Emergents Weblog

Non-Profits will likely find that a strategic use of Twitter is helpful to their mission and objectives.

Principally, marketing has always been about who you know and more importantly, who knows you. The BUZZ inside our organizations and throughout the community we are tying to reach is what ensures the sustainability of our organizational culture, momentum, engagement and financial health. At first thought I winced at using Twitter. The man who told me about it showed me a tweet about ‘taco bell’ that alone almost turned me off like one big splay. Now less than 9 months later I’m sold on the technology and have developed some strategies to get the most out the tool.

Before I begin, let’s go back to a time about fifteen years ago before the web when we relied on print, face to face meetings, and overnight jet flights to meet the people that would be able to help us, support us, & join our cause. Times have changed and they are changing even faster.

3 programs to get your Non-Profit noticed:

1. 1. Set up a Twitter account www.twitter.com
2. Set up a Hootsuite account www.hootsuite.com (you can manage more than one account in hootsuite,  it also allows you to send out future twitter messages, so you can fill your que and leave you desk or schedule a series of messages to go out.)
3. Set up a blog (to compliment or replace your static website) www.wordpress.com

7 Steps to ensure your PR objectives are attained:

1. Write an article for your blog (copy one from your newsletter if necessary)
2. Be sure to fill out your profile with a picture and a 160 word bio telling what your are about.
3. Send an invitation to join Twitter to all your supporters. Get the word out with your newsletter, bulletin, e-news blast, and email signatures (paste your twitter profile url as a hyperlink in your signature. It will look like “http://twitter.com/gtroxell).
4. Look for “followers” using the Twitter search engine found at the bottom of your main page. What do you type in the search bar? The same words you would use in a google search (or your yellow pages if you’re ‘old school’) if you wanted to find people who might be interested in joining your cause.
5. Post a few entries using HOOTSUITE not twitter. Always point people to a website using the built in ’shrink it’ tool. This will be what helps you measure your success and the value of using twitter as part of your marketing approach.
6. Regularly ‘Welcome’ new followers (always using HOOTSuite) and point them to ‘a few of your favorite tweets’. These are people who support your mission or perhaps providers of information, services or inspiration. This is a good will act that is rewarded handsomely amongst ‘tweeples’.
7. Occasionally look at who is following your followers, and who your target followers are following. the easiest way to make a sensible decision to follow someone is to “mouse over ” their twitter name. This will reveal their 160 word Bio (this is why you need a bio). If you should see someone who looks like they would resonate with your cause then click “FOLLOW” – it’s as easy as that.

If you follow these steps you will quickly grow your number of followers, as will the number of hits to your website and those of your strategic partners. All of this will be measurable using HOOTSuite and thus prove to your boss that you are not out of your mind for being online 16 hours a day with the twitter browser open.

One more thing! Have fun on Twitter. Remember to post the occasional social note, especially if you created a personal profile listing you NP in your bio.

See you in the TWITTERVERSE.

Greg Troxell
Worldwide Interfaith Association

* My favorite tweeples: @youversion, @kindlejoy, @orgsync & @phonevite
** Advanced users who are also Blackberry users, be sure to download the blackberry client for twitter.