On May 9, nonprofits from across San Antonio arrived at Cafe College for our sold-out Action Breakfast. Our challenge? For every attendee to walk away with at least one actionable item that would help them create successful social media campaigns.
But, before we could take on that task, kickoff speaker Alicia Arenas, with SaneraCamp, put us in the proper mindset with a quick and effective lesson on time management.
Many nonprofits nodded their heads in full agreement with Alicia that it takes a careful look at how we’re spending our time, and whether or not we’re using our time wisely, to make sure we can carve out enough of it to include social media and communications planning into our already hectic schedules.
Following Alicia’s opening talk, the nonprofits broke into small groups and the discussions varied somewhat from table to table, depending upon the specific questions about campaigns that were asked by the nonprofits.
Our experienced table captains, chosen for their excellent work in creating and managing successful social campaigns, led the discussions and the groups came up with the following tips and recommendations for getting started with social media campaigns:
- Set your objectives at the beginning: set a baseline of what you’d like to see your campaign accomplish.
- Having a plan will help you more effectively execute your campaign.
- At the end of your campaign, put together a report to quantify what you did, what the results were, and how it matched up to your original objectives.
- Remember: you can only do so much. Even if you learn about new/other social networks, pick only one (or just a few) for your campaign that you know you will have the time to manage effectively.
- Determine the audience for your campaign. Who is your campaign supposed to reach? What do you want your audience to do? Create something for that specific demographic.
- Make it fun. If it’s not fun, people will check out.
- Consider using creative campaigns to get rid of misconceptions.
- Consider collaborating with other organizations on your campaigns and theirs to capitalize on reach.
- Get volunteers involved: Ask them to spread the word about your campaign, like your Facebook page and ask them to share posts, etc. Have your volunteers become your influencers and ambassadors.
Thank you to everyone who attended Action Breakfast on May 9. We also want to thank our wonderful table captains for this Action Breakfast: Ana Flores, Randy Escamilla, Mari Aguirre, Katrina Kehoe, and Fran Stephenson. Your willingness to share your valuable experience with local nonprofits is greatly appreciated!
Mark your calendars for August 8 for our next Action Breakfast and, in the meantime, remember our motto: “One actionable idea.”
Like us on Facebook: Action San Antonio on Facebook.
