"Social media sparks a revelation that we, the people, have a voice, and through the democratization of content and ideas we can once again unite round common passions, inspire movements, and ignite change."
Brian Solis
Social media is a huge force in our world today, it can be good or bad depending on how it is used. For the first time ever we as humans have the ability to communicate thoughts, ideas and news instantly with the rest of our species, this is most evident when we think of the videos, pictures and blogs coming out of Syria during this time of conflict for them. Social media transfers information in it's raw form, unfiltered, unbiased and brutally honest at times. However, the communication of information is not the only thing it is used for; through the transference of information we make connections with others. These connections allow us to communicate with individuals, businesses and organisations in a way that we previously would not have been able to do.
Most of you already know, but for those that don't I had to raise a minimum of £800 before I travel to Sierra Leone. As soon as I found out that I was going to Sierra Leone I set up a FaceBook page called "Denise Goes to Sierra Leone" which people could like and share with others. This was subsequently linked with a new Twitter account, both of which I used to promote my Just Giving page. If I posted something to my FaceBook page this would appear on my Twitter page, I would then retweet this post onto my personal Twitter. I have found that consistency and engagement are key to using social media successfully. I identified my goal which was to raise my target of £800, I then set out a plan of action which was to maintain activity on the page and to engage with as many people as possible on FaceBook and Twitter. For example whenever my Just Giving page was donated to I would thank the person personally on FaceBook and Twitter and provide a brief update on my progress and how much more I needed for my target.
Therefore, the 3 most important steps to remember are below:
1. Idenify your goal
2. Set up a plan of action (Engagement and consistency)
3. Follow through with your plan of action
Upon reaching my target I had to change my goal. A huge part of the ICS programme is Action at Home, which means working withing your community promoting the message of Restless Development and sharing the experiences you have had (In a nut shell of course). As soon as you reach your fundraising target start laying the foundations for your Action at Home. Before I reached my target I promoted my Just Giving page, now I promote this blog, I do this because social media is one of my strengths and I want to build up a decent readership in order to share my experience with as many people as possible. A blog is a great tool for any glocal citizen! Not only has my goal changed but so has my plan of action, I try to limit my posts to two a day. One post will be a daily fact about Sierra Leone, the other will be an update on my ICS journey. My aim is to keep people interested but not overload them with too much information either, if you post too much or too little people will loose interest and may even withdraw their support altogether.
At this stage you should be very active on Twitter, your FaceBook posts will still be posted to your Twitter but you should also be engaging with organisations, businesses, media and individuals on Twitter. Follow as many people as possible, interact with as many people as possible and most importantly thank everyone who retweets, favourites or follows you. Hashtags are also very important for connecting with others, whenever I post something to Twitter 99% of the time I will hashtag Sierra Leone and Restless Development so whenever anyone searched for either of these key words my tweets will come up. I have found many like minded people this way and it is not something to underestimated. On the other hand keep your hashtags to a minimum, do not tweet like this - #Hi #My #Name #Is #Denise - otherwise people will probably want to "kill you in the face" as my friend would say!
The most important thing to do when conducting a campaign using social media is to be yourself. Having access to real people and real personalisties is what attracts organisations and individuals to social media. I am in no way an expert in social media marketing but thought my experiences may be of some help to others.
If you need any help with using social media as a marketing tool I would be more than happy to share what I know and point you in the right direction when I don't know something.
Thank you for reading and my blog and I will see you in a weeks time!
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