Social Networking: Fruitful or Disappointing?

I think that NPOs going onto social networking sites is worthwhile as it means that more people will be exposed to your brand. However, that being said, I think that has low measureable ROI (donations, newsletter sign ups, etc.).

I think that the most valuable online space for a NPO to be a part of is their own website, and the most weight should be put there.

As far as privacy is concerned - a lot of people don't mind that their personal data is there otherwise they wouldn't make that info available through those websites. Ultimately the onus is on the Facebooks of the world to protect the privacy of their users, and NPOs or any other organizations that connect with users don't have any responsibility for that information until those users become theirs (via enewsletters, etc.).

Ultimately you have to decide what marketing tactics you feel offers the best ROI for your time. If you have little time to make your presence on those websites viable then I'd suggest focusing primarily on your own website and e-messaging (enewsletters/email campaigns).

TechSoup blog has a post related to this subject, pointing to a recent study that shows that use of social networking sites is actually in decline. Do you think this trend will continue or do you think social networking sites are here to stay? What do you make of this study?

--Megan

Megan,

Yes, the blog references the same report I mentioned earlier.

Also, I read an article recently that compared today's social networking to the CB radio craze of the 1980's.

CB was a technological leap. It was friendly, empowering, improved personal communication, and was extremely popular. It was the subject of songs, movies and water cooler conversation. But it had inherent limitations and those limitations finally overcame the popularity.

The limitations in Internet activities are of a different sort than those of CB radio but for those of us old enough to have experienced it, there are a lot of similarities.

ENO (breaker, breaker, good buddy)

Hi ENO--

Yup, our blog was thinking on the same lines as you were. I like your mention of the comparison between CB radios and social networking sites. Maybe the question isn't whether social networking sites will die out, but rather, how our need for the kinds community activities served by social networking sites will express itself technology-wise in the future.

--Megan

Please don't forget that comScore normally focuses on the Global 2000 which usually comprises manufacturing and CPGs and is a far cry from member/donor-based organizations. While customers can be very fickle, member-based organizations already have an advantage in that there is a common cause at the heart of the relationship. I think that NFPs have barely scratched the surface of social networking and social marketing; however, I do not think the way that they use the tools will follow a similar pattern to that of consumer commodity-based relationships. The key for NFPs is how to emotionally design the social networking tools into the daily life of the organization so that member entanglement/loyalty can be increased. I think that smart NFPs that take on social networking as a communication/content strategy will be well-positioned in terms of retention and recruitment.

Suzanne Carawan
Social Networking Strategist
Higher Logic
suzanne@higherlogi.com