Clear, concise language is the most retweeted.

Twitter Best Practices

5. Tweets with photos receive an average of 5X more retweets.

Tweets that include properly sized photos receive up to 2X more retweets than those with cropped photos.

The ideal image size for Twitter photos is 500 x 250 pixels.

Instagram Best Practices

Instagram Best Practices

1. Be ahead of the curve. Instagram is a sleeping giant that could transform fundraising.

Imagine when images and videos could link to third-party pages within the Instagram app to enable two-tap giving and easy text giving.

Instagram Best Practices

2. Take screenshots of your most successful photos on Facebook (Pinterest, Google+, etc.) and regram them to Instagram.

At minimum, upload at least one photo or video a day.

Engagement is higher on Instagram than any other social network.

Instagram Best Practices

3. Upload behind-the-scenes photos and report live from events.

Instagram Best Practices

4. Include a short description and hashtags.

Instagram Best Practices

5. Create 15-second videos and video essays.

Blogging Best Practices

Blogging Best Practices

1. Our brains process images 60,000X faster than text. Thus, prioritize images in blog posts.

Fans and followers will not share blog posts or news articles that do not include images.

Content with relevant images gets 94 percent more views than content without.

Blogging Best Practices

2. Blog posts between 700 and 1,500 words receive more shares.

Additionally, blog posts get more shares on Saturday and Sunday than any other day of the week.

Ensure that you blog has social sharing buttons.

Blogging Best Practices

3. Eight out of 10 people will read your headline. Two out of 10 will read the rest of what you wrote.

Headlines should be 58-80 characters or less to maximize SEO and sharability.

Blogging Best Practices

4. Tap into the power of creating numbered lists:

12 Google+ Best Practices for Nonprofits

11 Facts Nuclear Energy

10 Reasons Why You Should Quit Smoking

Blogging Best Practices

5. Apply blogging best practices to press releases:

- Include photos.- Increase font size.- Include links to social networks.- Prominently feature social sharing buttons.

Conclusion

• Your mobile and social media campaigns are only as good as the staff that create and manage them.

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