Celebrate Altrusa Using Social Media

It is no longer a question of IF clubs should execute a social media strategy. The question for most clubs is how to best execute a meaningful and engaging approach that generates results. With so many social media marketing options available, communications teams must also decide best practices and what tactics to avoid.

First thing for each of us to remember is social media is social first, media second. Imagine yourself in a room with the people you are reaching out to. Speak to people as if they are there with you. You probably would not walk into a cocktail party and immediately shout out “Hi, I’m an Altrusan! Greatest organization ever! You should join, or at the very least, donate money to us!” Unfortunately, this is part of many organizations’ bull-in-a-china-shop approaches to social media.

There are a lot of nuts and bolts questions regarding social media. Let’s start with why we bother with social media at all. Nearly half of all Americans use Facebook. Based on ages, the group we are most likely to grab and influence using social media is Generation X, a group of people who typically have now settled into their lives and can think about giving back to their communities.

So who is Generation X? This is a group that is motivated by results; they are independent, flexible, and adaptable multitaskers, and they know how to work their computers. Generation X expects to change the rules and views change as an opportunity—which is why using social media to reach them is going to be important. New methods of communication like Facebook and Twitter are wide-reaching, easy to use, free, environmentally friendly, and most importantly, the way our target market is communicating with one another.

In other words: Get on this bandwagon or get left behind.

Tomorrow: Kicking Off a Successful Social Media Campaign

Deborah Hecht
2013-2015 Membership Development Committee Co-Chair (Recruitment)

Please let your voice be heard. Write your ideas, and send them to Governor Beth for publishing on “Thoughts From the Mighty Ninth.”