social media etiquette

Carla FerreiraCommunity Manager. GivenGain Foundation.

Social Media Etiquette

Facebook Etiquette

Facebook Etiquette

• Listen!• Don’t Like your own post.• Don’t ignore legitimate questions and

comments.• Don’t post or tag photos of fans, customers, or

employees without permission.• Don’t ask for Likes for no reason.

Twitter Etiquette

Twitter Etiquette

• Listen!• Don’t automatically direct message people that

follow you.• Don’t over-hashtag your tweet. • Don’t hijack another organisation's hashtag.• Don’t use tricks or bots to get more followers.• Beware of excessive self-promotion.• Don’t use too many keywords.• Act like a human, not a robot.

Pinterest Etiquette

Pinterest Etiquette

• Don’t be boring.• Don’t pin content with broken or incorrect links.• Don’t spam your followers with too many pins at

once.• Don’t pin just your own material.• Provide good descriptions for your pins.• Give credit where credit is due.

LinkedIn Etiquette

LinkedIn Etiquette

• Take note of the more professional tone of the network.

• Don’t join a group and immediately start self-promoting.

• Don’t pester for recommendations.• Endorse others but be authentic.

Guidelines and Tips

Personal vs. Professional

• Posting as the organisation or myself?

• Do not share your own personal content from the organisation’s social media accounts.• Be careful especially when using Tweetdeck

• When posting as the organisation, do not write in the first person.• E.g. “I’ve just uploaded a video on YouTube”• Be careful of automated sharing from

YouTube and other social media platforms.

Basics: Grammar and Punctuation

• Do not use too many abbreviations• Will people understand what I’m saying?

• As far as possible do not use SMS language• E.g. “Hi all u fans! Hope ur having a good

day!”

• Be careful with spacing• E.g. “We’ve just launched a new

programme ! ”• E.g. “Read this interesting article on global

warminghttp://www.nrdc.org/globalwarming/”

• Privacy of beneficiaries when posting photos

• Especially when children are involved

• Privacy of staff members involved with campaigns

E.g. photos taken at fundraising event and posted

on Facebook

Respecting privacy

Do unto others…say ‘please’ and ‘thank you’

Engage!

Do not just broadcast

Respond to questions, posts made by others on Facebook.

Respond to tweets, thank people for retweets and favorite tweets.

Use Hootsuite/Tweetdeck to monitor activity.

Social Media is a two-way street

Is it okay to share the same message on multiple platforms?

Yes and No

Checklist:

How do I communicate differently on these platforms?

Are the audiences different? To what extent?

Frequency that people visit the platform per day

E.g. Twitter

To duplicate or not to duplicate

What tone am I using on social media?

Don’t make Facebook your own personal pulpit

Is it in line with our organisation’s brand?

Different tones for different types of content

Celebrating success

Thanking donors/supporters /volunteers

Asking for donations

Tone of communication

Asking for donations:

• Fundraisers are not beggars

• People want to feel like they are part of something

bigger than themselves

• Focus on the impact when people do respond positively

to calls for donations.

• Testimonials/Feedback from donors/volunteers/Activists

Tone of communication

• Social media is about relationships.

• Your fans or followers could be your next donors

or Activists (peer-to-peer fundraisers)

• Create an environment where your supporters can network

with each other.

Building relationships

Running a Facebook competition?

• Rules have changed!

• Businesses and organisations can now:

• Collect entries by having users post on the page

or comment/like a page post

• Collect entries by having users message the page

• Utilize likes as a voting mechanism

• http://www.facebook.com/page_guidelines.php

Terms and Conditions

1. If you use Facebook to communicate or administer a

promotion (ex: a contest or sweepstakes), you are responsible

for the lawful operation of that promotion, including:

• The official rules

• Offer terms and eligibility requirements

• Compliance with applicable rules and regulations

governing the promotion and all prizes offered

Terms and Conditions (continued)

2. Promotions on Facebook must include the following:

• A complete release of Facebook by each entrant or participant.

• Acknowledgement that the promotion is in no way sponsored,

endorsed or administered by, or associated with, Facebook.

3. Promotions may be administered on Pages or within apps

• Personal Timelines must not be used to administer promotions

• e.g. “share on your Timeline to enter” or

“share on your friend’s Timeline to get additional entries”

Terms and Conditions (continued)

• Be professional but have fun!

• Work as a team

• When in doubt, Google it!

• Vary content and themes

• Ask your audiences’ opinion

• Don’t be scared to explore social media

• You cannot break it!

Tips

• Resources

• www.mashable.com

• www.socialmediaexaminer.com

• www.nonprofitmarketingblog.com

Resources

Thank You.

@GivenGain @carlaferreira1

www.facebook.com/givengain

www.givengain.com