Using Online Social Networks to Build Buzz, Community & Support for Your Cause

nten ntc 2007NTEN 2007 Nonprofit Technology Conference | Washington, DC

Friday, April 6, 2007

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Using Online Social Networks to Build Buzz, Community and Support for Your Cause

Using Online Social Networks to Build

Buzz, Community & Supportfor Your Cause



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About Your Panel of Speakers

Scott Goodstein, Catalyst [email protected]



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Heather Holdridge, [email protected]



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Jonathon D. Colman, The Nature [email protected]



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About You: Good News!



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About You: The Not-So-Good-News

flickr: rickoflickr: makeitup flickr: varf



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About You...


...and

You

...and

You

...and

You



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“Web 1.0”: A Static Framework

Site visitor

Static web site

Site owner

”Contact us” forms,e-mail feedback,e-newsletters, etc.

creates web site

visits web site

Site visitorsSite visitors



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“Web 2.0”: It’s All About...

You



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blog(s)

photos

videos

songs

groups

events

comments

friendsYou

“Web 2.0”: The Active Framework



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blog(s)

photos

videos

songs

groups

events

comments

friendsYou

“Web 2.0”: Cross-linked, Content-rich, Easy



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blog(s)

photos

videos

songs

groups

events

comments

friendsUser

blog(s)

photos

videos

songs

groups

events

comments

User

blog(s)

photos

videos

songs

groups

events

comments

friendsUser

blog(s)

groups

events

comments

friendsUser

events

comments

friends

blog(s)

photos

videos

songs

groups

blog(s)

photos

videos

songs

groups

events

comments

friendsYou

“Web 2.0”: The Social Network



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Whoa... Where Am I in All of This?!



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Social Networks Are Still About You:

flickr: makeitup

...and

You



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flickr: rickoflickr: makeitup

...and

You

...and

You



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...and

You

...and

You

...and

You



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But Are Social Networks Just About Ego?



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The Top Five Social Networks Today [ALEXA]



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Building Buzz, Quick ‘n’ Dirty



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Me, Before Non-Profit Life



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Me, First Non-Profit Job



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Your Task: Get Eyeballs!

flickr: ricko flickr: ricko



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Your Task: Get People Talking!

flickr: bucciboo

flickr: bucciboo flickr: bucciboo



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flickr: ricko



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• Social news/media sites can help you get the word out fast

• They’re among the most popular sites on the web

• They have diverse audiences

• They’re free for you to use

• Great at driving traffic (eyeballs) as well as commentary (talking)

• Your partners/competitors are already using them

• Hold both short-term and long-term benefits

No Time? No Money? No Problem!



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Introducing: Digg

Truly breaking news, video, podcasts, and amazing pictures from all over

the world - users find, post, and rate the best of the web’s newest content

• 84th most-visited site on the Web [ALEXA]

• Just over 1 million users [DUGG]

• Over 12 million unique visitors/month [COMPETE]

• Largest demographic: 18-24 years [QUANTCAST]

• Second largest: 45-54 years [QUANTCAST]

• Referred 25,533 visitors to nature.org for FY07 YTD



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Anatomy of a Digg: Breaking News



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Anatomy of a Digg: Posting Your News



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Anatomy of a Digg: Headline & Content



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Anatomy of a Digg: Choose Your Category



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Anatomy of a Digg: Verify & Submit



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Real-Life Results from this Digg post

Eyeballs: • 836 total “diggs”, 56 comments

• 2,127 visitors to nature.org from Digg in one hour

• 3,747 visitors over four days

• 6,234 views of landing page in one day

• 19,013 views over four days



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Real-Life Results from this Digg post, cont.

People Talking: • “Three cheers for The Nature Conservancy!”

• “Good to know that my monthly donation helped them accomplish this.”

• “This is one of the most breathtaking places I have ever seen. The photos

are amazing, and the craziest thing is that 20 minutes ago I never knew it existed.

Amazing job by the conservancy.”



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Best Practices for Using Digg

• Be a real person, not an organization

• Be open/transparent about your role within your org

• Be a good community member: don’t spam

• Don’t “game the system” or pay for diggs

• Be patient: build up credibility over time

• Make tit-for-tat/quid pro quo friends, digg their stories (5 mins. daily)

• Digg stories in your topical area regularly (5 mins. daily)

• Test, test, test to find out what works for you and your org



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Introducing: StumbleUpon

Surf the best-reviewed sites on the web while blogging about your

favorite content and connecting with others who have similar interests

• Downlodable toolbar/extension for IE, Firefox browsers

• 363rd most-visited site on the Web [ALEXA]

• Just over 2 million registered users [STUMBLEUPON]

• Nearly 400,000 unique visitors/month [COMPETE]

• Largest demographic: 45-54 years [QUANTCAST]

• Referred 29,784 visitors to nature.org for FY07 YTD



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Anatomy of a Stumble: Your Fun Feature



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Anatomy of a Stumble: Install the Toolbar

See a recommended site

Rate a page positively

Rate a page negatively

Send a page to your contacts

See everyone’s reviews for a page



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Anatomy of a Stumble: “Photoblog” a Page



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Anatomy of a Stumble: “Photoblog” a Page



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Anatomy of a Stumble: Send to Contacts



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Real-Life Results from this SU Post

Eyeballs: • At least 20 “thumbs-up”s, no “thumbs-down”s

• 894 visitors to nature.org from StumbleUpon within three days

• 1,264 visitors over ten days

• Over 2,000 views of landing page within three days



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Best Practices for Using StumbleUpon

• Be a real person, not an organization

• Be open/transparent about your role within your org

• Be a good community member: don’t spam

• Don’t “game the system”

• Be patient: build up credibility over time

• Review other stumblers who review pages in your sector

• Send stories out to your contacts

• Add/review new pages daily (5 mins. or less)



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Short-Term Benefits of Social News/Media

• “Popular” stories gain a lot of attention within the network, which sends traffic to your site

• “Popular” stories are often mirrored on other sites, which drive more traffic to your page

• Many bloggers review social news sites to get ideas; if your story is “popular”, then you increase your chances for blog coverage

• Your landing page gains faster ranking in search engines, which results in more traffic

• Claim your social news network presences in Technorati so that your posts show up there as well and attract even more blogger attention



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Long-term Benefits of Social News/Media

• You attract new audiences to your site, yielding new constituents, because you’re building relationships through good content

• Your profile gains authority within each network, making it easier for you to connect with more (and better) community members

• A credible profile with powerful contacts can more easily place “popular” stories in the network over time

• More high-profile links pointing back to your pages means higher ranking in search engines for your landing page and site

• Blog coverage of your org can, over time, increase virally as more blogs point links to you



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Many Thanks!

Heather Holdridge, [email protected]

Scott Goodstein, Catalyst [email protected]

Jonathon D. Colman, The Nature [email protected]

Economy & Finance

Using Online Social Networks to Build Buzz, Community & Support for Your Cause