July 1, 2013

7 ways nonprofits can benefit from Facebook hashtags

Photo courtesy of joe0153 (Creative Commons)

Creating and leveraging the power of hashtags

Target audience: Nonprofits, cause organizations, foundations, NGOs, associations, social enterprises, small businesses, Facebook administrators.

By now you may or may not have heard that Facebook hashtags have been rolled out to many users.

These hashtags link conversations together like they do on Twitter or Instagram, enabling your community to go deeper into a specific topic.

How to create a Facebook hashtag

A hashtag is simple a tag that links together all content that includes the hashtag. Creating a Facebook hashtag is as simple as typing a “#” in front of any word or phrase (no spaces).

For example, a breast cancer organization might use #breastcancer to link together topical posts. (Capitalization doesn’t matter.)

Hashtags that are created elsewhere but posted to your Facebook page will be automatically clickable and searchable on Facebook. Continue reading →

June 17, 2013

Building a loyal Facebook fan base

The key differences between nonprofits and for-profits

Target audience: Nonprofits, cause organizations, foundations, NGOs, social enterprises, small businesses, general public.

My good friend Jon Loomer and I chatted the other day for the Social Media Pubcast. Check out the video above to glean some insights on some of the topics we discussed.

You’ll find out more about:

The key advantage nonprofits have over for-profits
Differences and similarities in approach to and struggles with Facebook between nonprofits and for-profits
Facebook Insights and the stats that matter (Demographics, Talking About This, Frequency)
Tips for Promoted Posts

Check out the video from our chat and share your thoughts in the comments below!

May 16, 2013

How to embed a Web page in a Facebook custom tab

Here’s an easy step by step to glossy custom tabs

Target audience: Nonprofits, cause organizations, foundations, NGOs, social enterprises, businesses, marketers, Facebook administrators.

If you’re looking to create a custom tab for your Facebook page that has complex features, like a donation page or petition, watch my 5-minute video above for an approach that’s fairly easy.

All you need to do is:

Create a secure Web page on your website that includes the features you want to render in a custom tab.
Eliminate your website header and navigation menu on that page.
Add the Static HTML iframe tabs app to your Facebook page.
Use the Static HTML iframe tabs application to create an iframe for the page.

Continue reading →

May 14, 2013

Five creative ways to thank your Facebook fans

Sincerity & technology help express gratitude to supporters

Target audience: Nonprofits, cause organizations, foundations, NGOs, social enterprises, businesses, marketers, Facebook administrators.

It’s easy to think about thanking your Facebook fans as something that’s nice to do – if you have the time and are in the mood. But saying thanks is a vital part of your success on Facebook, and everywhere else.

How do you thank your Facebook fans in ways that are sincere and meaningful? Below are five ways to say thanks that they’ll notice.

With cover photos

1Check out the Facebook cover Dogs Trust created to thank their supports. You can also switch things up by thanking specific fans in a cover photo and even tell them why you appreciate them (a la charity:water)! Continue reading →

May 6, 2013

3 ways to boost Facebook engagement with text updates

How to make text updates as effective as photos

Target audience: Nonprofits, cause organizations, foundations, NGOs, social enterprises, businesses, marketers.

It seems like all the “experts” tell us is to post photos on our Facebook page to get more likes, comments and shares.

Text updates aren’t as sexy, but they can be equally as effective.

Why bother posting text updates on your Facebook page?

Why should you care about posting text updates when the research says photos work best?

There are at least two reasons:

Research is always biased. All studies about how content performs on Facebook is based on aggregate data from thousands of Facebook users, and never a true benchmark for your unique community. It’s like comparing apples with a huge bag of fruit.
Posting diverse content helps you engage more users simply because people have diverse preferences for content type and content topics. Continue reading →

May 2, 2013

5 ways to dominate Facebook’s new news feed

Great images boost your place in the news feed

Target audience: Nonprofits, cause organizations, foundations, NGOs, social enterprises, businesses, marketers, Facebook page administrators and users.

Facebook launched an enhanced news feed that’s rolling out to all users in the next weeks on both mobile and the Web.

The enhanced news feed now allows users to tailor and focus more easily on specific feeds:

All Friends: a feed that shows you everything your friends are sharing.
Photos: a feed with nothing but photos from your friends and the pages you like.
Music: a feed with posts about the music you listen to.
Following: a feed with the latest news from the pages you like and the people you follow.

Continue reading →