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Social Networks/ Media - what's your strategy? |
At our recent client advisory board, we asked how much are you investing in social networks now and what results are you seeing. I think it's fair to say that the interest level has dropped somewhat from 6-12 months ago, when Causes on Facebook had just launched. Several clients commented that they were finding it hard to justify significant human resource investment on social networks/ media when using traditional ROI metrics that they use for direct response marketing.
While it's likely that social networks are not going to be a major contributor in the short term to revenue, I continue to believe they can be an effective tool for outreach and brand extension. Certain groups like Oxfam America have also found success in recruiting new online activists through venues like MySpace.
New research by Virilion and Harris Interactive suggests moderate interest in "keeping up with nonprofits through social media": 30% of donors/engaged supporters were somewhat or very interested but 51% were not at all interested.
Our recently published Wired Wealthy research of $1000+ donors also found moderate activity levels in social networks/ media amongst this group of key donors (who are largely boomers)
* 39% view videos (11% regularly)
* 25% read blogs (9% regularly)
* 20% use SMS (10% regularly)
* 8% comment on a blog (2% regularly)
We found marked differences by donor segment. We looked at attitudinal or psychographic segments and found three distinct groups – “all business”, “relationship seekers” and “casual connectors”. The participation in social media among the relationship seeker segment is MUCH higher. Some verticals like animal welfare and environmental groups have a much higher preponderance of “relationship seekers” arguing for a proactive social media strategy in these verticals in particular.
Vinay
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James, I couldn't agree more! There are too many boring static causes and groups in the social network realm in particular created simply because everyone is doing it or the board wants "one of them bookface things". A smarter approach is thinking about your goals first and how social media supports these goals. Do you have resources (including staffing!) to implement the program and do it right? And is this the best bang for your buck?
URL: http://www.virilion.com
Americans love polls, surveys and sound bites. But what happens when only partial information gets reported? A slightly distorted view? That is what happened with a recent press release of the "DonorPulse Survey" conducted by Harris Interactive and Virilion. Many in the blogosphere locked onto the first stat ... that 51% of those surveyed stated they would not be be interested in keeping up with nonprofits or charitable organizations that they cared about through social media. Yet the same group when asked the question: “How important would you say it is for nonprofit and charitable organizations to use social media to communicate with their supporters?” 52% said it was important for nonprofit and charitable organizations to use social media to communicate with their supporters. Higher level donors show greater interest in being kept informed through social media (51%) then mid and lower level donors (43%). We appreciate our colleagues at Convio sharing information about the survey with its readers and invite them to read more and find out how to sign up for the webniar June 5th at http://www.suesmuse.com
URL: http://www.connectioncafe.com
The last point is very important. Social Networking is not for everyone, yet. There are clearly some organizations whose constituents naturally skew toward social networkers. There will be variations even amongst these amenable organizations. For example, organizations focusing on disease and health issues may have a high number of constituents seeking relationships, but wish to do so in a closed network, as opposed to MySpace or Facebook. The primary purpose of social networking sites is to facilitate peer to peer communication. Not all organizations have the kind of constituents who want or need to do that in the contaxt of the organization. Each organization should take a close look at their constituents and see what kind of needs they have before jumping on the social networking bandwagon. Or better yet, why not ask them?