3 simple social media tips to make your fans and followers love you

Does this sound like you?

You dutifully post every day on two or more social media profiles for your organization.

You try to follow the 80/20 rule (no more than 20% of all posts directly promoting something for your organization) but sometimes get caught up in posting boring news clippings and event listings.  

You frequently post inspirational quotes, cute photos of cats and fun memes (that do not relate to the work that you do).

Your engagement is way down and you seem to be posting and tweeting to a symphony of crickets.

What else can you post and tweet that will set you apart from the social media noise?

Here are three simple suggestions:

Show your human side. Post photos of your office, your volunteers, your clients, your waiting room if appropriate. Facebook is about FACES after all, right? Empowering People for Inclusive Communities (EPIC) frequently shares photos of their young leaders and those who support them, with a short description about why they are “epic”. TIP: Make sure you use descriptive captions for the photos. (Respecting confidentiality and privacy just goes without saying.)

The nonprofit EPIC highlights different people and the things that make them “epic”.

Create micro-videos. Download Twitter’s Vine video app if you have access to an iPhone or iPad. Nonprofit Nate lists 21 ways that nonprofits can use Vine – including telling 6 second stories of a typical day in the life of a client, providing a simple call to action and showing the impact that you have on the world. @DiabetesUK is already using it to thank donors individually! Very cool. TIP: Vine can be automatically synced with other social media sites for quick and easy sharing.

Think about what your fans want to hear, rather than what you want to tell them. The Beverly Farmers’ Market  only operates in the spring (with a short indoor market in early winter), so they share information on other area Farmers’ Markets, to the delight of their fans. This is a fantastic example of providing information based on what their FANS want, rather than the message they want to push out. TIP: Make sure to tag the Facebook pages you are referencing and link to their website.

Let me repeat– share content, photos and information that your fans want to read, share and comment on, as opposed to the message you want or think you need to get out.

Make that your mantra, and your success on social media is assured!

How do you get and show love to your fans and followers? Please share your thoughts in the Comments section below!

photo credit: erika.tricroche via photopin cc