Social media become a powerful marketing tool for companies all around the globe. The same applies to charities and other non-profit organizations. They can use social networks to increase awareness and attract more support to their cause.
In our guide, you will find everything you need to know about social media marketing for charities. We will give you an overview of the most beneficial marketing strategy and introduce you to the marketing tools you should use.
What is Social Media Marketing?
Social media platforms are websites and applications that people use to share their everyday activities, interests, multimedia, and information. They became an integral part of the billions of people who spend several hours every day posting on them or searching through their feeds. Some of the most commonly used social networks are Facebook (Meta), Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, Snapchat, LinkedIn, etc.
Initially, social media platforms were used for personal purposes, for sharing info about special events with friends and family members or making connections with old acquaintances.
But, many companies soon sought the opportunity to use social networks to their advantage. They started by making specialized pages with their offers, and with time, they started to advertise among targeted users on the given platforms.
Social media marketing is a marketing technique that allows companies to reach new audiences, build their brand, and connect with their customers.
Why Should Charities Use Social Media
Social media is one of the best marketing tools because the costs of marketing strategy are negligible. By advertising for free, charities can reach thousands, even millions of people with their posts.
In those posts, charities can write everything people need to know about their cause, details about charity work, and how can interested parties contribute to the charity work. Non-profits can even target specific socio or geographic groups of people who are more likely to donate to their charity or offer some other forms of help.
The charities can talk directly with their audience, and they can choose the message and build their relationships. Social media marketing for charities needs to be carefully planned and conducted according to the charity’s mission, vision, and goals. The pitch that will go out to the public needs to be aligned with the core purpose of the charity, so people can identify with your message.
How to Create an Efficient Charity Social Media Strategy
If you want to use social media marketing for charities, you need to create and implement an efficient strategy. Here are some tips on how you can do so.
Outline a plan and set clear goals
To benefit the most from social media marketing for charities, you first need to create a detailed plan for when to post content and what type of content you will post. You also need to choose what social networks you will initially target (you can include others after you successfully implement your strategy).
Your charity’s content needs to be engaging enough to convince others to join your cause or at least start advocating instead of you. By acquiring supporters for your goals, you will increase the reach and support you will get.
More support means more volunteers, more funding, and access to more places or persons where your help is needed. Social media marketing is one of the best ways to grow your charity and spread the word across.
After you set goals, you need to decide which metrics you will track and what tools you’ll be using. Some of the metrics are pretty straightforward, such as the number of subscribers, likes, comments, or shares, but some are advanced, such as the click-through rate your website acquires from social media.
Decide which channels to use
We already mentioned this. As a charity, your resources are limited in the manner of time you have at your disposal or the number of people who can manage marketing strategies. That is why you need to decide which social media is going to give you the best reach and which is align the best with your mission.
To help you decide which social network is best for you, you’ll need to know who your target audience is. Your target audience corresponds with the goals of your charity. When you identify them, your next step is to research which social media those people mostly use. After that, you need to create accounts on those networks and tailor your marketing strategy.
Some of the most popular social networks you can use as marketing channels include:
- Facebook (currently known as Meta): This channel is perfect for sharing longer stories and details about the work you’re doing. You can include many visuals within those stories and links to your work as well.
- TikTok: TikTok is known for its short-form, creative videos. Develop content that is entertaining, authentic, and engaging. Tell stories, showcase the impact of your charity, or create challenges that encourage user participation. Use music, filters, effects, and TikTok’s editing tools to make your content visually appealing. The main users of this platform are teenagers, so you can invite them for volunteering options.
- Instagram: This platform is well-known for its orientation toward pictures. This is the best place to post engaging photos or informative infographics that will outline your charity work. Try creating a mix of high-quality photos and graphic material that is descriptive and engaging.
- Twitter: Although Twitter is in great turmoil since Elon Musk purchase it, it is still a valuable platform for promoting charity work. This social network is perfect for sharing quick updates with a vast audience. The key to successful utilization of Twitter is choosing the proper hashtags that will enable you to extend your reach.
- LinkedIn: This marketing channel is the best way for networking among similar organizations. Also, you can use LinkedIn for corporate communications and acquiring big donors or business partners.
Social media content writing
Every content you produce for social networks needs to be aligned with the story you want to tell about your charity. That will help you to build brand and recognition online. While social media is a more informal way of communicating, you still need to be using the same language and tone of voice that you use across your website, emails, and any marketing or promotional materials.
Tell powerful stories that showcase the impact of your charity’s work. Share success stories, testimonials, and real-life examples that demonstrate the difference your organization is making. Emphasize the human element and create an emotional connection with your audience.
Encourage your audience to create user-generated content and post it in addition to your copies. User-generated content can include personal stories, photos, videos, or testimonials. It helps foster a sense of community and authenticity. Also, engage with your audience and create responses to frequently asked questions about your charity.
When writing copies for your charity, highlight keywords and phrases you want to use, and that will help increase their visibility. For keyword research use tools such as Ahrefs or SEMRush, and use only those keywords relevant to your charity goals. Avoid keywords that are controversial or have negative implications.
Finally, don’t forget to research proper hashtags for charities. They will significantly improve your reach and user engagement. Remember that every social network uses almost completely different hashtags, so be prepared to do research for each of them. You can even create a unique hashtag(s) for your charity. Especially, if you’re asking followers and supporters to post about your organization.
Type of content
When creating a marketing strategy for social media, you aren’t bound to just one piece of content. You can use a plethora of content that will increase your reach. You just need to ensure that all those content types are aligned with the goals your charity promotes.
Some of the content types for your charity media posts are:
- Impact stories of your charity work
- Promotion of future events and fundraisers
- Sharing achievements, milestones, and success stories
- Behind-the-scenes activities of your charity
- Call to action with explanations of how people can help your cause
- Sharing useful information surrounding the charity’s cause
- Volunteer experiences
- Highlighting collaborations and partnerships with other organizations
- Celebrating milestones and achievements reached by your charity
The best results will be achieved by mixing these content types and using real-life images whenever possible. The pictures that will show the impact of your work are aimed at people’s emotions and will make a deeper connection between your charity and your audience. They will also increase engagement. Especially, if you create high-quality video stories that will show all the benefits charity work can bring.
Experiment and adapt
Although you have many content types at your disposal, some of them probably won’t work. That is why you need to experiment with various content formats, from interactive posts to live streams. Test different lengths, styles, and tones to see what resonates best with your audience. Analyze the engagement metrics to identify the most effective content formats for your charity.
Don’t forget to test when the best time for posting your content is. Different social networks require different strategies. Use analytical tools to determine which part of a day and which days of the week produce the best engagement rates.
Always keep an eye on new platforms. We already mentioned TikTok, but the emerging market of social networks gives you new opportunities often. Whenever you have time, experiment with posting content on new platforms.
Hear what your audience has to say. Actively listen to their feedback that can be acquired via comments, messages, or surveys. Adapt your content based on this feedback to better meet their needs and expectations. Do the same with actual industry trends and algorithm changes in the platform you are using.
What Social Media Tools Should You Use?
Social media marketing for charities can be propelled with the use of specialized tools. Every social platform has its own add-ins and analytical tools, but we will give you recommendations for several pieces of third-party software that will be of great help to your marketing strategy.
Hootsuite
Hootsuite is a complete platform for managing various social media accounts. It allows its users to manage, schedule and analyze their posts across multiple platforms from a central dashboard. With the help of Hootsuite, you can track engagement and mentions and measure your results.
This tool isn’t free, but it offers discounts to charities, so you can try it out. If you are seriously into social media marketing for your charity, Hootsuite will be of great help to you.
Canva
One of the best free marketing tools is Canva. It allows its users to create graphics and images that can be shared on all social media. The biggest trait of Canva is its library, with thousands of great templates that ease your job. You can also upload your brand fonts and colors to ensure everything aligns with your charity’s branding.
Adobe Lightroom CC
One more powerful tool for editing and improving images is Adobe Lightroom CC. By using this tool, you will create a perfect visual before sharing them on social media.
Lightroom CC uses a non-destructive editing workflow, which means your original photos remain intact. All edits are stored as instructions, allowing you to revert to the original image or modify edits at any time.
The desktop version of Adobe Lightroom has an annual fee, but you can use the app on iOS or Android completely free.
Unsplash
Unsplash is your number-one place for downloading free stock photos. You can find over a million images in its base, and you will surely find those that suit your needs. Using high-quality stock images will make your charity posts more engaging.
Buffer
Buffer is a popular choice for individuals, small businesses, marketing teams, and charities looking to streamline their social media management process. With Buffer, you can schedule your posts on many different platforms. The good news is that Buffer has a free plan that allows you to connect up to three social accounts, and schedule up to 10 posts.
Conclusion
Social media marketing for charities is highly beneficial for non-profit organizations. Using the power of cost-effective marketing channels, charities can significantly increase their reach and number of supporters.
You just need to align your charity marketing strategy with your goals to gain identity on social networks. Be ready to constantly engage with the audience and promote your values. That is the right path for acquiring donors and attracting volunteers.