I've got one word for you that sums up the single most important thing you can do to get the word out when you most need it: TWITTER.
How's that for 140 characters or less of world-changing volunteer power?
When the earthquake devastated Haiti nearly a month ago, thousands of caring, good-hearted people from around the world descended on the island nation to lend their time and talents. Their tools varied from medical supplies to search and rescue equipment.
Thousands more fired up their computers and proceeded to spend hours upon hours a day making connections that would save lives and stretch resources. Their tool: a laptop and twitter.com.
Within 24 hours of the earthquake, our client BHM had a Twitter account up and running. (Ideally, we would have already had the account and dedicated followers established. But each organization has its own comfort zone and timeline for these events. Theirs was later rather than sooner. My goal for you is to get you going before you need it.)
Less than a month later, BHM has more than 700 followers. Now, in Twitter-world that number isn't earth shattering. Take into account that 700 new followers online boosts their total contact list by more than 14% and their online contact list by more than 200% and you have a phenomenal increase in contacts for a relatively small investment.
That's all well and good, you say, but exactly HOW did it happen? Here's what we learned through BHM's experience with Twitter in the aftermath of the Haiti earthquake:
- Be relevant. BHM is an extreme example, but its missionaries and staff were on the ground in the middle of worldwide headlines. They were living what the rest of us were reading and seeing on the news. You can't always be that relevant (nor, I imagine, do you ever wish to be). But you can tie your tweets to news stories, trending topics, and relevant issues.
- Follow the right people. When BHM started, they had zero followers, just like everyone else. So we started following people who were tweeting useful information about Haiti. They noticed the "new follow" and the relevant tweets and started following BHM.
- Build relationships. BHM didn't just follow strategic people and "twitter-stalk" them. We engaged with them through retweets, replies, and, whenever appropriate, direct messages. In essence, we had a conversation with them and built a relationship. Guess what? The key to building successful relationships in the physical world is the same as building successful relationships online: be genuine and play nice.
- Tell people where to find you. BHM didn't limit its tweets to Twitter world. We advertised the new Twitter account on their web site, in emails, and through the existing network. We also posted the tweets on their web site using a module that displays recent tweets. (Turnbull Marketing Group does this, too...check out the bottom left corner of our homepage.)
- Give people a reason to follow you. We didn't just say "follow BHM on Twitter." We said, "Follow BHM on Twitter to get up-to-the-minute news and updates about earthquake relief in Haiti." And then we followed through on that promise.
- Keep in touch. Twitter builds rapidly, but it also unravels just as rapidly. If you Tweet heavily and then disappear, people won't necessarily "unfollow" you, but they sure will be a whole lot less engaged. In times of crisis, such as with the earthquake, keeping in touch meant Tweeting every hour or more. As things get into a routine and some of the urgency wears off, keeping in touch means Tweeting once or twice a day. This goes back to "being relevant" -- rule #1.
- Mind your manors. Don't forget to say "please" and "thank you." BHM regularly responds to people and thanks them for their re-tweets, connections, and donations of time. You wouldn't ignore the volunteers who come to your office and expect them to return. So don't do it online either. Remember, Tweeps are people, too.
- Seek help. BHM knew it was in over its head with everything that would need to happen. So the organization called on others to help. We worked side by side with the missionaries and staff on the field to post their Tweets for them. They knew that they didn't understand Twitter and they definitely didn't have the time to learn it in the middle of a crisis. They asked us to help them, and we did. It paid off in more ways than anyone can count.
We can help your nonprofit build a stronger support base through social media. Contact us for help on social media strategy and how it can build effective relationships and connections for your nonprofit. Remember, helping you help others is what we do best.
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