True LiesAn honest approach to making the web, social
and mobile media work for you.Philanthropy & Houston • February 22, 2011
Caesar [email protected]
Frank Moore713.868.0970
This used to be simple.
Then it got a little complicated.
Then this happened.
We tried to simplify it.
Stop listening to the noise.
You’ve heard this one before
There’s way too much for me to keep up within the digital world.
Real truth
I can be most effective by focusing not on quantity, but on
quality and consistency.
How much “digital” should I do?
Web
Social
Video
Search
Mobile
Content
Analytics
Web
Social
Video
Search
Mobile
Content
Analytics
A likely story
Unless I’m a techie, I’ll never figure out how to use digital
media.
Real truth
I can launch a digital strategy with some
basic marketing know-how.
Marketing fundamentals work here, too.• Set Goals
• Success Criteria
• Know your
audience
• Know perception
• Make it actionable
• Is someone setting a good
example?
• Learn from current
“customers”
• Do a survey
• Just ask!
Admit it, you’re rationalizing
Once our new website is launched, everyone will finally
hear our message.
Real truth
I know that effective digital strategies are ongoing, multi-
dimensional conversations.
Checking offor staying on?
Website or Web presence?
Facebook / Twitter or social media strategy?
Mobile viewable or mobile experience?
Talking or listening?
Turn Bystanders into
Evangelists
Your most important tool
Trying to impress your boss?
I’m going to get my digital plan implemented by the end of the
month.
Real truth
I know that to work best, digital needs to be part of my organization’s culture.
Fear is natural.
• Typos, poor grammar
• Public criticism
• Brand compromise
• TMI
• Libel
• No control
• Drained productivity
Have a plan.
• Develop a policy
• Trust your staff
• Embrace and relinquish
• Accept mistakes, take risks
• Fix as you go, fail fast
• Being informal is ok
• Have two-way conversations
• It’s not a spectator sport, but a
contact sport
TryTest
Tweak
Terminate
The Four T’s
It is still about donations...
Too good to be true
Going digital is really going to boost
my donations.
Real truth
Increasing donations is a result of a successful multi-channel
strategy.
Studies have shown
In 2009, only 8% of donations to the
75 largest US nonprofits occurred online.
In 2009, only about 40% of nonprofits using Facebook
Causes
raised any money through this service.
And 29% had raised less than $500 in 12 months.
In 2010, after the Haiti earthquake, the American Red
Cross collected $22M by text message, 37% of donors
contributed via text.
Keep online donations in perspective• People are partners, not ATMs
• Storytelling makes donating personal
• Consider “micro” recurring gifts
• Thank donors, make them heroes
• Don’t reinvent the wheel
Donors come because of what we do for others,
they stay because of what we do for them.
$10M in three years
Isn’t that convenient?
It’s difficult to measure the ROI of digital media activity.
Real truth
I can measure ROI of many digital media
in ways not related to money.
Some ways to look at ROI
• What are the benefits of my efforts?
• Did I accomplish my goals?
• What did we learn?
• What would this have cost using “traditional”
media?
• What mistakes did we make?
• What would I do better next time?
Putting it all together...
• Create a plan
• Define success
• Know your audience
• Know your channels
• Choose your tools
• One size does not fit all
• Identify credible sources &
influencers
• Be genuine, not just “social”
• Be consistent
Remember this…
List of tools
• Mashable
• Crowdsourcing
• Google Reader & Alerts
• Twitter search
• Technorati
• Boardreader
• Social Mention
• Acceptiva
• Mobile Giving.org
• The Agitator.net
• Beth Kanter.org (The Networked
Nonprofit)