Social Media in Animal Welfare (Michigan Animal Welfare Conference 2009)

Preview:

DESCRIPTION

This presentation about social media was given to animal rescue organizations in Michigan.

Citation preview

Social Media in Animal Welfare

Carie LewisDirector of Emerging Media

The Humane Society of the United States

My name is Carie, and I’m a social networking addict.

We have a team of 6. How do we know how to talk to these people? We are these people!

FACT: The way we communicate is changing. It’s not a fad.

We must adapt by:

Having a presence in places where people are.

Finding new ways to engage our existing supporters where they are.

Recruiting new supporters, donors and advocates where they are.

Giving people a way to show they support us – where they are.

Giving people an easy way to recruit friends, family, and strangers where they are.

Memos > email > instant messaging > text messaging > Facebook > Twitter > ?

Social Media 101Why this TOO?

Website Social network

One way communication Two way communication

Content generated in house Content generated by users

Organization’s voice People’s voice

Talking to people Talking with people

Marketing Conversations

Expect information Expect interaction

Social networking has revolutionized the way we communicate and share information with one another in today's society.

Our Strategy• Stay on top of latest trends

• Research new opportunities

• Train staff

• Have guidelines

• Take an integrated approach

• Measure everything!

• Showcase successes

• Listen

• Don’t be afraid to fail

• Learn from mistakes

Where We Are

humanesociety.org/connect

http://www.facebook.com/humanesociety

http://www.twitter.com/humanesociety

http://www.myspace.com/thehumanesociety

http://www.youtube.com/hsus & http://www.flickr.com/photos/humanesociety

Where Shelters Are

Animal sheltering wiki: http://animalshelters.pbwiki.com

What Shelters Are DoingUsing social networks to:• Recruit new volunteers• Engage existing volunteers• Solicit donations• Showcase adoptable animals• Recruit new supporters• Engage existing supporters• Build email list• Recruit event participants• Cover past events• Educate the public

Check out what Central Oklahoma Humane Society is doing: http://www.okhumane.org/

Success is no longer just about

how many friends you have.

Do those friends do what you want them to?• Sign advos and petitions• Donate• Recruit friends• Re-post your content• Subscribe to your email list

You won’t know unless you measure and evaluate.

How do you measure success?Unique URLs (source codes)

– Advo links in blogs and bulletins

– Advo links in banners and badges

– Donation links

Click through & conversion rates

Statistics

– # of visitors and page views to quantify exposure

– Time spent on site or page to measure engagement

– Top pages and keywords to define interests

– Referring sites to find out where people are

RSS feeds (buzz)

Friend request / commenting trends in relation to other activities

…it’s not just about the money.

We started with traditional metrics

Got the buy-in

Now tracking social media metrics

Don’t just tell them about it: get them involved!

Aggressive: CEO on Facebook,

Executive VP on Twitter

Passive: Communications SVP Twitter via iPhone RSS Feed

Speaking of Buy-in…

ResourcesWe started out with 1 person.

Now:

New branch of Online Communications

Department called “Emerging Media”

• Director of Emerging Media (project manager)

• Emerging Media Manager (online volunteer program)

• Emerging Media Specialist (brand monitoring)

• Social Media Specialist (Facebook, MySpace)

• Internet Marketing Specialist (ads, SEO, analytics)

• 4 virtual interns

• street team

• several furry office mascots

Show results:

Twitter link on Press Releases = 300 new followers in one day

Sharing functionality on web stories = addthis now a top referrer

# new emails, donations via unique URLs (source codes)

Setting goals on # friends, followers (they get really excited!)

Leads to:

Social media links on homepage and emails

Increased resources and interest

Internet Communications Code of Conduct

Guest Tweeters in PR, Campaigns, Emergency Services

Are you monitoring your org?

It takes time to filter through them all but is worth it.

Many people refer to us as “the humane society”

Many tweets are about local humane societies but also makes for good retweets, referrals, and relationship building

We monitor all mentions of “HSUS” and “humane society”

At the very least..You should have Google Alerts and Tweetbeep notifications or an RSS feed from Twitter Search for your brand name.

Why the focus on Twitter?Twitter is the most real-time account you have of what people are saying about you.

What if I’m a smaller business / organization?

These same principles can apply

People talk (a lot) on a local level.

Follow interesting hashtags and memes!

Start your own!

“Umbrella approach”

Facebook Fan Pagefor businesses, organizations, public figures

official HSUS presence – only one

Facebook Groups organized by interest

each state / campaign can have one

Facebook Causesfor specific movements

each state / campaign can have many

Facebook Profilea real person

each person has one – but only one

HSUS Facebook Structure

Facebook Causes

Petitions

Birthday Wish

Employees can be your best brand advocates.

28

• Have a social media policy so they know what they can and can’t do. Focus on the CAN.

• Bring web-savvy employees

into the process

• Incorporate social media into

everyone’s job

• Help them understand privacy

settings and learn the tools

• Address anonymity and personal

profiles

The time to have a social media policy is NOW.

Facebook PrivacyDual accounts are a violation of Facebook’s Terms of Service

Use Friend Lists to organize

Categorize friends based on what you do (or don’t) want them to see

Set up friend lists > set privacy settings > set search settings

Communications GuidelinesDevelop guidelines for participating in online conversations.

Answer questions like:

• Can I start my own Facebook or Twitter page?

• Can I post a comment on a news story covering one of my issues?

• What do I do when I see the HSUS being unfairly criticized online?

• Do I need to let someone know if I comment somewhere?

NEVER post something you wouldn’t want on the front page of the New York Times!

(Or something you wouldn’t want your mother or boss to see!)

My advice to employees

How To Get Started#1 - Decide if you’re ready.

You are ready if:• You have the time and resources to invest in getting started.• You’ve gotten over the fear of losing control of your message.• You are okay with opening the door to criticism.• You know how to measure your success.• You can get around approval processes• Your organization is ready to integrate social media into other activities • You’ve got buy in from the top – down.

#2 – Google yourself. See where other s have already established a presence for you:• MySpace profiles and groups• Facebook Fan Pages, Groups, Causes, and other Apps• Blogs, Youtube, Flickr

#3 – Assign resources.• Get a volunteer, intern or existing staffer• Young, internet savvy, on social networks ALREADY! SO

important

#4 - Pick one venue and build it up• Take what you learn and expand to other networks• Repurpose your Flickr, YouTube content on MySpace, Facebook

#5 – Track your successes (and failures!)• Referring stats for visitors from your website• Source codes for conversions from your CMS• Friend and commenting trends from the networks

You don’t need a fancy stats or CMS program. Google Analytics is free!

Always remember:

You don’t have to be big to be successful.

Social media can be OVERWHELMING.

.

“If you’re working for the weekends, your shit is BROKE.

Do what you LOVE!” -@garyvee #sxsw

Thank you!Carie Lewis

Director of Emerging Media

The Humane Society of the United States

Email: clewis@humanesociety.org

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/carielewis

Twitter: @cariegrls

HSUS Networks: humanesociety.org/connect

Recommended