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Listening: the Secret to Success on Social Media

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The secret to social media success isn’t in talking – it’s in listening.Image

That’s what Dave Kerpen, the author of Likeable Social Media, wants us to know.  Dave tells the story of the time he arrived in Las Vegas after a six-hour flight only to wait another hour at his hotel, just to check in.

Frustrated, I did what any social media nerd would do – I pulled out my phone, and tweeted the following: “No Vegas hotel could be worth this long wait. Over an hour to check in at the Aria. #fail”

He goes on to  say, “The Rio Las Vegas tweeted the following to me: ‘Sorry about your bad experience, Dave. Hope the rest of your stay in Vegas goes well.’ Guess where I ended up staying the next time I went to Las Vegas?”

Listening for Nonprofits

Now, if you work at a nonprofit organization, you might be thinking: “How does this apply to me?  I don’t run a hotel.  I don’t even have customers.  Why should I spend time listening on social media?”

  • You may not have customers, but do you have donors?  Listen to social media to find out what interests them and what bothers them.  Then , when you’re thinking what to say in your newsletter and your funding appeals–and yes, your social media–you’ll have a much better idea what donors will read.
  • Do you have clients?  Suppose you’re an organization to promote better parenting and prevent child abuse.  On Facebook, a low-income parent agonizes because she must go to work and can’t afford reliable childcare.  You give her a list of childcare providers who will accept state vouchers and offer to help her apply.  Will the word get around that your organization is a great place to go?  What do you think?
  • Do you have programs?  Maybe you’re an art museum (like the Portland Museum of Art) that offers teachers the chance to bring art into the classroom–and students to exhibit their own art at the museum. Wouldn’t it be great to know what the teachers are posting about you on Facebook or Twitter, and see the pictures the students are putting up on Instagram?

If you thank them online, you will be like the Rio Las Vegas in Dave’s story.  You won’t be doing outreach to get people into your programs: they’ll be reaching out to you.

You Have One Mouth and Two Ears. Listen!

Don’t just post, tweet, blog, email, snap photos, or distribute videos.  Make sure someone at your organization is on social media listening.

Then, listen to what they find out.

3 Ways for Your Nonprofit to Become More Likeable on Social Media

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“Likeable” means friendly, thoughtful, generous, human. “Likeable” also means something that people will mark like on Facebook.  Nonprofit organizations need to be likeable, in both senses. 

Why must nonprofits be likeable online?  We have known for a long time that word of mouth defines who we are.  In the age of social media, a friend’s recommendation can travel farther–and faster–than ever before.  To keep on getting clients, Board members, volunteers, and donors,  we need friends who will speak up for us.

Dave Kerpen’s book Likeable Social Media  appeared in 2010 with a bold message: the same qualities that make us likeable in real life can help our organizations win likes on Facebook.  We don’t have to be Mad Men or social media gurus.  We just need to think like the people we are trying to attract and give them what need.

In 2013, many of us are still trying to master social media.  Here are three ways to read Kerpen’s book to make your organization more likeable.

  1. For education.  Are you on social media but not sure why, or what to do with it? Read the Introduction, then skip to the Appendix for a smart overview of the various social media. Then read the book, starting with Chapter 1 but going on to the chapters that interest you most.
  2. For inspiration.  Do you sometimes feel like your Facebook posts are the same old same old?  Are you tweeting more and enjoying it less?  Look for some of the stories Kerpen tells about everybody from Omaha Steaks to the Stride Rite Foundation.  Think. “How can we do something like that?”
  3. For action.  Maybe you get it about likeability, engaging your audience, and attracting support and respect by giving information away.  But how can you start moving your nonprofit in the right direction?  I suggest making the Action Items at the end of each chapter into your social media workplan.

“Whether your organization is already deeply engaged with its customers or is far from it, the process of becoming further involved starts with one person, and one action.”  -Dave Kerpen  You are that person.  Read this book and take your first step.

 

Are You Listening, Nonprofits?

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The main thing a nonprofit organization should do online is learn how to listen.

not listening

Your community is online, talking. Why aren’t you listening?

Did you ever say to yourself, “I wish I knew what my donors were thinking”?  Or “It would be great if clients just told us what they need. I can’t read minds”?

Online, people tell you what they think, feel, want, and desire.  Online, you can read minds.  But only if you talk less and listen more.

First, Find Your People

People are talking about what they care about online all the time.  The key is to find your people, talking about the issues that matter to your organization.

Start with the people you already know: the people on your mailing list.  Take a sample of them and search for them online.  What social media do they use?

If they’re on Facebook, set up a Facebook interest list and add them to it.  That way, any time you go on Facebook, you can see what those specific people are talking about.

If they mostly use Twitter, you can also create a list.  You might find that you spend most of the time you’re on Twitter looking just at that list (which will help you cure the feeling that you’re drinking from a fire hose!)  And you can do the same for other social media.

Then, Listen

Spend a little time each day getting to know your supporters.  What do they post about most often? Are they sports fans, foodies, readers?  Are some of them heatedly discussing a local or national issue?

Going online is like walking into a party where people have already begun to mingle. Once you have figured out what their conversation is about, you can find ways to contribute.  That will raise your visibility and gain you good will. In the long run, it will lead to more volunteers and donors.

But don’t go in and start trying to change the subject to what your organization is doing.  You’ll find people excusing themselves and heading to another corner of the room!  When in doubt, listen longer.

Do Some Research

The next time you open Facebook, try searching for pages liked by people who like [your organization].  You can do it in two steps:

 

  1. Find your organization’s numerical Facebook ID. (You can go to http://www.findmyfbid.com/ and type in the name of your Facebook page, and it will tell you the number.)
  2. Then, go to Facebook and search on https://www.facebook.com/search/your ID/likers/pages-liked. (Where it says “your ID,” put in the numerical ID before you search.)

 

Run that search and Facebook will tell you:

  • All the pages that your followers have liked, and who liked which page.
  • How many people, total, like that page.
  • Other pages that people who like a specific page also like.
  • Which of your own friends liked that page (if you are using Facebook as an individual)

You can read about seven different ways to use this information in my blog post “Find and Attract the Audience You Want.”

Listening to a Broader Community

It makes sense to start listening to the people who know you best already.  What if you want to hear what a broader range of people think about you and your work?  Then you should set up a Google Alert and use hashtags on Twitter to search for:

  1. The name of your organization.  (Be sure to look for misspellings and abbreviations, too.)
  2. The names of your partner organizations and your competitors.
  3. The field you work in as the public thinks of it.
  4. Key words associated with your work.
  5. The phrase “I wish” and any of the first four items on this list.  That’s a good way to understand what people want and are not getting already.

 

How Valuable is Social Listening?

Take a tip from someone who does social media for a living, Candie Harris.  (What you’ve been reading is partly her ideas “translated” from business to nonprofit.)

As a former brand marketer, if someone had told me I could have access to the hearts and minds of my most loyal consumers (as well as my competitor’s), my first question would be: “How?” My second question would be: “How much will it cost?”

Social listening can give nonprofits “access to the hearts and minds” of clients, donors, prospects, volunteers, even policymakers who affect our work–and all it will cost is time.

Is your organization using social listening now?  Please share your experience!

Would you like to listen to what your supporters have to say online but feel you don’t have the time? Drop me an email at [email protected] and let’s see if we can find an affordable solution for you.

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