Tag Archives: Facebook

Journey of (IT) discovery as a small charity Part 4

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So now that you have a website up & running, what’s next? Search Engine Optimisation  or SEO might be top of mind, but as you built your site on WordPress chances are it is doing a pretty good job of that already – WordPress is well regarded as being optimised for search out-of-the-box. My recommendation, and what we have done at Glow Kids, is getting onto the key Social Media channels and promoting your website on them (and vice-versa) if you haven’t already.

Facebook should be one of, if not the first, port of call. Make sure you create a business page, not a personal one. If you do happen to create or already have a personal page you can convert to a business page easily enough, Facebook have a really useful page here that explains the process. The key advantage of a business page for me is that you have fans not friends, which means people can like your page without you havent to accept them. There are also a bunch of statistics available so you can gain some insights into who is liking your content, the penetration of your postings so you can tailor for your audience and your potential audience. There are a number of ways you can cross-promote your website and Facebook page –  Wordpress has a number of plug-ins available for social media, and the theme you choose may also have some integrated.

Two important things to add to your website – a ‘Follow Me on Facebook’ button and the ability for your content to be liked and/or commented on. The follow me button lets people easily find you on Facebook, and it doesn’t HAVE to specifically say ‘Follow Us on Facebook’. If you look at the Glow Kids website, we have a simple button at the top of the page which was part of the Admired theme we used. By making it easy for visitors to like and comment on your website content you make it easy for them to promote it on your behalf and again there are plug-ins you can use to achieve this. On the left you will see a sidebar plug-in that easily allows visitors to see your last Facebook post and Like your page.

On your Facebook page, remember to promote your website content. If you add new content to your website, put a link to it on Facebook with a hint of what it is about to get people to click through to read it in detail. Add your website URL to the ‘About’ section on Facebook so people can find your website easily. You do not have to post new content every day that links to your website of course. Depending on your charity you can promote affiliated organizations such as national bodys, or charities in a similar or aligned sector. Liking their Facebook page is a good start here as you can then easily share their contemt, and they may well like & share yours in return. And remember to keep it human on Facebook. For Fathers Day for example I wished all fathers a happy day and asked what everyone was up to for it. Not at all related to Glow Kids cause, but helps remind people that there are humans behind the page and that is what social media should be about – connecting people with people.

Coming up next, the ‘other’ social media channels and how you can maximise them for your charity.

United in sweet, sweet social

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Caught this article in this mornings NZ Herald about United Sweets of New Zealand

They aren’t that big on Twitter yet with only 86 followers and 567 tweets but I suspect they could be the next ‘Giapo‘. They do have 14k ‘likes’ on Facebook and seem to engage really well with followers, encouraging them to share their stories and ask questions.

Great to see another local Kiwi business leverage the power of Social Media to make an impact.

Does Offline engagement equal Online engagement?

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At lunch today I paused to reflect on how offline engagement with customers relates to the online experience. This was largely due to an experience I had at a certain fast food outlet whilst getting a burger (looking at YOU McDonalds!). Cruised through drive-through, had a warm welcome when placing the order and paying and then onto the pickup window. This is where the experience changed. The team member, as I believe they are called, asked how my day was, almost as though he was reading off a script. No eye contact or interest in the reply. Now this doesn’t bother me, I tend not to engage with the operator but it did get me thinking… is this how McDonalds also act online?

I looked them up on Facebook. Only one account that I can see of note, a global one that has limited content but it looked so pretty! This seemed to compare to the real-world experience; nice store front but poor follow-through. So off to Twitter. A lot of accounts to choose from, found the New Zealand one (@MaccasNZ). Really impressed with the profile page, easy access to other contact information on the left, bright red branding and best of all a lot of conversations with customers. And conversations that were not just about pushing products but about talking to people. This is obviously different from the Facebook experience which in fairness is a global page.

So I am now interested to investigate more local businesses and see if there is a link between their offline engagement and their online personas. My initial thoughts are there will be no real difference; poor service offline will equal poor service online.

Anybody have any examples already of where this is the case, or where it is the total opposite?