Hi folks, I’ve been working on a new blog series for advocacy tech vendor Blackbaud, and the first installment went live earlier this week. The topic’s a big one: how should organizations approach social media — Facebook in particular — in light of all of the recent changes in the field? Context first:
…while Page owners have lamented the decline of organic “reach†for years, the question is newly salient in 2018. Facebook told us explicitly at the beginning of this year that its content-distribution algorithm will emphasize posts from friends and family over content from Pages like those run by most nonprofits, political campaigns and commercial brands. What’s a digital advocacy campaign manager to do?
Indeed! The article breaks the question down into three basic components:
- Content
- People
- Cash
And explores how nonprofits and other online communicators can use each element to have some chance of connecting with people on Facebook and mobilizing them to act. Which will be more important for your organization? Let’s find out!
The piece also touches on Twitter and Instagram and how they fit into a comprehensive online outreach campaign, and it ends with a look farther into the future:
When we build emotional connections with our grassroots advocates, those ties can transcend communications channels. Technology will change, and the tools we use for digital advocacy may be completely different five years from now. But if your supporters truly care about your issues – and trust you to help create the change they want to see – they’ll stick with you no matter what Facebook looks like, or whether it exists at all. Our job is to make sure that they do.
Check out the full article today, and look for the remaining three installments in the weeks to come. Now you know one reason posting has been sparse here lately! The other involves clients…a good problem to have.