Managing an organization’s web presence no longer focuses only on the main web site, which many constituents may never visit. An online presence consists of:
- main web site
- organizational blogs
- Facebook cause / page
- twitter posts
- email marketing messages
- AND what constituents are saying about organization in their own blogs, Facebook pages, twitter posts etc.
When I seek to learn more about a nonprofit that I’m not already familiar with, I use the main web site only as a starting point. It’s usually much easier to get a feel for a nonprofit’s culture and philosophies by reading its blogs (if it has them!) and social networking sites.
But as many of my colleagues have noted, it’s vitally important to listen to what others are saying about your organization. This will tell you much more than if you only rely on your web analytics to learn which pages on your web site are attracting the most traffic. Even if you aren’t able to generate regular content on Facebook, Twitter etc., participating in conversations will show you how effective your outreach is and whether you need to tweak your marketing efforts.
Social networking may not be for everyone (yet), but keeping abreast of what others are saying should be part of every nonprofit’s strategy. If you are able to maintain a presence on Facebook and Twitter, make sure the messaging is appropriate for each forum. Simply replicating the same content everywhere isn’t the right approach.
Addendum 10/12/09 on the growing importance of social networking – Why email no longer rules in online communications. Blue State Digital disagrees. I concur – it’s always best to use a combination of approaches and email clearly still deserves a prominent place at the table.
Addendum 10/29/09 – Many new thoughts on while email may be changing, email is not dead
