2012 sept s_uclass3

[ Social Media at The Humane Society ]

Salisbury University Women in Business Week
Carie Lewis, Director of Emerging Media
@cariegrls

[ A Little About Me ]

• Graduated from SU in 2003
• Been at HSUS for 6 years
• Was hired to do PPC and jumped
on an opportunity
• My professional development
comes from attending and
speaking at over 100 events a
year
• Social media is not a 9-5 job
(work/life balance is a challenge)
• My field is dominated by women
in the nonprofit sector and men
in the corporate sector
• #1 challenge as a woman:
growth in an old-school org

[ Just a Fad? ]

“I just got a keychain and address labels in
the mail from you guys. Now that I see
you posting on Facebook and know you're
legit, I'll be sending a donation. Thanks
for the work you do.”

– Posted to our Facebook Page wall, January 2010

[ What We’ll Talk About ]

• HSUS’ social media architecture and
philosophy
• Social media goals and measurement
• The role of integration
• Our strategies and tactics for success

[ By The Numbers ]

• 1.4 million Facebook fans
• 150,000 Twitter followers
• 129% growth rate on Facebook from ’11-’12
• $500,000 raised on Facebook (lifetime at the end of 2011)
• Over 100,000 actions taken on Facebook so far in 2012
• All positions in social media have been paid for by
Facebook fundraising.

Integration and engagement are the keys to
our growth and success in social media.

[ How We’re Structured]

Carie Lewis
Director of Emerging Media

Ellen Pascale Sarah Butler Sarah Barnett Anne Hogan Lara Koch
Social Campaigner Online Advertising Social Communications Community Mobile Communications
Coordinator Manager Manager Manager

Online Volunteers
Emma Williams
Emerging Media Intern

[ How Social Media Works at HSUS ]

• The HSUS Twitter and Facebook pages are maintained by Comm
• Social media is a small part of everyone’s job, but we are the
gatekeeper
• Over 100 presences on Facebook in addition to our Fan Page
• Monthly Social Media Working Group for admins
• All Admins must sign an
admin contract
• No social media policy for
employees but hold quarterly
privacy trainings
• Read industry publications
and participate in networking
events to stay ahead

[ How We Use Them Differently ]

People talk about us here Where our constituents are

A customer service and For customer service and
relationship building tool relationship building but is
also our action oriented
community

[ How We Operate in Social Media ]

• Answer everyone who comes to us
with a legitimate question or concern
• Do not use tools to schedule or post
•Monitor every public mention of HSUS
• Facebook response time = under 2 hours,
Twitter = 30 minutes.
• Don’t delete comments unless they
violate our commenting policy
• Very selective about what we post
• Every post must provide fans some
kind of value or benefit.
• Never post more than once a day unless
there is breaking news.
• Social media is no longer an afterthought – its integrated

[ We are not afraid to fail or screw up! ]

We have, plenty of times.
Learn from your mistakes!

We have a crisis plan which
includes our guidelines on
deleting comments,
responding to angry fans,
etc – but to boil it down:

In a crisis we:
acknowledge,
rectify,
and move on.

[ Our Social Media “Philosophy” ]

By providing our fans what they want like:

• fun contests
• polls asking for their opinion
• listening to feedback on posts
• answering every question
• Show ways to make a difference
• other engagement opportunities

We believe they will feel enough of a
connection with the brand to do
what we ask such as:

• donating
• taking action
• filling out a form
• Answering a question
• RSVPing to an event

[ But Perhaps Most Importantly…]

We don’t measure success
by # of fans or followers.
“…that’s so myspace.” –C. Lewis

[ What Matters? ]

The Like or Follow is the beginning of the
relationship between you and a fan,
not the end.
Ask yourself:
• Do those people do what you want them to do? (tie to goals)
• How can you get them to do it? (think like a user)
• How are you making it a valuable community for both you and
your fans? (be selective and creative)
• How will you get them to come back? (engage)
You must be relevant, interesting, concise, responsive, and provide value to your fans.

[ Goals ]

Our goals in using social media are: advocacy, fundraising, providing
customer service, and increasing brand sentiment online by
promoting the good work of the organization.

Customer service
& engagement Interest & trust

More likely to
share our content Positive connection
to the brand

Better chance of
becoming a member

Everything we do online is tied to advocacy and fundraising – social media is no exception.

[ What We Measure ]

• # of actions taken
• # of donors
• Amount of donations*
• # of new names to file
• Customer service wins
• Sentiment %
• Growth rate
• Most popular content
• # mentions
*both from Facebook Causes and sourced from our website
• Notable mentions

[ Measuring and Showcasing the Intangibles ]

Our Weekly Social Media Mentions
Report showcases notable mentions
about our brand in social media.

Includes mentions from:
• Supporters/members/fans
• Other organizations
• Companies
• Celebrities

Sent to executives to showcase
intangible benefits from social media
as well as give them an insight of what’s
buzzing online that week related to our brand.

[ 15 Tactics to Convert Fans to Constituents ]

#1: Ask explicitly with a solid call to
action.

How to do it: – Add “Please RT” or
“please share” or “take action
now” to your posts. Note: use
sparingly or it will not mean as
much.

Why it works: People tend to do
things if you just ask.


#2: Make every piece of content you
already have shareable and ask people
to share on every thank you page.

How to do it: – Use a free tool like AddThis
to make your emails, webpages, and
advo/donation forms shareable on
Facebook and Twitter

Why it works: Your existing constituency is
more likely to share your content and
recruit like-minded friends, and right
after they’ve taken action is the peak
time for their engagement with you.


#3: Replicate all of your asks inside
Facebook.

How to do it: Use Facebook Causes
fundraising projects or your CMS’
API technology to bring forms onto a
custom Facebook tab

Why it works: People on Facebook
want to stay on Facebook, and will
convert at higher rates if you keep
them there.


#4: Answer and thank everyone.

How to do it: Answer everyone that asks a
question in a comment string or writes on
your wall. On Twitter, set up keyword
monitoring for anyone that shares their
donation.

Why it works: When someone gets a
response, it builds trust and loyalty.
Donors want to feel that you appreciate
them and that they’re not just another
donor. They will be more likely to donate
again or recruit others (modern-day
donor cultivation!)


#5: Get serious about social
monitoring.

How to do it: Use Tweetdeck and
Google Alerts (free) or purchase a
social CRM like SmallAct, Spredfast

Why it works: When someone is
talking about you, you can respond
and give them the info they need,
like help with their donation or
clear up misinformation.


#6: Make real world events social by
replicating events on Facebook.

How to do it: Create a Facebook event for
all of your events, even online (like
webinars). Add Twitter handle to your
registration fields, and create a Twitter
hashtag. Add RSVP on Facebook on the
registration thank you page.

Why it works: People on Facebook like to
stay on Facebook, and show the world
all the fun things they’re doing. They
might even suggest to friends. This gets
people online, offline.


#7: Don’t dismiss custom tabs yet.

How to do it: Create custom tabs to
show people how they can become
a member / donate / take action

Why it works: Timeline may have
gotten rid of landing tabs, but you
can still push people to tabs.
Pushing people to our member tab
to get our magazine was the most
successful donation method in
2011.


#8: Make it about THEM.

How to do it: Instead of saying
“sign our disaster
preparedness pledge” say
“you wouldn’t leave your pet
behind in a disaster, would
you? Then sign the pledge!”

Why it Works: People ask
“what’s in it for me?” Make
it about them and they’ll feel
more connected to you.


#9: Use Facebook ads (yes, I
said it.)

How to do it: Even $100 will
produce results via
Facebook’s robust ad
targeting system.

Why it works: You can target ads to your fans via
a promoted post, linking to a certain post. Use
this for donation and action campaigns. This is
a great way to ensure fans see your posts, and
convert them.


#10: Give them multiple ways to
donate - whatever is comfortable
for them.

How to do it: Give options to donate
on Facebook, on your website, via
mobile, via a custom tab, etc.

Why it works: Some people still aren’t
comfortable with donating on
Facebook, and some don’t want to
leave. Give them all possible options.


#11: Make it a safe plans for fans.

How to do it: Have a commenting
policy on your page and enforce it.

Why it works: Your fans don’t
necessarily know everything about
you, so when they come to your
page you don’t want a bunch of
spam, misinformation, etc. on your
page. It could deter them. Be there!
(And don’t disable posting or
commenting by fans!)


#12: Post a variety of types of
content.

How to do it: Ask for opinions, post
actions, post funny photos or
videos.
Why it works: People like variety.
Switch it up. Don’t beat people
over the head with asks, but don’t
just post fluff all the time. That
way when you do ask for
something, they’ll know you mean
it / need it.


#13: Make your content as
relevant as possible to your
fans.

How to do it: Localize your posts
so that they are
geographically relevant.

Why it works: When something is
more relevant to you, you’re
more likely to pay attention and
do something about it.


#14: Close the loop.

How to do it: When you ask fans to
do something, let them know what
happens as a result.

Why it works: People want to see
how their time and money is
making a difference. Show
them by following up and
closing the loop, and they’ll be
more inclined to do it again
when you ask.


#15: Make sure you’re tracking.

How to do it: Use Google Analytics or
your CMS’ trackable link system to
uniquely source all different
promotion types.

Why it works: How will you know if
you’re converting fans to
constituents if you’re not tracking it?
Test different ad text, images, post
types, etc. to see what resonates
best with your audience.

[ That All Being Said… ]

You still need a sizable base to take advantage of the
virality of social networks.

[ Integration Will Help People Find You ]

• Social media works in conjunction with
all of our online channels: email,
website, online advertising, and mobile.
• Every piece of content we put out is
shareable on Facebook, Twitter, and via
email.
• Our homepage has a live feed of
Facebook and Twitter
• Every page on our website has a link to our social
media presences
• We have a daily 9 minute Communications meeting
about what each channel is putting out that day.
• We maintain an editorial calendar for social media
• Website content links to related Facebook pages,
events, etc.

[ All of This is Working! ]

• All positions in Emerging Media have been paid for by social
media fundraising.
• We are the third most successful nonprofit on Facebook
Causes in terms of fundraising.
• We reached our goal of $500,000 raised on Facebook at the
end of 2011.
• Our fundraising strategy is to be where people are, and
provide them opportunity to give how and where they want
to give.

Integration and engagement are the keys to
our growth and success in social media.

[ What’s Next? ]

We want to become a data driven organization.
Data is one of our biggest weaknesses!

• We want to use data to make decisions on how to work
smarter.
• We do a great job of providing individual customer service,
but how can we use data to take that a step further?
• We want to better use Facebook data to give us better
insight on what our fans want (LIKE.)
• We want to use data to give our fans a better experience
with our brand so that we can convert even more of them
to constituents.

[ Final Thought ]

“Social media is
free….
free like a
puppy.”

#SMWES // @cariegrls

[ What Questions Do You Have? ]

[ Thank you! ]

clewis@humanesociety.org
@cariegrls
linkedin.com/in/carielewis

2012 sept s_uclass3

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