Social Media For Good; The 3 Step Strategy For Your Cause.

“I hear you want to get your message out? Well then go tell people about it! Go on. Have you checked in to this session yet? GO.”

This is how it started when asked by a social good group how to use the social medias to get their message out. It progressed. Mentoring young people who use social media every day is a daunting task. There are many many good articles to read… but… if you only read them, what’s the point? You need action.

Social media for good, is really, social media in action.

It is also a perception shift. To get good organic growth from your status posts, images and videos, you need a strategy. Haphazard and/or a scattered approach will not provide a clear path home to Rome and that’s where all good paths should lead. Get it? All paths should lead home to Rome. Or wherever home is.

Where is home for you? Does all your social media action point to that? Does 80% of it? 60%? Ummm… at least 10%?

Social media is a wonderful platform to share information. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube are all favourite platforms to be using for their own various reasons, but please consider, for any not for profit, charity or cause to get their message heard, they must remember:

The cause (etc) is not the story.
People love stories.
Social media is about people.
People like to be asked to get involved. Invite them.
Not everyone will give a damn, but your family will always support you.
If you display passion for a topic, others will embrace it because they will embrace you.
If you give people a purpose, they will generally rise to the occasion.
If you demonstrate that you are semi organised and have a semblance of a plan of attack, people will follow you as their leader.

There are a raft of good blogs on the subject over at The Huffington Post; check there here (you will spend hours).

This is a good insight: “…campaigns have gone viral with unexpected immediacy, like the Egypt uprising, hashtagged #Jan25. According the Alyouka, the 21-year-old Egyptian who was the first person to Tweet out the #Jan25 hashtag, Twitter was instrumental in informing the world of events as they were happening:

“We use it to campaign and spread the word about protests/stands-hashtags are invaluable in that respect, and to share news quickly and efficiently, with our own 140-char commentary on them, and subsequently have conversations with random people/complete strangers. But most importantly, it allows us to share on the ground info like police brutality, things to watch out for, activists getting arrested, etc. A certain class of activists are armed with smartphones, which allow them to live-tweet the protests.” Read more: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ritusharma/social-media-is-an-equali_b_5490792.html

This indicates a “following”. Once the following is there, the people will spread the word for you.

Also remember, we are in the days of “organic SEO” where words, consistency and what you say, count, therefore consider this statement…

“Actively manage your online presence: We are no longer in the days of “today’s newspaper headline: tomorrow’s trashcan.” Content you publish today will attach to your personal online brand for a very long time.” Read more: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/stephanie-lynch-habib/the-fading-lines-between-_b_5447809.html

This indicates the need to keep in mind the philosophy to consolidate your online efforts.

Use similar social media platforms to share messages as other members of your group, keep your hashtags simple, use your hashtags, check-in when you go to meetings and then know what to say about those meetings (have a little chat first and be consistent).

Are you ready now? Got your thinking straight? OK.

Follow these three simple rules to create your strategy (oops story) and then tell the world. As in your world. Start with your friends, family, co-workers. Make some phone calls to local media and just see what happens. You just never know if you ask.

Your 3 Step Strategy:

Tell a story. Make it challenging (OMG) or creative (WOW) but make it good enough to pull in those human emotions.
Keep it visual. Use one sense or two – images or videos.
Keep it about the people. It’s social media where people hang.

“Did you hear the one about?”

This information was part of a talk I gave to the Oaktree Foundation, South Australian Leadership Crew, pictured below with me. Fabulous group of young dedicated individuals. A privilege to help them. – Charlie

And that’s all folks. Oh, except if you wish to go and check out Oaktree Foundation? Their website is here: http://www.oaktree.org/ Young people have the unique ability to build and lead this movement. And Oaktree is Australia’s largest youth-run organisation with over 150,000 members. My commentary to them on the day, was to accept the (some where it counts) wisdom of the older generation, a little like the indigenous philosophy. Learn and go forth. I wish them well.