Category Archives: social media

Channel 7 adds fuel to their social media fire

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If you haven’t heard yet, this week the internet raged against Australia’s Channel 7. Here’s the original post on their Facebook wall, from Linda:

Fuelled by Reddit, Twitter and Facebook, an international audience flocked to the Channel 7 Facebook page to support Linda and express their scorn for Channel 7’s actions.

Linda’s Facebook post went viral, receiving over 35,000 interactions. Someone created a Facebook page demanding justice for Linda. In 24 hours, this page has 5000 likes –close to the size of the Facebook audience of Seven News Sydney and the debacle is beginning to hit other news networks.

Then Seven News Sydney made the most rookie, worst possible community management mistake: They deleted the post. Cue the ”Streisand Effect” and fan the flames, because nothing irks the ire of the Internet like censorship of legit commenters.

24 hours after the original comment was posted (and deleted) Seven News Sydney posted this, saying the post was removed accidentally. 

Within 3 hours of the Seven News Sydney “apology” there were 350 responses, only 7 of them were positive.  Although the statement was clearly made by Chris Willis – on behalf of Seven News Sydney –  the majority of criticism was directed at the network itself.  The statement fuelled anger and outrage, intensifying existing negative perceptions and damaging Channel 7’s reputation across the nation. So why was Chris’s apology not accepted and why were people still so angry after reading it?

I don’t think it’s any surprise that the response provoked more anger, because:

  • It defended Channel 7’s actions rather than responding to the needs and emotions of the online community.
  • It apologized for a technical error rather than the emotional distress of mother who had endured a horrific loss.
  • It seemed to confirm what everyone thought: Channel 7 lacks compassion and sincerity… the exact reason for the initial outrage.

In situations like this it’s easy for commentators to emphasise social media risk, which can make leaders, many of whom only see social media when it hits traditional media, hesitate to invest in social media. ntegrity believes in a solutions oriented approach. We have drafted risk mitigation protocols similar to the US Airforce, but most brands don’t require that level of oversight. Here are some simple tips for Channel 7:

Don’t wait

Don’t wait until you have an “official statement” to respond to criticism.  Give your social media team the authority to respond immediately and honestly at the same time that you are processing the situation internally.

“Hi Linda, my name is Richenda and I work on Channel 7’s social media team. I am so sorry for your loss and for any distress this story may have caused. At this point I have no internal information to explain these actions so I am sending your feedback directly to our leadership and will ensure you receive a response in 24 hours. Are you comfortable with us contacting you directly to discuss this further? If so my email is richenda@seven.com.au. Again, sincerest apologies and I hope that we can rectify the situation. Sincerely, Richenda“

Say sorry

If you have done something to upset your community work with your legal team to draft an apology. If your legal team is too risk adverse to respond proactively -which is common – contact an expert like Leanne O’Donnell for help.  Respond directly to the community member and if the complaint spirals draft a public post. Ensure all your communication is personal, authentic and honest. Speak as if you are talking to someone face to face rather than drafting a public relations statement. The greatest social media backlash is directed against inauthentic, impersonal approaches. The greatest wins look like this.

Tell your story

When a situation spirals and you feel you have been misrepresented, create further content that explains your story. You can do this through a blog post, video or article on your website. When I was working as Social Media Manager at World Vision USA, a member of the Facebook community made damaging and inaccurate accusations against World Vision not responding to female genital mutilation. In response, we created this web story that explained circumstances and dispelled myths. In the end, the community became educated on the topic and responded to the critique on behalf of us. That said, this tactic is only helpful if your company or organization is prepared to be open, honest and transparent.

Change

If your audience is overwhelmingly critical of your approach, consider changing it. If I were advising Channel 7, I would ask them to consider taking the lead on creating ethical guidelines for news organisations to address bereavement in the future. If they don’t change, they’re target #1 if this were to happen again. With traditional media consumption fragmenting, your actions and messages need to prioritise the interests, needs and emotions of your audience (especially your vocal ones!) or they will go elsewhere.

In my experience, executing the above actions authentically and efficiently requires an in-house social media team. Unlike most digital agencies, ntegrity does not believe you should outsource your social media. Your internal team should deeply understand your audience and advocate for their needs in partnership with your legal, marketing and PR teams. Doing this adequately can inherently change how your organisation works, especially in responding to a crisis.

To be honest, this was a hard blog post to write -  a young girl died. That’s what made this hit the news -  and that’s what got me, and so many other people thinking about it. Why did Channel 7 think they had the right to silence Linda and refuse to apologise?

On the outside Channel 7′s approach suggests a lack of decency but from experience as social media manager it seems likely that Channel 7 lacks an understanding of social media and all the best practice principals, processes and preparation that must come with it.

Dear Commonwealth bank…

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Dear Commonwealth Bank,

My name is Richenda Vermeulen. I’m a Dollarmite* from the beginning.  When I lived in America, I missed you… 7 years I missed you. I missed a bank that felt like it cared about me. I missed the “branch experience”. I even missed the comfort of the yellow logo. I still have your back when people criticize. I rave to friends about netbank. I downloaded Kaching the first day of its release. What more can I say… I <3 @Commbank

Now that feelings are confessed, you can understand why I was so excited to attend the Commonwealth Bank event for small businesses. As Director of a Social Media Agency, I was eager to meet other small business owners and learn about how the Commonwealth bank CAN help.

The event had all the makings of success. The Grand Hyatt was a beautiful venue (I felt special) breakfast was delicious (thank you!) and your CommSec Economist Craig James was so interesting I was searching for his blog within 5 minutes (no luck :( ).

But then it went downhill. And I’m sorry… but I tweeted about it.

The speakers gave social media advice from 2008. How do I know? Because I was giving it in 2008. But social media and our understanding of it has evolved significantly. Your forum implied the social media success is to simply establish presences on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube. A slide even listed:

Facebook + Twitter + YouTube + LinkedIn = A social media strategy

Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Linked in are Social Media Platforms. Platforms are tactics to implement, not a strategy. Platforms emerge (Pinterest), evolve (Facebook) and can become extinct (MySpace). That is why it is so important that a Social Media Strategy go beyond platforms. A social media strategy should incorporate your organisation’s goals and the cultural ways you need to change. For instance: part of a social media strategy could be “tackling banking myths and talking to unhappy customers” rather than “have a Facebook page”. A Social Strategy should have a big picture goal that will guide your company on which platforms to use.

The reality is, doing social media wrong wastes time and money. Social media is a quickly evolving area that can carry huge rewards for local business… but without a solid strategy it’s usually a waste of time. Encouraging small businesses to invest time, money and energy into platforms with no real strategy will most likely have no real impact.

This morning, it would have been great to hear practical tips on how retailers can become e-retailers, especially as the world notices “e-commerce is booming down under”. It would have been powerful to explain what businesses should consider before doing social media.  Small businesses would have a massive win by understanding the power of user experience, e-commerce and social media impact on online buying (so many examples!).

If you would like some help, I would love to be of service to you in the same way you have been of service to me. I’ll give a free workshop to your small business clients.  All I ask is for an old school Dollarmites poster.

 Sincerely,

Richenda Vermeulen

*Dollarmites was a program the Commonwealth Bank created decades ago to get children involved in banking. Until getting married, I had the same bank account as when I was 7 years old. Now that’s brand loyalty!

 ________________________________________________________________________

Do you agree with this post? Would love to hear your thoughts on Commonwealth Bank and/or what you think makes a good social media strategy.

Dream Catcher

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“Dear God, please please please make me smart enough to work at World Vision”  -Me, 15 years old

My geography teacher broke my heart. A few compassionate insights on how many people live in poverty -and how most people do nothing about it- was enough to make me crack. I had a teenage meltdown. Changing from a self-obsessed beauty-pageant loving 15 year old to a kid that dreamed of “making people care” was a bit shocking for my classmates.
My spending habits quickly shifted from buying shoes and lipstick to supporting my sponsored child.  I would drown my thoughts in any World Vision collateral, even direct mail appeals fed my appetite. I wanted so badly to help, so badly to be of use.

My dream came true. I’m not sure if I am any smarter… but I have been working at World Vision for the last 5 years trying to change people’s hearts and minds to care for children in need. One of the most memorable experiences of my life was meeting my sponsorsed children

But other important things happened while pursuing my dream…

I learnt how to take risks
When I couldn’t get hired through the application process, I gave up a stable, well paid job to volunteer at World Vision,  risking both my employment and the visa keeping me in Seattle. When the global financial crisis hit and my “dream” malaria campaign position was made redundant,  I risked trying something totally different… a job in “social media”. When a great opportunity at World Vision Australia came up, I moved across the world and risked losing the home and friends I spent 6 years building. With big risks came big gains. I am not afraid of risk anymore. Instead, I am afraid of commitments that limit my ability to take risks.

I developed a thirst for God
Before World Vision, God was a guy in the clouds that I spoke to in time of need. Having my prayers answered made me wonder about God. I began to question everything and pursue something intangible. At the time, I worked for the most compassionate wise man, Randy -I nicknamed him “second to Jesus”- who answered the incessant questions I had with patience, honesty and often…more questions. In fact, I was surrounded by amazing mentors like Randy, who had spent their lives changing the world and pursuing a God they hungered for.

One of my mentors from World Vision USA, Bwalya Melu. Bwalya was a leading activist in Zambia, champion of helping those HIV/Aids

My thirst for God still exists and it’s something I can’t live without.

I met my husband
Pursuing your dreams puts you closer to people that share your passions and interests. When I met Kyle at World Vision, I found the person I had spent 27 years looking for. He understood me completely and shared similar dreams. “I promise to give you strength for your dreams” made it into our wedding vows :) Sorry if this mushiness is making you gag.
I met many other life-changing people while chasing my dream, from my mentors to my husband to my social media soul mate Lindsey (who coordinated this link-up with me!).  I truly believe you meet exceptional people when you go after something big.
Our wedding in Kauai on January 21st, 2012  

So there you go: Dream realised. Life changed forever. Hopefully I made as much of an impact at World Vision as World Vision made on me.

And now I’m confused.

My 15 year dream of working for World Vision feels like it’s come full circle. Its not a bitter end but one I am looking back on with a smile.

Now I dream about social media. All. The. Time.

I spend ridiculous amounts of time thinking how brands I love can connect with their customers *insert Tim Tam slam app*. I have endless conversations about how “banks are a treasure chest of amazing stories that no one is talking about!”. Kyle and I spent hours on our honeymoon thinking of ways tripadvisor could better monetize the recommendations. Yes, I know this is lame but 2 social media geeks drinking cocktails in Koh Samui were pretty happy! I get upset hearing how many great brands outsource their social media. I get emotional explaining that social media is an organization’s heart beat and no one understands that better than the people that work there.

I want to help. My “new” dream is to launch a social media agency. This dream has been pursuing me for months but in 2012, I got the guts to pursue it.  And with that… I want to introduce to you ntegrity

ntegrity is my dream because I want to be an alternative choice, an agency that empowers and enables brands to own their social media and do it well. There is so much potential in Australia

ntegrity is my dream because I want to help brands build authentic experiences with their customers after seeing these connections transform businesses

ntegrity is my dream because I love partnering with my favourite digital experts to deliver work that inspires our clients.

And with this dream, I’m taking risks. But this time I have a husband co-pilot, and a thirst for the One whose dreams for me are always bigger than my own.

*          *          *

Lindsey and I have chosen “dreams” to be the topic of our first link-up as hosts because we know dreams change, dreams teach us, and dreams come true. Please take the time to read her inspiring post So long old dreams, hello new ones.


#EdenInNiger: The story behind the stories.

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6 months ago I wrote about speaking at the Problogger event

I was nervous to present, but as I began to speak I noticed a tattooed woman, sitting in the front row, who kept nodding. She smiled warmly, and looked interested. When I finished, she jumped up and introduced herself:

“Hi Richenda! I’m Eden I am so freaking into what you are doing! I want to partner with you guys, here is my card. ”

Eden is the kind of person that makes an immediate impression on you. She is no wall flower. She is forward, brutally authentic and relentlessly encouraging. After 5 minutes with her, I am engaged, entertained and  believe we can achieve anything.I was excited to meet a new friend and very eager blogger partner.

6 months after we met, Eden boarded a plane to Niger.

We didn’t intend to send a blogger to the poorest country in the world, but the food crisis in West Africa went from severe to dire in a matter of months and the traditional media was not picking it up. No media = no donations to respond.

Increasingly social media and traditional media worlds are influenced by each other. KONY 2012 is the most prominent recent example. No single blogger is going to solve a famine but we hoped that a passionate Mum could make the media take notice by sharing the stories of mothers and children in the most severely affected area.

We picked Eden or we should say… Eden picked us.

Some were surprised, mostly because she uses swear words in her blog. She even called herself an inspirational a****hole when talking about why she puts charity banners on her blog!

So why Eden?

  • Eden is the real deal. Helping those in need is a core part of her value system and more important to her than her blog.
  • Eden is one of Australia’s most prominent Mum bloggers, with an large audience and reach
  • Eden has been sponsoring World Vision kids for 10 years. She is a passionate advocate for our most important way to help children in need
  • Eden is well known in the Mum blogging community and inspires those with influence to their power for the good.
  • Eden is an incredible story-teller; captivating, authentic and honest. Send people to her blog and you’ll get brownie points for the “Awesome find”
  • Eden shares World Vision’s belief that every child deserves life in all its fullness. Yes, you can use swear words and have great values.
  • She is persistent and makes everyone fall in love with her

7 days of #EdenInNiger produced some compelling blog posts:

So far out of my comfort zone I can’t even SEE my privilege from here

Zenouba the starfish

Hey, White Girl.

Re-entering Earth’s Atmosphere

Today she will be on Channel 10’s breakfast show.

The list of bloggers writing about West Africa continue to grow:

Eden’s trip to Niger gained traction in social media and traditional media. West Africa is noticed. Donations are coming in. Children are being sponsored. We continue to gain media lift beyond the trip.

Since starting at World Vision, our social media team has brainstormed and debated about how to partner with digital influencers. What we know for sure is that the best way to create an authentic experience is by involving the influencers themselves. 3 days before Eden left for Niger, we launched a blogger ambassador program created and driven by a team of 10 Australian bloggers. The trip to Niger was not was planned as part of the program but it did give us something to cheer for.

Special thanks to Louisa Claire for her advice and patience and Joy Toose for being an amazing partner in crime.

Eden & I at the World Vision Blogger Ambassador launch. I took this picture from Eden's blog. I love it because it captures how excited we were to see each other after months of emails and calls organizing the trip.

Eager to hear your thoughts and questions.

3 factors that made the world pay attention to #KONY2012

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55 million video views and counting is a pretty clear indication that you have been noticed. The  #KONY2012 campaign is a success – whether you love the cause or not. Some call this a “viral hit”. Some call it advocacy. I call it exceptional marketing in disguise.

So what made the world pay attention to a 30 minute video? My take on the 3 factors that made #KONY2012 a success

1. An activist network
#Kony2012 as a  “social media success” is misunderstood. This was not campaign created by social media; it was fueled by social media.

For the past 6 years, Invisible Children have created and cultivated a passionate activist network (referenced in the #KONY2012 minute14:37-18:52) . The activist network grew from efforts that spanned across the real and online world. Many were outraged at the atrocities after watching  the original ”Invisible Children” movie (2006), others were inspired at universities,  some engaged through fundraising events , others conducted political stunts.  Most felt like they were a part of creating Invisible Children. This network was buying merchandise long before KONY2012 Action Kits existed.

For years these highly connected activists have been receiving updates about Joseph Kony and the LRA via their social media outlets and email treatment.

Posts from Invisible CHildren's facebook page from March 2011. You can see they combine provocative imagery with inspriation and light hearted topics.

Invisible children have done a brilliant job at cultivating and inspiring their online community. This treatment even lead to them winning $1 million through an online competition!

The invisible children activist network understood Invisible children’s goal, were highly engaged and ready to act when asked.

You can see that since 2009 this network was being prepared for #KONY2012

Before #Kony2012 was live, they saw pictures of it in the making. Looking at their vimeo statistics -the hipster videographer channel of preference- the video was probably released to their network via email on Monday and then publicly on their Facebook page on Tuesday.   On Wednesday, the world started to notice.

It is very clear that these cultivated activists gave the campaign an amazing head start. Often, people try to create “viral” videos rather than recognizing that the power of the distribution stream will usually determine whether people will see the video or not. The quality of the content is what will keep it moving.

Years of cultivating activists paid off in the case of Invisible Children. This is the exact reason I defend of the term “Slactivist.”

2. Quality content
A good social network can only take content so far, it won’t make it viral – the content needs to speak for itself. Invisible children has quite a robust and talented creative team, but what makes the world watch a 30minute online video? Here is my amateur take:

  • An introduction that viewers instantly relate to. “I’m on Facebook”, “I laugh at Youtube videos”
  • A compelling story with tangible/ characters. The Enemy (Kony), the Victim (Jacob), the Hero (Jason), the cute funny kid (Gavin), The “it” crowd (the activist network), the Recruit (the viewer), the Army (the viewers mobilizing).  
  • An invitation to be a character in the story. Through joining this campaign viewers are visually compelled to join “It” crowd  or the “Invisible Children Army”. Their role as a character in this story is to help the hero bring the enemy to justice.
  • Exceptional cinematography complemented by emotive music. Not really a new tactic but this level was pretty epic for a charity video. The best example of this was in minute 26:45 –  27:01 where a viewer can see themselves in this scene, almost as if joining #KONY2012 puts them in an action film.
  • Repeated identification of the problem. The viewer is continually reminded of the existence of the enemy and their power to overcome it.
  • Repeated and diverse calls to action. In many different ways Jason urges people to take action. He does this through indirect statements viewers relate to “I don’t want my kids to live in a world where…”, as a commander mobilizing his troops to fight “We are targeting…The mission is…” and in-direct calls to action “too often we have done nothing but if we are going to change that, we have to start somewhere”. Interestingly, I couldn’t find any direct asks from Jason, instead it’s left to the end text and website content.
  • Clear instructions, attractive next steps. Jason explains “how” to be a part of this and the “how” is attractive. Speaking as commander of his activist army, he gives very clear and easy to understand instructions. The viewer perceives that with tangible next steps, they have the power to make change happen… by vandalising their community with posters with sexy graphics, petitioning popular celebrities via twitter and wearing a wristband band that will identify them to the “it” group.
  • Fueling the innate desire to change the world. Most people – especially young people- want to believe they can change the world. As mentioned above, the video gives clear instructions and affirmations that make the viewer feel they can bring the enemy to justice. He then laces this action with emotional statements that feed in to the innate desire to change the world: “Arresting Joseph Kony will prove that the world we live in has new rules” .

3. Social Media Integration

This is the easy part. With a solid distribution stream -an active social community- and compelling content #KONY2012 was bound to gain some traction. That said, Invisible Children took it up a notch, entrenching social media into the campaign itself. They made social media part of the narrative in the video, connecting the viewers to each other and as a core next step, asked them to tweet celebrities.

Charities asking celebrities to promote their cause is not a new tactic, but mobilising your community to ask through a mechanism in your website is. And it works. Because of the large following of celebrities -much larger than most brands/charities- they have strong distribution power to push content to the masses and continue to spread the message.

On a much smaller scale than the success of #KONY2012, I have seen celebrities with strong social media presences help gain views and traction for videos.

At World Vision USA, Kyle created a powerfully emotional video within hours of the 2010 Haiti earthquake. Community manager Lindsey Talerico and I began to tweeting celebrities the video. Within hours  MC Hammer and Donald Miller shared it and it began to gain traction.

At World Vision Australia, we got on the old spice band wagon and our brave CEO did a spoof dressed in his bathrobe within 24 hours of the initial release. Again, we deployed the tactics of tweeting Australian celebrities, and within a few hours the video began to gain traction that complemented the wave of interest in old spice spoofs.

These videos have had nowhere near the traction of  #KONY2012, however they do show that utilising celebrities social media presences will help you gain video views if the content is relevant to them and their audiences.
…
Many will debate the success of this campaign but I think it clearly engaged the hearts of thousands despite criticism of Invisible Children. I am eager to see whether the city of Melbourne will look like on April 21, a visual representation of whether this was a weak social share vs a social movement.

Regardless of the outcome of #KONY2012, Invisible Children have now grown their social community to 2.6 million people, up 300, 000 from when I started writing this post less than 24 hours ago! The “social reach” of a 2.6 million person community is monumental considering the average Facebook user has 130 Facebook friends. If I were Invisible Children… I would be investing heavily in ensuring quality content and relationship management to keep the attention of this audience. That way… when and if Kony is no longer the enemy, you can take your audience on a journey to understand the plight of other invisible children.

#SHOPETHICAL2013

What cable TV can teach non-profits

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“I want to cancel my cable.” – Sarah*, cable TV customer

“Can I ask you why you want to cancel your service?” – Gerlinda, cable customer service representative

“I cannot afford it anymore, I am a single mum with a daughter and… I just sponsored a child.”

“That’s amazing! Can I ask what organisation you sponsored with?”

“Through World Vision!”

“Even better! My daughter works for World Vision. That is so wonderful! It’s good for your daughter, too! Is your daughter happy with the sponsored child? How did she react?”

“My daughter is so excited, especially since she saw the picture. She feels like she has a sister! She wants to learn the language they speak in Mozambique and she wants to send her toys. She can’t stop talking about her and she is praying for her now, too.”

“But know you are not just sponsoring a child but a whole community. If you have time, when your daughter comes back from school, watch “sponsor lady” on Youtube. It’s a video my daughter made about meeting her sponsored children. It’ll help your daughter understand child sponsorship and what kind of impact it has on community in Africa.”

“Oh, really! We are going to watch it when she comes home from school.”

“Well, let’s find a way to reward you and your daughter for doing something good. As a company, we appreciate customers like you. I’m going to find you a way to get a discount at the same rate as sponsoring a child.”

“Thank you so much, that is really nice of you! That can mean my daughter will have cable during the school holidays.”

“Thank you for staying with us. Enjoy your cable!”

…

This is true story that happened 2 weeks ago. I love this story. It has a special place in my heart because the customer service lady is my Mum!

I’ve been thinking more and more about how non-profits do–or don’t–do customer service. Perhaps a cable television call center can teach us a thing or two about a customer-centric customer service model — where retaining and rewarding customers is foundational.

Here’s 4 things more things this story can illustrate…

1. Outstanding customer service is personal and flexible.  For my Mum and Sarah their interaction was emotional and rewarding. But it could have gone very differently.

In this story, the customer service representative dared to ask “why” and cared about the response of her customer. Then, she shared a personal experience and extended the conversation beyond the phone call to something Sarah could experience online. Linda connected with Sarah’s story in a way that spoke to her heart and she had the flexibility to reward Sarah’s charitable giving. In doing so, she aligned the cable company’s values with that of World Vision — and the value of giving to those in need. Sarah ended the call not only feeling better about the cable company, but about her charitable decision, too.

Ok, I’ll stop bragging about my mum! She’s pretty great though…

Key take-away: Is your customer service team encouraged to ask difficult questions and affirm donor decisions? Do they have the freedom to get personal or are they limited to a script? Do you have flexible options if donors can no longer afford to support you? Do your staff have the resources and knowledge to answer difficult questions and communicate your organisations identity and values?

Just an average facebook conversation managed by World Vision's "digital conversationalist" Clare

Excerpt from an email sent to readers of the Bay Citizen. An online non-profit newspaper in San Fransisco. My gorgeous sister Romena is in the bottom right :)

 

2. Charity is not a luxury expense. Many people promote charitable giving to be as simple as “a cup of coffee a day.” But the reality for many people is that this is simply not the case. Often, giving or not giving to charity comes down to a choice between cable tv and helping others. It is no wonder that when there is an economic downturn charitable giving suffers.

During the global financial crisis, I worked on on a campaign with World Vision USA that involved staff dedicating time to call  30,000 donors to say “thank you during this difficult time”. It was one of the most memorable experiences I’ve ever had.

I will never forget the conversations I had with donors that were financially struggling. And, unlike many other charitable organizations, World Vision USA experienced an increase in donations that year while most organizations struggled to make ends meet.

Key take-away: Are you regularly showing donors how their donation is making a difference? Do you thank your donors for the contribution they are making…without asking for more? Are you giving donors other options to contribute if they can no longer afford their current pledge?

 

3. Engagement with donors must go beyond asking for money.  In the story, it’s important to remember that my Mum is engaging her customer officially as an employee of the cable company and personally as a donor of World Vision. In the age of the “Social Customer”, engaging and equipping donors is critical to your organization’s communication and marketing strategies. Your donors are talking. They will discuss why they give and why they are thinking of not giving– at work, at play and, most definitely, in to their 130 Facebook friends! That’s why creating excellent customer experiences are necessity in growing your company’s (social) reputation.

Social customers expect brands to engage with them and will favour those that do it well. Social customers will ask for advice to make purchasing decisions and give recommendations to their friends. If your strategy ignores donor retention and focuses solely on asking for more money, you’re ignoring their potential as advocates and you run the risk of slowly becoming irrelevant.

This infographic, featuring data from M Booth and Beyond, aims to help brands understand how to targeting consumers

Key take-away: Are you engaging donors beyond asking for money and is it working? Are you connecting with donors when they don’t expect it? Are you giving them content that enables them to engage with their friends? Is the content something you would share with your friends?

A profile badge we made for our social community who were passionate about talking about the Horn of Africa food crisis

 

4. Those with less give more. Numerous studies show  that people with lower to middle incomes actually give a greater percentage of their income to charity than those in higher income brackets. Some even speculate that those with less are more compassionate to those with less because they share an understanding of need.

My favourite book on this topic is called “Who Really Cares”  – a study specific to the U.S. context of charitable giving but there are many lessons in it that Aussies can learn from, too.

Key take-away: Do you understand the struggles of your donors? Are you speaking in a language that engages people of all education and income levels?  Are you highlighting stories that your donors can relate to?  

 

 

Conventional customer service is sometimes an afterthought in a non-profit organisation. However, if you hire great people and empower them to be personal and meet customers where they are, you can completely change your donors’ experience.

This is amplified even more in the world of social media! The social customer demands that we pay attention to customer service and integrate an excellent experience into all areas of our brand — engaging content, reports on impact, proactively searching for those talking about your cause…the list goes on.

We need to give current and potential donors an outstanding customer service experience to ensure we retain them. We can do this by meeting them where they are in whatever (financial) situation, speaking their language, affirming their choices, giving them communications they enjoy, saying “thank you” (more than once!) and surprising them with the unexpected. If we can give them this, they will reward us with their loyalty and advocacy.

In the meantime… I’ll keep taking lessons from my Mum.

*name changed and cable company withheld to protect the innocent :)

Risky Mitigation? University of Queensland’s peculiar email

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As a proud University of Queensland alum, I am interested in reading emails the University sends me.  However, this one sent at 4am on November 5th had me perplexed:

Excerpt of the email to students and Alumni. For full text click on the image.

Despite its ambiguity, I was able to determine the following from this email:

  • Something went wrong with a student’s admission
  • It was investigated but no one was at fault
  • Even though no one was at fault, 2 Vice-Chancellors have resigned
  • Despite them leaving, they are good people
  • There are going to be more investigations
  • We got through the floods, stick with us

My first reaction was: UQ why are you sending me this email? I have no idea what is going on but now you have made me suspicious.

I forwarded this email to Adam, my fellow Alum asking if he knew what was going on and he too responded with “I have no idea either.  Now I’m all curious and want to look into it.”

We both did.

Turns out, on midnight November 4th (4 hours before I received the email), the courier mail posted this article about the investigation. From the article’s content, it is difficult to determine whether it was written from an actual interview or from the email I received. It was not clear what the scandal was. All that was clear was that there was a scandal. Considering the large size of UQ’s email list, the emails would have been deployed over several hours, one list at a time, which could mean students would have received it between the 4th-6th of November.

Since the initial article and email, press coverage has intensified. The student body is ignited and petitions demanding transparency are beginning to gain momentum at Change.org

I can’t help but ask myself: Did the email spark press coverage or was the email a risk mitigation tactic responding to the imminent press coverage?

The web marketer in me asks: why would a University make the mistake of sending its large database of a scandal before it hit the press? A large mistake for a renowned university with a strong journalism program, who’s Alum likely works within Australian press circles. Not only did the University instantly notify their most trusted social network, they notified their most influential. If they needed to release something, why not just post the response on their website rather than proactively notify their entire database?

Could this have been a wise risk mitigation tactic igniting and preparing their trusted networks to come to their defence during an impending public investigation? As a Social Media Manager accustomed to dealing with sensitive topics, this does not align with effective risk mitigation. The tone and language used in the email, the unwillingness to admit fault and most importantly the lack of authenticity, incite distrust in a reader. This is  not  a way to mobilise your most likely advocates. But I could be wrong.

I would love to hear what others think, especially UQ alum:  Did this email stir distrust or are you ready to defend our Uni?

Don’t call my family slack!

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My name is Richenda and I *love* slacktivists.

I hate the title “Slacktivist”… and Mashable’s  suggested term “Social Champion” doesn’t feel right either. To me, they are family. The World Vision family.

Working at World Vision USA and more recently World Vision Australia, I have built and engaged online communities of substantial scale. With this experience in mind, I will try to answer the questions raised by Weh in his recent blog post: Is it possible to engage slacktivists in more worthwhile causes, or should NGOs focus their energy elsewhere?

These are not easy questions to answer. 

Is it possible to engage slacktivists in more worthwhile causes?

Yes, without a doubt!

People that  “like” or “follow” your organisation to their network and/or choosing to receive communications from you! At World Vision, we call these people our “online family”, not slacktivists! They are new, current and prospective supporters who are happy to interact with us on a daily basis.

Mashable’s feature of The Dynamics of Cause Engagement study by Georgetown University’s Center for Social Impact Communication and Ogilvy Worldwide showing that slacktivists are more likely to take meaningful actions is no surprise to us.

Years of rigorous tracking and analysis has shown us that investment in our online family delivers consistent financial and non-financial returns. In addition to the activities listed above, we are also learning about the positive impact social media communication has on our long term relationships. This is important to us because our main product, Child Sponsorship, relies on long-term commitment to regular giving  to support complex, often misunderstood, community development.

An example of how we share content that aims to increase understanding of community development and affirm the commitment of sponsors

Not everyone in our family sponsors a child, recruits friends or rallies their local member of parliament. We know that some of our community will “like” a status once, while others contribute to content regularly and more meaningfully.

Some are silent readers, while others bring me to tears with their stories and their personal passion for social justice! (Tears from our team are not an uncommon response to these amazing stories!)

One of my favourite cross-channel advocacy examples. From WV Facebook, to a personal blog, to twitter. Love it!

Some share stories to entice friends to become involved, while others may never publicly share content but will personally click through to make a donation.

The level of commitment within the community varies from person to person, and is influenced by the content, opportunities and conversations you give them access to. Your online community will quickly discover whether the stories you tell, the opportunities you provide and the conversations you have are valuable. Which brings me too….

 Should NGOs focus their energy elsewhere?

Yes and No

Cultivating and mobilising online communities takes tremendous amount of time and resource. Any investment in this area should be well thought out, strategic and long-term. Honestly, there is no point investing in social media unless you  have a solid foundation. Before investing in building an online community, an NGO should be asking:

  • Is our website in good health? Are people using it to find out more about us or make donations?
  • Do we utilise website tracking to understand the behaviour of visitors to our site?
  • Do we have access to meaningful stories and multimedia?
  • Do we have communication that explain what we do?
  • Is our media team able to respond to difficult questions and criticism?
  • Does our organisation see a need to stay in dialogue with supporters?
  • Does our leadership understand social media and are they willing to invest in it?

If you answered “no” to any of these above questions – you should focus your energy there, instead of, or before, building a social media community. Without these fundamentals, you will find it  challenging to create effective content, understand the impact of your community and engage in authentic meaningful conversations.

If you answered “yes” to all of the above – go for it! Start by building a social media strategy that aligns with your organisation’s goals for engagement and target demographic. Your strategy should drive your tactics -  directing how you build your online family and the style or personality you use to engage them. To help you on your way, I have started a blog series to help demystify social media strategy and give you some practical advice.

Critics may tell you social media will produce no return. I think you will produce no return..if you are doing it wrong.  If you’re doing it right, your online family will take their passion or ‘slacktivism’ into the real world.  You will grow to love and respect your ‘slacktivists’ for what they really are: passionate people keen to make a difference. Trust me, I’m that annoying person on facebook that says …