Big brothers big sisters of MA Bay is looking for advice on social networking software and social media strategy, based on my post what would you recommend?
I met Tim Smith, a business executive at Big Brothers Big Sisters (BBBS) here in Massachusetts at a Social Media Breakfast here in Boston. He told me about his hopes and plans for using social media at Big Brothers Big Sisters. He wants to create a support and learning community online, and at the same time broaden the range of conversation points within social media, increase mentoring activity levels and measure that activity using social media. He wanted help in developing a social media strategy for his organization. While Tim already has a lot of good ideas, he is curious if the community can help him to refine his ideas about strategy and technology tools.
I wrote a post describing the details of what Tim wants to do for BBBS; Tim would appreciate your review and advice. Tim is looking for advice on social networking software and social media strategy, based on my post what would you recommend?
http://pr.typepad.com/pr_communications/2009/02/big-brothers-big-sisters-of-mass-bay-wants-your-social-media-advice.html
Answers (7)
Okay here are the things that I have done for mine.
1) Create a facebook page. (website is http://www.facebook.com) When you create the page, also create a group and invite your friends to join it. Also, you can create events and also a fan page. All free
2) Get on Twitter, (website is http://twitter.com) if you are already on twitter, this is a great place to meet and network with others who have the same ideas as you. Follow me, @giazzpet Great for blogging too
3) Create a blog, tag other bloggers, and also create something on Live Journal. (website is http://www.livejournal.com)
4) Create any events for Free on Craigslist (fyi, if the event has a ticket amount, they will delete the event), Boston.com, Phoenix.com, BostonHerald.com, workitmom.com, cafemom.com, and if in New England, http://www.whofish.org
Good luck, and feel free to add me in your contacts list if you like.
Gia V also suggests these experts on this topic:
Hi John,
In addition to creating a Facebook page and a Twitter account, I would recommend creating a type of virtual BBBS badge that could be given to participants as a reward. Recipients would be able to post this badge (cool, fun graphic) on their personal social media profile pages and website and it would add to the viral activities for BBBS. In terms of sharing the experience of day to day activities, I recommend creating a community blog where people can write and chronicle their favorite activities. These articles could have suggestions for favorite things to do and links as well to encourage others in the community. BBBS could also host an online event such as a Twestivals to raise awareness of BBBS. Another idea is to create interesting videos of people's personal experiences and uploading those to a custom BBBS YouTube channel. These videos could be fun and entertaining and at the same time communicate the message of BBBS. Hope this helps. Give me a call if you would like to discuss in more detail. Regards, Wendy
Josh C
SVP, Director of Business Development | Mad*Pow - Experience Design Agency
John: Ran this by my team since they are the SMM experts and here are their thoughts:
Social Media could work really well for this program. It would be great to create a digital space where the big brother/sister and little brother/sister could interact, leaving each other messages, posting links, pictures, videos, making appointments, etc. It would be interesting to use a twitter model for this, where the messages they leave for each other would be accessible through he online interface, but also could send emails/text messages, depending on each individual’s set communication preferences.
The online interface could be used for communicating, planning, and almost a journal/archive of the interaction that the child has with their mentor, something that they can look to for support, inspiration and proof of how much they’ve done, how much they’ve experienced, and how much they’ve grown.
It can also create a level of convenience for all parties using technology for communication for those who have access to cell phones, and the internet.
This may be a good resource for you: http://blog.shapingyouth.org/?p=1021
Hope this helps,
Josh
Thanks for your help with this worthy organization. There is nothing more rewarding than helping a young person grow up to be a great human being. Sharing your lessons and your gift of time is a huge reward. The more people know, the more they will get on board. A social media outreach is a fabulous start. Good for you.
Chiming in a bit late, but my first thought is about addressing who will be managing/driving/contributing to this social media initiative.
It takes an huge commitment on the part of the entire organization to successfully launch & sustain a social media program.
Here is an excellent article that speaks to the level of involvement that is needed:
http://www.ere.net/2009/02/11/rehabcares-social-media-success/
Second, the subject of budget should be thoroughly discussed. Social media is, unfortunately, not entirely free and "viral" just does not happen. There needs to be both internal and external communication traffic drivers.
Finally, plan on how social media will fit into your overall marketing communication strategy.
Links:
Hi, John. I know that HiveLive has been strongly recommended to Tim, via Twitter, which is great. I work with them as a community / social networking consultant, and business development director. The company provides a very robust, flexible, configurable platform to support business-driven and social-driven online community, to serve as a hub for social media initiatives. HiveLive works with a variety of non-profits and associations, as well as Fortune 500 companies. The robust permissions will allow for customized and relevant community content views according to both user types (employee vs. big vs. little, vs. parent, vs. partners, etc.) and also group membership or individual status. (Each social activity/content area has permissions to dictate who sees or does what with the material.) Also, HiveLive has the most advanced/robust "sub community" model, allowing for any number of sub-communities under the umbrella of the larger BBBS community. I find it cool, also, that each big/little pair could have its own private/unique space in the community to discuss back and forth, share photos, track events of interest, etc. And, the view to that pair activity could be tracked by BBBS to find out what programs are popular and successful, what insights and suggestions surface, and general sentiment and activity throughout the BBBS community.
There is much more to say. i didn't pipe in on Twitter b/c it is not my style to promote business there. I do think, however, that a conversation with HiveLive would be game-changing and very educational for Tim as he tackles the complex but exciting landscape of "social media". We'd be thrilled to partner with BBBS. I am active in programming music events with the NYC chapter, and I am a big fan of the work they do! Best, Ellen
Links:
Katherine W
Director of Online Marketing & Development at Environmental Working Group
Best Answers in: Internet Marketing (1), Search Marketing (1), Non-profit Management (1)
Wow. What a range of responses. Reading through your question and responses though I have a few thoughts:
1. As a nonprofit, (and I don't care how big) you really don't have capacity to build, maintain, and manage a successful social network when there are SO many social networks out there that can work for your purposes and already have more audience than you could EVER create ...unless of course you have a hidden budget for development and online marketing that I'm not aware of.
In my last job I was in charge of growing a national website/volunteer management system...so I'm speaking from experience here about capacity issues...
For the mentoring, you should talk to Disney - they have GREAT systems set up to make sure kids are safe online, or talk to Platform Shoes: http://www.platformshoes.org/. At the very least, they will walk you through all the issues around making a safe online space for young people to interact with adult mentors.
Secondly, for the "external" social media piece:
1. You should do some keyword research on your issue area...you should know what words people are using online to talk about your issues. There is a free tool at SEOBook.com that you can use.
2. Put those keywords into a buzz monitoring tool to discover *where* people are talking about your issues. I've listed a few free social media tools on my blog (link below).
3. Create a serious presence on the social networks where there are a HUGE number of users. If Facebook was a country, it would be the 6th most populated...You should also focus on MySpace, YouTube, Flickr, and Q & A sites (Yahoo Answers, etc). You can find website that speak to your demographic by using Quantcast.com's media planning tool. Go ahead and check it out...it's also free.
But setting up random social media presences without an overarching plan or an understanding of how people talk about your subject online is not ultimately going to be successful.
And since your audience is young, you ABSOLUTELY must develop a mobile marketing plan and provide mobile friendly content.
Hope that helps.
If you're dead set on building a brand new social media site that is going to miraculously be found by kids more than MySpace or Facebook, email me...I have a list of SEO friendly social media vendors I can recommend.
