9 tips on how to successfully market your non-profit on Facebook

Non-profit and non-governmental organisations (NGO’s) are often the most under-developed and under-visited pages on Facebook, and the internet at large. Why is it that the groups that reflect enough societal concern to be formed seem to struggle with online marketing as a way of further championing their cause?

The first part of this answer is obvious – money. Most NPO’s and NGO’s I’ve worked with have a marketing budget which is smaller than some of my corporate clients’ monthly coffee budget. Social media marketing can be intimidating to non-corporate groups; many think that Facebook marketing is restricted to Facebook Ads and huge online viral campaigns.

The second part to this answer is that many of these organisations lack the additionally needed resources (such as people, know-how, and tech-support) to dedicate to what they believe a proper Facebook campaign needs.

Although money and resources are indeed valid hurdles, with a little bit of time and a core of dedicated people, any non-profit can be up and running on Facebook in under 30 days, and I’m here to tell you how.

1. Define your objectives

Sit down with your team and create a list of what you want to accomplish with a Facebook campaign. If you are a start-up organisation, just gain a web presence and strike up some interest in your cause – you may end up gaining more support via new memberships than any other identifiable gain. It’s important to stay focused and driven, as this will add the momentum your campaign needs to be successful. Some examples: create easy ways to donate online, expand to another geographical region, or grow your database.

2. Make some friends!

No matter where you are in the world, there is more than likely another organisation doing something very similar to yours. It doesn’t matter if your cause is animal, vegetable, or mineral – there are others like you out there! You can build reciprocal links with their organisations on their pages and can share site traffic, creating the perfect online win-win for exposure. Identify what some obvious shared interests are and connect with groups and individuals in the same field, then expand and discover what other reaches your cause might have in common. Clearly I can’t be the only vegetarian that also cares about literacy in South Africa! Find your immediate fan base and then expand into reach-niches.

3. Have something to say

The most common mistake that NPO’s and NGO’s make on Facebook is that they lack quality content. Be mindful of the platform. Facebook should be a simple yet dynamic, captivating online arena that drives traffic to your main site. Keep everything as clear and concise as possible, keep the elaboration for your home page; and make sure that you’re telling me something I want to know! I tell all my non-profits to imagine walking down a busy New York street with their post in hand, casually waiving it around for onlookers to see – is the average person going to stop to “read more”? Remember your audience, remember that social media is the busiest street online, tell me why I should care and quickly!

4. Call to Action

There is nothing more irritating than finding a non-profit that I want to support but when I am on their Facebook page, I can’t find a way to support them. Ensure that your objectives match your content. The easiest way to do this is to have a directive, aka “Call to Action”, pointing your user in the right direction. Your call to action should be the first things people read and understand from your site and your posts, and keep it simple – five words or less! Public Relations professionals may also refer to this as “staying on message”, don’t leave your users asking themselves “now what?” Tell them what’s next yourself!

The Tapestries of Hope Facebook page is promoting a documentary on sexual abuse of girls in Zimbabwe in conjunction with the Girl Child Network (GCN) and has done a great job with a centrally located directive and an easy to read break down.

5. Usability

As important as what you say is the way that you say it. Structure your posts so that the basic premise of your message is conveyed in the first fifty words (what we call a sniffer) so that when others repost it, it can easily go viral. Then expand for another 100 words in the body of the message and/or post. Web-usability is another topic all together, but here’s a great starting point: Free Web Style Guide.

Here is a good example of this:

The World Wildlife Fund is a global group that has one of the most successful Facebook campaigns for an NPO. Note how they have linked up with Open Planet Ideas, a crowd-sourcing initiative paired with WWF and backed by Sony on sustainability. Together they are targeting a mutual audience, they have their Call to Action in the first four words, they keep their content short and sweet, and most importantly engage their audience!

6. Exposure via Conversation

David Fischer, Facebook’s current Vice President of Advertising and Global Operations, has said that marketers are coming to Facebook for more opportunities of brand spotlight. Here is a platform that gives consumers an extremely vocal, and viral, opportunity to talk about a brand with a massive online audience. People care, so get them talking, create a forum with poignant conversational topics and users will flock to the discussions!

7. Give them that ‘X-Factor’

If you, or someone within your organisation is slightly tech-savvy, consider delving into a bit of light coding to create a Facebook Application that’s creative, innovative, and promotes your cause somehow on your organisation’s page. This may be a few steps further down the line in resources and creativity, but it is a sure-fire traffic generator, awareness promoter, and contributions increaser. The easiest way to do this is to create a tab on your page by activating one of Facebook’s NPO Apps, the top three are: the giant and multi-platform friendly Change.org, the growing Petitions, and the ever-present and top-ranking Causes.

8. Track your progress

It doesn’t take a Wall Street analyst to understand Facebook Insights; these are the little facts and figures that are easily viewable from the left-hand side of the organisation’s page if you are listed as an Admin. The basic overview tells you about the general page traffic you are getting. Simply click to “See All” and discover what has generated this sort of traffic. You will more than likely start to see a spike in traffic on days that you’ve posted interesting info, a quality link, or a great photo that has captured your fan bases’ attention.

Without getting into too much regarding Facebook Insights, know this: it is a great tool for any NPO/NGO because it provides free demographical market research. Spend some time perusing your Insights, chart what makes your fan base tick, then rinse and repeat.

9. Now what?

First things first, create your organisations’ Facebook page and set up the basic infrastructure that represents the ethics, values, and mission statement, as well as accurately represents the overall goals of your group. Be sure to fill in as much as you can in all the fields (leaving blanks on any social media platform is just as pointless as shooting them!) Don’t forget to upload some photos to give a face to the name. Once you have a standard page up and running, start a few conversations, and invite your immediate network to “Like” the page.

Although Facebook is free, it costs a fair amount of time to do correctly. Keep an eye on your Facebook page and your knowledge of online marketing will grow as quickly as your fan base does. Remember to be patient; Social Media Marketing Campaigns don’t explode overnight, nor do they grow on trees. Invest in the online presence of your organisation and your cause will ultimately see the rewards.