Beth  Kanter (@kanter)April,  2016    -­‐ New  Orleans

Leveraging  Social  Media  Ambassadors  in  Service  of  Your  Foundation’s  Digital  Strategy

Beth  Kanter:    Master  Trainer,  Author,  Speaker  and  Blogger

@kanterwww.bethkanter.org

• Identify  one  step  to  improve  your  brand  social  media  strategy

• Identify  action  steps  to  implement  a  social  media  ambassador  strategy  

Topics OUTCOMES

• Peer  Learning

• Interactive

• Practical  

FRAMING

Introductions  and  overview

Your  Community  Foundation’s  Social  Media  Strategy:  Refresher

Social  Media  Ambassadors-­‐ Why  and  What-­‐ Insiders-­‐ Outsiders

Reflection  and  Action  Steps  

Agenda

Who  is  in  the  room?  

• Responsible  for  developing  Foundation’s  digital  strategy  for  brand  (Web  Site,  Email,  Social,  and  Mobile)

• Implements  brand  social  media• Oversees  someone  else  on  team  who  implements  brand  social

• %  of  time  spent  on  social  media  as  part  of  your  job• Use  social  media  as  an  individual  or  personal  brand

Before  Social  Media  and  Networks

Leveraging  Networks  As  Part  of  Digital  Strategy

CRAWL WALK RUN FLYWhere  is  your  community  foundation?    

Objectives  and  audiences  for  social  part  of  Digital  Strategy

Uses  most  mainstream  social  channels  as  part  of  content  strategy,  but  not  consistent

Leader  and  employees  use  social  but  lacks  ambassador  strategy

Content    Strategy,  Consistent    Process  for  basics

Uses  niche  social  channels  

Informal    Ambassadors  Strategy,  Socially  Engaged  Leaders/Staff

Some  measurement    and  learning  in  all  above

Digital  Strategy  Development

Culture  Change

Sporadic  content  strategy  and  social  presence

Lack  of  social  media  ambassadors,  inside  or  outside

Multi-­Channel  Engagement,  Content  Strategy,  Internal  Process,  and  Measurement

Strategic  pilots  with  emerging  social  media  channels

Formal  Ambassadors    Strategy  – insiders/outsiders

Reflection  and  Continuous  Improvement

Think,  Write,  Share,  Pop

• Where  do  you  need  to  improve  in  using  social  media  to  get  to  the  next  level?

• What  is  your  burning  question?

Foundation  Brand  Strategy  on  Social  Media  Channels:    Refresh!  

Source:    Pew

MAINSTREAM  SOCIAL  MEDIA  CHANNELS

Facebook  Page  is  the  new  yellow  pages.    Simple  to  update and  largest  user  base.  Advertising   is  a  necessary  evil.

Your  audiences  wants  to  talk  to  a  real  person.  Twitter  is  great  for  this.    Also  good  for  reaching  influencer  audiences:  media,  journalists,  policy  makers,  etc.   Driving  traffic  to  web  site  and  other  social  channels

LinkedIn  is  great  for  professional  networking  for  both  individuals  AND  brands.     Potential  audiences  for  CF:  professionals  who  work  in  business,  nonprofit,  and  government.        

People  are  consuming  video  content  more  and  more.  YouTube  influencersand  celebrities. Easily  repurpose  video  for  other  platforms, although  native  video  on  Facebook  performs  better.

Niche  Social  Media  ChannelsGreat  platform  to  connect  with  audience  that  appreciate  visual  content.    Leverage  hashtags,  geotagging  and  influencers  on  Instagram  in  your  topic  area.    Instagram  has  a  large  Gen  Z  and  Y  user  base.  Personal and  foundation  brands.

Good  for  Brands  with  a  lot  of  visual  content.    Easy  way  to  curate  content  from  your  programs  or  other  related  sources.    Big  user-­‐base  for  food,   fashion,  fitness,  and  other lifestyle.    More  discovery  vs  social  media.Long  form  content,  online  magazine,  and  network  where  stories  are  shared  and  connected  with  audience.    Techinfluencers,  journalists,  and  growing  number  of  nonprofits/philanthropy.Blogging platform  Tumblr  are  great  for  shareable  short-­‐form  multimedia.      Popular platform  with  millennial  audience  and  micro-­‐interest  communities. Some nonprofits  use  it  to  curate  and  share  repurpose  content  on  other  channels.

User  generated  news  links  and  votes  to  promote  stories  to  the  front  page.    Engaged  community  of users  comment  and  share.

Emerging  Social  Media  Channels

Live  video  streaming  mobile  app  that  allows  audiences  to  interact  with  brand  in  real  time

Messagingapp  that  allows  users  to  share  “snaps’  –photos,  text,  video  with  friends  or  all  followers.  Largest  users  are  Millennials  and  GenZ.  

Blab,  a  live  video  app,where  you  can  join  live  conversations  online  with  different  topics.    Popular  with  technology  crowd.

Many  more  but  my  head  just  exploded.    Follow  @girardinl on Twitter

Flickr  Photo:  graceinhim

• What  social  media  channels  will  help  our  community  foundation  reach  our  goals?

• What  social  media  channels  does  our  existing  audience  already  use  to  get  information?

• What  social  media  channels  does  the  audience  we  need  to  reach  use?

• What  are  our  “anchor”  social  media  channels?• What  are  our  stretch  social  media  channels  where  we  have  the  capacity  to  listen,  experiment,  and  learn?

• Where  can  we  standout  and  get  value?

• Donors• Supporters• End  Users  of  Programs

PEOPLE

• Policy  makers• Journalists• Business  Leaders

INFLUENCERS

• Partners• Local  Organizations• State  and  National

ORGANIZATIONS

DEFINE  EXISTING  AND  POTENTIAL  AUDIENCE  

• What  keeps  them  up  at  night?

• What  are  they  currently  seeking?

• What  social  media  channels  do  they  use  for  information?  

• What  influences  their  decisions?

• What  influences  their  attitudes?

• What’s  important  to  them?• What  makes  them  act?  

DEFINE  MEASURABLE  GOALS

Reach  

Inform

Engage

Action

Donate

MonitoringEngagement Content

Advertising Brand  Ambassadors

Influencers

Social  Strategy  Building  Blocks

https://topnonprofits.com/free-­‐editorial-­‐calendar-­‐campaign-­‐planning-­‐documents/

Think,  Write,  Share,  Pop

• What  are  your  objectives?• Who  is  your  target  audience(s)?• What  is  your  content  strategy?• What  do  you  need  to  measure  to  improve?

A  few  simple  tips  to  think  about  content  and  measurement  for  social  channels

ORGANIZING  THE  PROCESS

• Regular  meetings  to  brainstorm  and  discover  themes• Idea  Dashboard• Pre-­‐Planning  and  batch  creation  makes  it  more  efficient• Editorial  Calendar• Organize  Content  Assets• Evergreen  Content

Recycle,  Repurpose,  Reuse

Result Metrics AnalysisQuestionConsumption Views

ReachFollowers

Does  your  audience care  about  the  topics  your  content  covers?    Are  they  consuming  your  content?

Engagement Re-­‐tweetsSharesComments

Does  your  content  mean  enough to  your  audience  for  them  to  share  it  or  engage  with  it?

Action ReferralsSign UpsPhone  Calls

Does  your  content  help  you  achieve  your  goals?

Revenue DollarsDonorsVolunteers

Does  your  content  help  you  raisemoney,  recruit  volunteers  or  save  time?

Measure  to  Improve

So  Many  Channels,  So  Little  Time

• Master  the  mainstream  platforms:  objective,  audience,  content

• Right  size  to  your  capacity• Experiment  with  adding  niche  or  experimental  channels,  with  small  pilot  first  to  learn  and  incrementally  investing  based  on  results

• Repurpose  and  recycle  content  creatively  across  channels• Measure,  learn,  improve

• Snapchat  is  a  mobile  app  that  lets  users  share  photos  and  videos  that  are  deleted  in  24  hours.  

• Snapchat  users  share  snaps  privately  with  a  few  friends,  or  as  stories  with  all  their  followers.

Launched  in  2011100  million  users6  billion  video  views  every  day

86%  of  Snapchat’s  users  fall  into  the  13  – 37  age  range

A  small   number  of  nonprofits/foundations  experimenting:http://bit.ly/1RCI8n8

Cheat  Sheets  and  Tutorials:  You  Are  Never  Too  Old  To  Barf  Rainbowshttp://www.bethkanter.org/snapchat-­‐over50/  

Exercise:    WOOP  Your  Brand  Social  Media  Strategy

• Something  you  can  accomplish  with  Snap  Chat  or  other  channel  that  is  exciting,  challenging,  and  realistic  with  a  target  audience as  an  experiment

Wish

• The  best  result  from  accomplishing  your  goal.  Outcome

• The  obstacles  that  prevent  you  from  accomplishing  your  goal.Obstacle

• What is  your  action  plan?Plan

MonitoringEngagement Content

Advertising Brand  Ambassadors

Influencers

The  Five  Building  Blocks  of  Social  Strategy

Redefining  Brand  Ambassadors  in  An  Age  of  Social  Media

• Any  stakeholder  passionate  about  organization

• Shares  information• Inspires  their  social  networks  to  take  action

The  Most  Valuable  Ambassadors:  Insiders

Believe  Community  Foundation’s  WorkUnderstand  Community  Foundation  Strategy  Subject  Matter  ExpertiseAligned  Professional  NetworksKnow  the  Sector  and  Community  (Really  well!)Already  Use  Social  

Here’s  Why:    Trust  of  Nonprofit  Brands  Is  Eroding

They  Are  Already  Using  Social  Media  Anyway,  Why  Not  Leverage?

Leadership  Profile  on  Social:  Benefits

• More  Trust• Expanded  Social  Reach,  Engagement  and  Capacity

• Less  Risk• Flexibility• Perspective• Professional  Learning

Socially  Engaged  Staff:    Benefits

Objective ValueIncrease  employee  engagement  by  x%  by  end  of  fiscal  year

Improves  internal  communications, collaborationImproves  loyalty, buy-­‐in  to  mission  Decreases  burnout  and  turnover

Recruit  XX  number  of  social  media  ambassadors  by  launch  of  campaign

Free  up  communications  staff  time  for  more  strategic  planning  versus  doing  More  gets  doneLess  burden  on  existing  volunteers  or  staff

Increase  reach  by  xx%  by  end  of  the  fiscal  year

Increases  donors  to  campaignIncreases  the  number  of  email  prospects

Change  in  attitude  and  increased  trust  in    your  organization  xx%  by  the  end  of  the  fiscal  year

Percentage  likely  to  volunteer  or  donate  increases

Improve  relationships  with  existing  donors  and  volunteers  xx%  by  the  end  of  the  fiscal  year

Better  management,  more  stable  finances

Improve  engagement  with  stakeholders  xx%  by  the  end  of  the  fiscal  year

Better  feedback  and  ideas  for  innovationBetter  understanding  of  attitudes  and  perceptions  of  stakeholders

Nonprofit  and  Foundation  Examples

RWJF:      Foundation  Strategy  -­‐ #cultureofhealth

“We  believe  that  striving  toward  a  culture  of  health  will  help  us  realize  our  mission  to  improve  health  and  health  care  for  all  Americans. ”

GOALSInform

Behavior  Change

Audience:Grantees,  Researchers,  Policy  

Makers,  Practitioners

http://www.cultureofhealth.org/

Socially-­‐Engaged  Staff  Support  #cultureofhealth

Audience:Specific  content  areas,  grants,  

and  communities

Socially-­‐Engaged  Staff:  Social  Media  Plans  and  Personal  Brands

Adding  Social  to  Thought  Leadership  Activities

In  the  field

Sharing  Expert  Presentations  

Live  Tweeting  Conferences

Monthly  Chats

Wake  International

Wake  International

Arkansas  Advocates

Human  Rights  Watch

• Goal:    Impact  policy  change• Leverage  individual  networks  of  over  200  staff  members  on  Twitter

• Social  media  policy  encourages  all  staff  to  participate  as  personal  brands

• Provide  training  and  support,  with  social  media  manager  providing  support

• Internal  coordination  via  listserv• Provides  value  to  staff  for  content  curation  and  media  relations

The  Process

1:  Buy  In 2:  Guidelines

3:  Support 4:  Activate

Insiders

How  can  I  create  a  routine    that  works  for  me?

How  can  I  be  strategic,  intentional,  and  authentic?

Getting Buy-In: Being Intentional, Habit Change

How  can  I  fit  social  media  into  my  crazy  busy  day?

12  Word  Social  Media  Personal  Use

Don’t  Lie,  Don’t  PryDon’t  Cheat,  Can’t  DeleteDon’t  Steal,  Don’t  Reveal

Dos  and  Don’ts  

Skills  Assessment

Think,  Write,  Share,  Pop

• What  are  the  opportunities  for  using  staff,  board,  and  other  insiders  as  social  media  ambassadors?

• What  is  the  value  for  your  organization?• Do  you  need  to  do  to  get  buy  in?  

Your  community  foundation  also  has  plenty  of  “outsiders”  who  can  be  social  media  ambassadors

Why  not  put  them  to  work  as  social  media  ambassadors  and  boost  your  campaigns  or  programs?

Image:  NY  Times

Social  Media  Ambassadors  from  the  Outside

Research Recruit

Support Activate

Outsiders

• Staff  and  board  as  staff  social  media  ambassadors

• Recruited  well-­‐known  and  aligned  ambassadors  to  promote  on  social  media  channels

• Recruited  pro  bono  volunteers:  PR,  Video,  Photography,  Content

• Activated  board• Reached  out  to  aligned  

partner  organizations  and  individuals   to  promote  on  social  media  channels

Social  Media  Ambassadors:    Prospect  Research

Research:  Recruit  from  Your  Database,  Lists,  Events

• Post  invitation  on  social  channels

Social  Media  Ambassadors:  Who  is  Most  Engaged  on  Social  Channels?

Social  Media  Ambassadors:  Facebook

• Use  tool  like  “Top  Fans “  to  identify  engaged  fans  and  research  them  on  Google  or  your  database

• Use  tool  like  ActionSprout to  gather  email  addresses  of  engaged  followers  via  FB.

• Ask  board/staff  to  share  link  to  landing  page  on  their  FB  profiles  and  post  on  Brand  Page

Social  Media  Ambassadors:  Twitter

• Review    brand  account  for  active  verified  users

• Use  a  Followerwonk or  SocialRank to  easily  sort  and  search  followers

• Create  a  Twitter  list of  your  best  prospects  and  cross  check  with  your  organization’s  database.

• Tweet  links  to  landing  page  to  sign  up  as  Social  Media  Ambassador

Social  Media  Ambassadors:  Instagram

• Use  a  free  tool  like  Social  Rankto  filter  your  organization’s  Instagram  followers  by  keywords  in  their  bios,  hashtags  they  use,  their  location,  the  number  of  followers  they  have,  and  more.  

• Create  a  photo  or  visual  invitation  about  becoming  a  social  media  ambassador  w/  link.

Social  Media  Ambassadors:  LinkedIn

• If  your  organization  has  a  group  or  page  on  LinkedIn,  scan  the  list  of  followers  to  see  if  any  influencers  jump  out.

• Review  your  network  on  your  professional  profile  on  LinkedIn  for  potential  prospects.    Ask  board  members  who  are  LinkedIn  to  do  the  same.

• Use  advanced  search to  search  by  nonprofit  interests,  location,  keyword,  or  company.  

• Post  a  status  update  on  your  individual  LinkedIn  profile  or  organization  page  with  a  link  to  an  invitation  for  more  information  about  becoming  a  social  media  ambassador  for  your  organization

Social  Media  Ambassadors:  LinkedIn

Social  Media  Ambassadors:  Vet

Relevant Relationship

Connected Credible

Social  Media  Ambassadors:    Recruit

• Overview  of  organization  and  campaign

• Role  of  social  media  ambassador

• Time  commitment  • Expectations

Social  Media  Ambassadors:    Communication  and  Coordination

• To  make  it  easy  to  keep  them  in  the  loop

• Campaign  updates  and  actions

Provide  A  Communications  Toolkit  with  Basics

• Overview  of  organization  and  campaign

• Talking  points• Brand  and  Staff  social  media  accounts

• Hashtags• Sample  FB  Updates• Sample  Tweets• Sample  LinkedIn  Updates• List  of  collateral  materials  online  – logos,  important  links,  etc.

Mini  Site  for  Ambassadors

Shareable  Content:  Images  and  Words

Branded  Visual  Content  Optimized  for  Social  Media  Channels

Visual  Content  Optimized  for  Social  Media  Channels

Visual  Content  Tools

http://blog.mainstreethost.com/social-­‐media-­‐image-­‐size-­‐cheat-­‐sheet

Social  Media  Ambassadors:  Activate  

Say  Thank  You

Cultivate  the  Relationship

Exercise:  Getting  Started    Social  Media  Ambassador  Strategy

• Purpose:    How  can  a  social  media  ambassador  program  best  support  your  foundation’s  digital  strategy?

• Research:    Who  are  the  potential  social  media  ambassadors?    What  social  media  channels  will  you  research? How  to  make  it  manageable?

Takeaways:•What’s  one  tip  or  technique  that  you  can  put  into  practice  to  improve  next  week?    Send  an  email  to  yourself  at  futureme.org• Raffle  for  books