
Tweet 5 Common Mistakes Nonprofits Make with Facebook by: Adam Greenberg, Developer & Tech Writer Building and managing a strong social media marketing plan is important for every organization, including nonprofits. In many cases mistakes are made when building and expanding an effective Facebook presence. Here are five of the most common mistakes nonprofits should avoid when using Facebook as part of their landscape. Adding keywords and descriptions to your Facebook page name. Adding keywords to your Facebook title may seem like a great idea, but many don’t know, Facebook and search engines can penalize you for trying to trick the system. Your Facebook Page is meant to give an authentic representation of the organization. Use your organization name for your title, and take advantage of the ‘About’ section to give a comprehensive explanation of what you do. Failing to promote your Facebook page. Promoting your Facebook Page is crucial to your social media marketing strategy, but nonprofits rarely remember to cross-promote their pages across their other social media accounts. Adding like buttons, Facebook icons, embedded posts as well as activity feeds via Facebook plugins is a great way for nonprofits to promote themselves via their website. Other online marketing avenues like email blasts and offline marketing materials can also help nonprofits cross-market their Facebook Pages. Pushing out too much content without contributing to the conversation. Like real life conversation, social media is about relationships. So it stands to reason that having a conversation with your followers is a must. In addition to posting updates about your mission, some of your posts should include things like replying to visitor comments, asking questions and soliciting feedback, sharing other people’s posts, commenting on other industry posts as well as gathering opinions and taking polls. Not keeping a close eye on Facebook Insights. Facebook Insights is an analytic tool that gives you an overview of how engaged your followers are. Using analytics is a great way to adjust your strategy and make sure you’re providing useful content for your audience. This will help to grow your following, and provide great content. Not taking advantage of the main banner image space. The first thing people see when they come to your page is your full-width banner image. Customizing the image to visually describe your mission and the benefits you provide, is a great way to quickly convey an important message. In addition, you may want to consider placing a tagline that prominently sends a message to anyone who visits your Facebook Page. These are just a few pitfalls to avoid when you sit down to plan your social media strategy. Trial and error is the best way to determine what works best for you, so try different strategies and keep the ones that are the most successful for you.

5 Common Mistakes Nonprofits Make with Facebook

by: Adam Greenberg, Developer & Tech Writer

Building and managing a strong social media marketing plan is important for every organization, including nonprofits. In many cases mistakes are made when building and expanding an effective Facebook presence. Here are five of the most common mistakes nonprofits should avoid when using Facebook as part of their landscape.

Adding keywords and descriptions to your Facebook page name.
Adding keywords to your Facebook title may seem like a great idea, but many don’t know, Facebook and search engines can penalize you for trying to trick the system. Your Facebook Page is meant to give an authentic representation of the organization. Use your organization name for your title, and take advantage of the ‘About’ section to give a comprehensive explanation of what you do.

Failing to promote your Facebook page.

Promoting your Facebook Page is crucial to your social media marketing strategy, but nonprofits rarely remember to cross-promote their pages across their other social media accounts. Adding like buttons, Facebook icons, embedded posts as well as activity feeds via Facebook plugins is a great way for nonprofits to promote themselves via their website. Other online marketing avenues like email blasts and offline marketing materials can also help nonprofits cross-market their Facebook Pages.

Pushing out too much content without contributing to the conversation.
Like real life conversation, social media is about relationships. So it stands to reason that having a conversation with your followers is a must. In addition to posting updates about your mission, some of your posts should include things like replying to visitor comments, asking questions and soliciting feedback, sharing other people’s posts, commenting on other industry posts as well as gathering opinions and taking polls.

Not keeping a close eye on Facebook Insights.
Facebook Insights is an analytic tool that gives you an overview of how engaged your followers are. Using analytics is a great way to adjust your strategy and make sure you’re providing useful content for your audience. This will help to grow your following, and provide great content.

Not taking advantage of the main banner image space.
The first thing people see when they come to your page is your full-width banner image. Customizing the image to visually describe your mission and the benefits you provide, is a great way to quickly convey an important message. In addition, you may want to consider placing a tagline that prominently sends a message to anyone who visits your Facebook Page.

These are just a few pitfalls to avoid when you sit down to plan your social media strategy. Trial and error is the best way to determine what works best for you, so try different strategies and keep the ones that are the most successful for you.