Thanks to everyone who commented on my post Help Me Convince My Boss To Use Social Media. Not only did you offer some great support and tips, but the 24 comments I got were real evidence that social media really does work! I owe you all a Starbucks, which I’m happy to buy you when you come to visit me at my home store on 627 Tremont Street, Boston. See you there.
After giving my pitch on social media at the directors retreat my boss encouraged me to create a social media task force to help coordinate our efforts. We agreed that thanks to your great comments we were pretty clear on the platforms we wanted to use, but we still needed to coordinate the actual work. In short, a better name for the task force would have been forced tasks because they would be the ones doing the work.
Fortunately, the people I asked to be on the task force didn’t see it that way at all (being the silver-tongue devil I am helps) and I’ve quickly pulled together an energetic group of six people. I chose people from the office that I knew enjoyed social media and wanted to learn more.
Our goal with social media in the short-term is to apply some of the things we’ve learned to our signature fall event, Halloween Town. I think it will be a good test area as we connect with mommy-bloggers and twitterers to drive traffic to the event. The long-term goal is to integrate social media in to the hospital’s overall development and communication strategy.
Here are some specifics on our strategy.
Blogging. The hospital web site and development home page are in the midst of a major overhaul. One of the additions I’m pushing for on the new development web site is a blog. After talking to a number of people I really believe that blogging is a key strategy for nonprofits. (Which is interesting because there are really NO good nonprofits blogs out there.) A blog is a great way to keep people informed, it’s timely, can be supercharged for SEO and can be well supported by other forms of social media.
But a blog is also a lot of fricken work too. Enough said.
Flickr and Youtube. Two key platforms, especially video. One thing I’ve learned this week is not every nonprofit can get that snappy-looking page on Youtube like Share Our Strength and others have. You have to apply to get your own channel. And it sounds like unless you have good number of videos already on Youtube and some traffic going to them, you ain’t getting one. No matter. Video can be added to anything–but I do like the Youtube channel idea.
Facebook. We’ll create a page here, but I’m unsure what it will accomplish. Many have described Facebook as a great “bulletin board” but that’s about it. Nevertheless, 200 million Americans can’t be wrong so I think we need to be there. One thing I need to explore is having the hospital listed on a “person” page as opposed to a “fan” page. Seems like the former is better, no? But I’m not sure how I do a “person” page for a nonprofit. It just seems like fan pages have been getting a lot of criticism lately. It sticks in my mind that social media savant @chrisbrogan a little while back deleted his fan page in disgust. How do you think we should represent ourselves on Facebook?
Twitter. It’s no surprise that since I feel most comfortable with Twitter (and blogging) it’s the place I want to focus on most. Just about everyone on my team will be twittering now @holtmurray @ashleyzolenski @jessicaorndorff @joannamacdonald @kaylarogers. We’ve also created a handle for Halloween Town @HalloweenTown09.
My larger goal is to get more people on the development team twittering. But let’s face it: it’s not for everyone. Some people just don’t enjoy it. But with a little instruction and gentle prodding we could have more people building their own follower base and, when needed or inclined, tweeting about the hospital.
I’d also like to get other departments within the hospital tweeting and, of course, our donors. Twittering is powerful. Move over Zappos.
One idea I have with Twitter is to use the handle @Boston_ER to update followers on Boston’s busiest emergency room. Whether it’s injuries from a multi-car accident on Route 93, a spike in flu visits or a boating accident patient being medflighted from Nantucket, we would cover it.
There is precedent for this is, as both @Boston_Police and @BostonFire are both on Twitter. I think there is great interest out there among people who want to “follow the action” and see inside what I now bemoan as ”Fortress BMC.”
Armed with social media, we hope to tear those walls down so people can see firsthand the incredible–and sometimes exciting and fascinating–work we do.
Hi Joe,
Regarding Facebook I will offer what I know. As you know I have been primarily using Twitter to get the word out for our organization, Kids Are Heroes. We have an "outpost" on FB and YouTube, as your buddy @johnhaydon put it. We do have a Kids Are Heroes group, which just seems to sit there. People join but rarely go back to comment. I was told, "create a fan page!" – they are much more interactive. So I tried that too. I didn't know what I was doing so that seemed to sit there too. That was until I tweeted about it asking for help from my Twitter people. Immediately I got a few people to join and they left comments with instructions. I then realized that the "status updates" from fan pages actually appear on member's pages whereas that does not occur with groups. That's what makes it much more interactive.
So for me (at least so far, I am still learning) the Facebook fan page gave me a reason to really exploit FB. Still new at it so the jury is not out, but so far I love it.
Good luck.
Great job! I'm wondering if you've given any thought about creating a venue to encourage the retailers and non-profits to naturally talk with each other. For example, wouldn't it be cool if iParty employees who are personally impacted by BMC's care could share their experiences?
Good idea, John! That would be a great thing to do. But trying to think about the best way to create that. Any suggestions?
How about lunch? Then at the lunch, you can see how people want to continue the discussion online. You can also create a Tumblr or WordPress MU site dedicated to the event.
I love this post Joe. In fact – I think I am going to "borrow" your plan. That is okay, right?!
Absolutely! I'd love to hear of any positive–or negative–results.
So, how did you get over the resource/ROI hurdle? In other words, did your exec team ask how this would raise funds? Typically the reaction [esp in tight times like now] is, "we can give your resources/fund, but what will be the return? How much $$$ will come in the door from you spending your time on this??"
Good question, Jeff, and I think I addressed it in three ways.____First, because we would be tying social media into existing fundraisers there was an obvious value-add that a more vigorous SM program would bring to the table. Most of our events rely on free media and marketing and social media could be better tool to drive traffic to signature events like Halloween Town.____Second, I proposed that we not hire anyone but "repurpose" existing people in the office that had additional interests or whose jobs had changed because of the downturn. In short, I proposed maximizing existing staff in a valuable activity and not running the risk of losing a "position,"–you may know how important it is to hang on to in a big institution like a hospital or school!____Third, I think we all realize that with the economy that we need to focus on more basic and innovative activities that might not show an immediate return on investment. The economy is slow, no capital campaigns are on the horizon, the state is stiffing us on our money and our president is retiring! While we know we still need to raise money more than ever, it's all time to set sail for a new course.
HI Joe,
I read your post with great interest. I am really curious to hear how things are going. I will be in Boston in Nov. and would love to have lunch and share ideas. One of my clients is a not for profit and will be turning to me for help w/social media later in the year. My treat!
Sure, Betsy. But coffee is fine. As you get closer to coming up, just drop me an email through my site and we'll se something up. Looking forward to talking to you and sharing some results. The timing will be good since your visit will come on the heels of our big event, Halloween Town!
Hey Joe – I posted to this a while ago, but I don't see my comment here, so maybe it got lost in cyber space…anyway, my question to you was about HIPPA issues and how you address them in regard to staff using SM.
I'm meeting with a large hospital up here about adding SM to their marketing roster, and I know that's one of their hot button issues with allowing staff ANY access to the outside world. They won't even post their community calendar for fear of wet noodle lashings from their attorneys. How do you get around what can and can't be said on SM by staff? And the bigger concern, what potential patients or existing patients may say? Do you have guidelines for staffers before they go live online? A training session of any kind? I appreciate your (and the group's) thoughts on ways I can defend SM to this potentially big client.
Good question, Renee. Wish I could give you a definite answer! Little bit different for me because I'm not doing SM for the clinical arm of the hospital, but for the office of development. We already have communication guidelines in place to and will run our SM communications through similar standards so we're not divulging any sensitive info. But that said, you're right that that policy won't stop disgruntled patients, employees from using SM for their own purposes. Something I need to consider more!____One thing I will say is that if this hospital is that sensitivve in what they do already, they are going to have a REAL problem with SM. Some people think they can and some people think they can't. They are in the latter.__
Love the strategy overview/framework! Fleshed out with statistics – this is the sort of thing that should make the light go off for executives.
Joe,
There's are some great nonprofit blogs out there, did you miss them? Museums, advocacy organizations, and others …
Could you give me a few examples of your favorites, Beth? Would love to check them out. Thx!