NEISocial Media Basics

Esther D. KustanowitzJanuary 21, 2010

Today’s Goals(based on survey results)

• Take away– Introduce you to some new social media tools and outlets– Learn a few new skills and resources to help you guide your

social media plans at your organization• Learn to visualize social media culture• Use personal Facebook experience to learn how to use

FB to promote your programs or organizations• Learn about the culture and format of Twitter

– Create your own account– Understand its role in promoting Jewish nonprofits/endeavors

• Learn about blogs– how to use the Jewish blogosphere to help your organization

EstherK, Why Are You Here?

• Nearly a decade of full-time Jewish non-profit experience

• Learned blogging, Facebook and Twitter on my own

• Every step over the last five years has built my readership internationally

• Social media does PR for me while I sleep• Social media transformed my career,

work, life Los Angeles

Visualizing Social Media Culture

• The power of networks and personal recommendations more important

• Amazon – first books, then social• כל ישראל ערבים זה לזה• אל תפרוש מן הציבור• Crowdsourcing challenges and offering

responses:– Wish fulfillment machine (example: Best Buy

ad – twelpforce)

Information and Relationship Management

• It’s not about: – “becoming more tech-savvy” – “being a tech geek”

• It’s about learning the tools that help you:– manage, organize and access information– manage, increase and deepen relationships– reach people where more of them,

increasingly, are (Social Media Revolution clip)

Social Media and Fundraising/Nonprofit Grassroots Mobilizing

• Beth Kanter dedicated her birthday to help send Cambodian students to school: goal was $530, she raised $4,540 (more at http://beth.typepad.com)

• Deb Askenase’s CommunityOrganizer 2.0 blog• More Jewish orgs on Twitter: 16thstj, sixthandi,

BI_NEXT, plus, JTA’s Top Twitterers • Facebook Causes (not always effective –

depends on cause and timing) – your experience?

Social Media Aid to Haiti

• Social media allows aid offers to spread widely and quickly, but….

• …misinformation also spreads quickly

Ad Age (01-17-10) - http://adage.com/article?article_id=141553

Social Media Aid to HaitiInternational Red Cross • Texting $10 at a time, automatically added to phone bills, raised over $10M

(as of 1/15/10)

American Airlines/American Eagle• Offered extra bonus miles for consumers making donations to Haiti, sent

planes Wed, Thurs, and Fri - 30,000 pounds of water/food/supplies per day• Many Twitter users wrongly believed airline was flying doctors and nurses to

Haiti free. American Eagle had to tell 23,000 followers = no free flights

UPS • Announced $1 million in cash and in-kind donations to relief organizations. • On Twitter, incorrectly spread that UPS offered free shipping to Haiti for any

box with a postage fee of $50 or less.

But the Good News Is…

• As social media permits wrong information to spread quickly, corrections also spread quickly, making “damage control” much faster and easier

• Social media savvy-folks like to be “in the know” – like a VIP info list

• Creating trusted relationships with your clients establishes you as an authority/inside source

• Trust brings referrals – forwarded emails, shared posts, retweets etc.

Is Your Organization Ready?Intake Appointment

• Psychologists use intake appointments to:– Learn about who you are, how you think– Determine goals for your counseling program– Identify concerns or challenges– Establish open channel of communication

• Intake appointment for your organization, using the same criteria and my “Social Media Planning” worksheet

What’s Social About Social Media, Even Professionally

What does “social” mean to you? Your answers:

• Friends• Trust• Events• Relationships• Connections• Be “in the know”

Effective Social Media Interactions Contain…

• Commitment to relationship-building• Collaborative spirit• Involvement in public infostream• Initiating & participating in conversations• Authentic voice• Adding value to public discourse, online &

off (self-promotion is secondary)

Pitching Your Audience

• Every tweet, FB invite or blog post is an opportunity – PR/add value

• “You’re representing the Jewish people”• Knowing the audience, pitching

appropriately • Adding value

– What you value, but through a lens of…– What your intended audience values– “Please give” “Please receive”

Social Media Immersion Process

• Learning (Recon)• Understanding (Analysis)• Taking Action (Moving Ahead)

Learning

• Develop “ambient awareness” of social media

• Explore tools that make social media more accessible (Mashable, Inside Facebook, FB Connect, LinkedIn (#in),Twitter’s “Goodies”)

• Who’s doing it right? Visit social media of other organizations: what can you “borrow”?

Who’s Doing it Right?

• @SixthandI• @Leahjones• @Kvetchingeditor• @BJPArchive *• @ROICommunity *• @IKAR-LA (starting to…) *• Others?

Sixth & I SynagogueWashington, DC

Dynamic, multi-tiered presence:• Tone is young, consistent, official - “the

‘gogue”• FB fan pages for the synagogue, and for

the “Sixth in the City” young professionals’ group

• Events, graphics, pictures• Twitter – actively contributing to

conversations (& promoting their events)

Facing Facebook: Strategy

To use FB professionally, decide:• Group or Fan Page?

– Groups foster group discussion around a topic– Pages allow entities (public figures and organizations) to

broadcast information to fans

• Who will be responsible for posting content? How often?

• What will the tone be?• Will you link FB with other social media (blog

or Twitter)?

Facing Facebook: Professionally

• 90% of you use it every day socially• Obvious don’ts

– Don’t clutter official FB pages with inappropriate photos, Farmville, etc

– Make sure your page is consistent in tone with the organization (or have a reason why it’s not)

• Do follow your instincts and personal experience– You know what you like (discussing stuff on your friends’ walls,

Scramble)– You know what annoys you (Farmville)– You know what resonates or inspires you to action (reaching out

to friends in need, Causes)– You know which events you respond to and which you ignore

Talking Twitter: Strategy• How can it contribute to the efficiency of Jewish

nonprofit organizations? – Creates transparency– Allows immediate customer service response– Solving problems publicly shows customers you’re

handling things– “Listening” to conversations already in progress

provides valuable insight into• Organizational chatter• “the market” / instant focus group• World and community news and trends• Being there first

Talking Twitter: SetupSetting up an account• Choosing your handle

– Your name (like, @estherk)– Your org’s name (@JFedLA)– A project’s name (@NEI_JFedLA)

• Touring the site, becoming familiar– Replies/@/Mentions; DM; RT, HT, #hashtags

• Finding followers (address book, other people’s accounts, twitterator.org, lists)

• Listening, asking & responding

Talking Twitter: Posting

Conquering 140• Brevity, poetry, strength, mission, value• Link to and RT others• Abbreviate URLs with tinyurl, bit.ly, j.mp• Use # to categorize (a tab in a giant file

cabinet)• Use a viewer for a cleaner look at the info

(Tweetdeck) – “Goodies”

You’re Blogging, and You Don’t Even Know It…

• 1 has a blog, 2 said their orgs have blogs • Blog is short for weblog = CMS for easy, online

publishing• You may have or read blogs without even

knowing it (Gawker, TMZ, even MSM have blogs on their websites)

• Writing, reading & commenting on blogs – promote your organization – start new conversations – adding value to existing conversations

What Are You Reading and Why?

• EJewishPhilanthropy• Jew and the Carrot• Jewcy• 92Y• Tablet• Haaretz• The Wire• Jewish Journal• MyUrbanKvetch (thanks, Julie!)

Basics of Blogging: StrategyDoes your org need/could it benefit from/is it ready

for a blog:• Reading blogs, seeing what’s out there• Blog will need regular content (staff time)• Comments should be open, but can be

moderated (staff time)• Blog should reflect org’s goals, but also add

value to larger conversations• What are competing blogs/orgs blogging about?

What can you add to the conversation?

Basics of Blogging: Posting• Technical

– Check with web team: is blog possible within site?– If not, use Blogger.com, Typepad.com or

Wordpress.com– Name the blog - create a relevant, short-ish URL

• Content– Posts about 400 words (one screen length)– Grammar, punctuation, style– Hyperlink to other sites– Reflect the values of your org– Post regularly– Use photos, videos, images

Understanding

• Social media regimen/cultural immersion– Check Twitter/Facebook page at least once a day

• Read the Tweetstream of people you’re following – begin to participate in conversations

• Upload address books to identify your contacts who are using FB and Twitter

• Share a FB group or event with friends who are “hubs”

– Visit Jewishblogging.com• click on a few headlines• monitor/join a conversation

• Ask questions!

Taking Action

• Determine your institutional voice or voices• Identify person/people to update Twitter and

Facebook on behalf of your org (daily)• Identify newsy angles for programs, use as hook

to promote org in online conversations• Consider starting a blog, so you can host

conversations• Find the “mavens”/hubs in your community, and

invite their feedback and partnership

Resources Available• “In Plain English” series• Mashable.com and Inside Facebook e-mail• Google Alerts to bring you articles of interest• Online articles:

– http://fundraisingcoach.com/articles/twitter-for-nonprofits-and-fundraising/

– NYTimes technology columnist David Pogue on Twitter: http://pogue.blogs.nytimes.com/tag/twitter/

• Resource sheets from me via email: Social Media planning, Blogging Basics resource sheet

How to Find Me

• esther.kustanowitz@gmail.com• http://twitter.com/estherk• http://facebook.com/estherkustanowitz• http://myurbankvetch.com• http://jdatersanonymous.com• http://beliefnet.com/blog/idolchatter• http://roicommunity.org• http://youtube.com/EstherK