10 Cause Marketers You Should Follow on Twitter (Plus 20 More)
I love Twitter. There's a certain magic to Twitter. So interesting. So fast. So current. So informative....So short, just 140 characters.
I've learned a lot about cause marketing on Twitter, and now I want to my fantastic teachers with you!
My criteria for picking them.
I chose real people as much as possible. For me, Twitter is all about talking to people, not logos or brands or billboards.
They tweet, a lot. There's a big difference between being on twitter and being active on Twitter. The Twitter handles I chose, especially in my top ten list, are on Twitter every day. There are many, many other people I could recommend, but they're just not active enough and you would be, well, disappointed. And I can't have that.
Cause marketing is a focus. But not the only focus. Chris Noble talks about his other business in China. Noland Hoshino is always bragging about how much he goes to the Gym. In short, don't expect talk about cause marketing 24/7. Two of my picks aren't even cause marketers, but they represent the future of cause marketing both in social media and location-based services.
Follow them and multiply. The good thing about all these people is that when you follow them they will lead you to many, many more new followers.
If you're not on the list. I have a pretty narrow understanding of what cause marketing is and I'm pretty active in the cause space and on Twitter. I like to think that if you're in cause marketing and on Twitter I probably know about you. Maybe you don't tweet enough. Tweeting too little is like knowing how to read but choosing not to: a terrible waste.
Here are my top ten tweeps.
Causeaholic
Steve Drake is an expert in cause marketing for associations. His signature program Trees for Troops has delivered thousands of trees to U. S. troops around the country and around the world. Steve shares his insights on his blog Causeaholic and 501 Connect.
Noland Hoshino
Noland is a passionate cause marketer who is CEO and Co-Founder of [B]Cause Social Media Communications in Portland. He's on the cutting edge of cause marketing and social media--when he isn't volunteering and dressing up like a cow for his favorite charity Heifer International!
Chris Noble
Chris is what every cause marketer wants to be when he or she grow up. He's talented. He's worked with some of the biggest names in business. He's raised millions for causes. (Yeah, I admire the guy). The four brands of his company Kompolt, WhatGives!, StudioGood and Patron are cause leaders. And you can learn about them all by following Chris!
John Haydon
John is not a cause marketer, but he's an excellent cause marketing follow on Twitter. Here's why. John is an expert in social media for nonprofits--especially Facebook--which is becoming increasingly important for cause marketers. When John does come across a topic that's relevant to cause marketers, he connects the dots.
Megan Strand
Megan is the blogger at Incouraged. She's also Director of Communications for Cause Marketing Forum, the leading organization for cause marketers. She's the leading woman behind its website, blog, newsletter and twitter handle.
Realized Worth
Chris Jarvis works on the employee engagement side of cause marketing helping companies connect with communities through volunteering & social media.
Geoff Livingston
Geoff isn't a practicing cause marketer, but he has excellent insights on cause marketing, its contribution to society and how it intersects with social media. He also is connected with some very smart people like Beth Kanter.
Scott Henderson
Scott blogs at RallytheCause.com and has been involved in several high-profile campaigns, including Pledge to End Hunger which helped Tyson Foods deliver 560,000 meals to four different cities for children in need and raised $28,000 for Share Our Strength. Last year, he and his team at CauseShift launched We Can End This, a yearlong initiative to spark innovation and create real, tangible solutions to end hunger in America. Scott also enjoys cheese.
Mike Schneider
Mike helps battle cancer each year by growing a mustache and raising money during "Movember". The rest of the year, Mike is one of the smartest guys I know on location-based services and marketing. That might be why Wiley Publishing chose him and another location-based pro Aaron Strout to write Location-Based Marketing for Dummies. From reading my blog you know that LBM will be a key area of focus for cause marketers in the years ahead.
Cone LLC
Think of this one as me recommending a bunch of great people, instead of just one. Cone is a leading cause marketing agency based in Boston that was founded by the "mother of cause marketing" Carol Cone. Cone tweets insights and research on cause marketing. Combine their tweets with their weekly newsletter and blog and you can brag to people that you're wicked smart about cause marketing.
Okay, here are 20 more cause marketing twitter handles to follow.
Jocelyne Daw. The author of a couple great books on cause marketing. She doesn't tweet a lot, but when she does she's got some great things to say. She also understands what a lot of people misunderstand about Twitter. It's for talking, not broadcasting.
Carol Cone. What can I say, she's the "Mother of Cause Marketing."
Doug Weinbrenner. Doug is a Kansas City based cause marketer with ad agency Premier Studios, where he works with nonprofit, public health and CSR. He's also a delusional Kansas City Chiefs fan. Could be worse: at least he's not a Royals fan.
TweetCMF. The cause marketing handle for Cause Marketing Forum, the leading organization for cause marketers.
3BLmedia. 3BL tweets the latest in Cause Marketing News.
GoodConcepts. Brian Powell is a Dallas-based cause marketer who is the managing director of cause marketing agency Patron.
BrighterCause. Led by two talented strategists, Mindy and Megan, Brighter World Cause Marketing is a cause marketing and copywriting consultancy.
Paul Jones. The blogger behind CauseMarketing.biz. I wish Paul would tweet more. But if you follow him you'll be sure never to miss one of his excellent posts!
Sponsorpitch. Not cause marketing, but a close relative: sponsorship. A worthy follow.
MCCaliber. Maureen Carlson is a very talented cause marketer who started the cause marketing program at City of Hope Hospital and now works with hospitals nationwide to build successful cause marketing programs.
Philips McCarty. Phil started the Thanks and Giving program at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. He's the managing director of Cause Innovation, a cause consultancy, and works with some of the biggest causes in the country.
OKL. Olivia Khalili writes the blog Cause Capitalism, which teaches businesses how to incorporate a social mission.
Mike Swenson. Of all the cause marketing agencies out there, I think Mike is probably the most senior cause marketer that's active on Twitter. His Kansas City company, Barkley, has executed some major cause marketing campaigns, including Lee National Denim Day.
Holt Murray. My cause marketing colleague at the hospital. A great cause marketer who also knows a great deal about the Boston sports scene and clip art.
Sarah Kerkian. Sarah is Insights Supervisor for Cone. This means she researches, writes and analyzes all things cause marketing. A great resource.
DaveCause. David Hessekiel is President of Cause Marketing Forum.
Katya Anderson. Katya is author of Robin Hood Marketing.
IEG. All things sponsorship with some tweets on cause marketing.
Sharna Fulton. Hyper-local cause marketing at its best. No one does it better than Sharna!
Join Red. Product Red is pure-play cause marketing. If you're in to cause marketing you gotta see red.
Who else would you add to my list?
