How to use Social Media effectively for Not for Profit Organisations
The goal of posting content onto Social Media is to connect people to your stories that hopefully they care about. For you publishing, this means creating content that's meaningful or informative and always engaging. People expect the stories in their feed to be meaningful to them and we have learned over time that people tend to value stories that they consider informative. You should ideally focus on what you do best; making the important and meaningful stories interesting to your audience.
People want to see reliable and credible information on Facebook. Authentic stories are the ones that resonate most. Facebook work hard to understand what type of posts people consider genuine so that they can rank them higher in News Feed. They also work to understand what kinds of stories people find misleading, sensational and spammy, to make sure people see those less. When posting you should focus on posting accurate, authentic content.
Do
Post headlines that set appropriate expectations. Describe the story someone is about to read.
Use text prompts and calls-to-action. Instead of relying on missing information to drive click-through, try using text prompts and calls-to-action in your posts to encourage engagement. Consider how accurate and informative the headline is before sharing the article to your audience so people can decide how they want to spend their time with your post.
Share articles with accurate headlines. Instead of relying on misleading headlines to intrigue the reader, share articles with accurate headlines that don't exaggerate or sensationalize the topic and add your own voice to help drive genuine conversation around the content.
Don't
Withhold information in a headline. For example, the headline “You’ll Never Believe Who Tripped and Fell on the Red Carpet…” withholds information required to understand the article (What happened? Who Tripped?).
Exaggerate or sensationalize content in a headline and mislead readers. For example, the headline “Apples Are Actually Bad For You?!” misleads the reader (apples may only be bad for you if you eat too many every day).
To protect your content and avoid getting your post taken down for intellectual property infringement - Ask yourself the following questions before posting:
Did I create all of the content myself?
Do I have permission to use all content (including images) I didn't create that's included in my post?
Does my use of the content I didn't create fall within an exception to copyright infringement?
Is the content protected by intellectual property rights (for example, is it a short phrase, idea or public domain work)?
Don't share content that you don't own or have the rights to share. You can only post content to Facebook if it doesn’t violate the intellectual property rights of another party. The best way to help make sure that the content you post to Facebook doesn’t violate copyright law is to only post content that you’ve created yourself.
You might also be able to use someone else’s content on Facebook if you’ve gotten permission (for example, a license) from the owner of that content, or if you know that your use is covered by fair use or some other lawful exception to copyright.
Image Size for Social Posts
Every picture tells a story! And Social Media is no different. Good images are very eye-catching….. but bad ones are a big turn off. When a photo is cut off with most of the image missing, the impact of the post is lost. Make sure you use the correct size for each channel. Avoid pixelation and awkward image stretching. If using a scheduling tool make sure you insert the correct image for each channel. One size does not fit all!
Example: The photo in Post 1 totally misses the point. The in post 2 there is nothing of interest in the image – however when you expand the image the photo is a very high impact. All the person taking the photo had to do was turn the phone sideways to take a Landscape photo!
Correct Image Size for Social Channels
Instagram - Square
- The optimal sizes are 1080 pixels wide by 566 pixels to 1350 pixels high. The maximum Instagram resolution is 1080 pixels wide.
Facebook - Landscape
- For Facebook feed post images, the optimal size is 940 x 788 pixels. For a Facebook feed ad and shared link image, use 1200 x 628 pixels.
Twitter - Portrait
- Twitter recommends a 3:1 aspect ratio, 1500px X px size and maximum file size of 5MB.
More information on Social Media Image sizes read the Hootsuite Blog HERE -
Facebook as a whole showed the most consistent engagement during the time period of Tuesday through Thursday, 8 a.m.–3 p.m., so these can be considered other “safe” times to post. On the other hand, the lowest engagement that you may want to avoid occurred every day either before 7 a.m. or after 5 p.m.
Activity for nonprofits is highest during the work week, with peak times on Wednesday and Friday mornings.
You’re also likely to connect with your dedicated followers during the some of the safest times for engagement occurring Wednesday through Friday, 8 a.m.–3 p.m., but nonprofits may want to avoid the lowest engagement hours that happen every day before 6 a.m. and after 7 p.m.
Best times: Wednesday and Friday at 8–9 a.m.
Best day: Wednesday
Worst day: Saturday and Sunday
Nonprofits can complement their strategy on other social platforms with a robust Instagram presence. Sparking social conversations is just as important on Instagram as any other social network, allowing nonprofits to tap into their robust bases of supporters, volunteers and followers.
In terms of engagement, nonprofit peak times occur during the afternoons and weekdays, with overall most consistent engagement happening Monday through Friday, 10 a.m.–4 p.m. Aside from a brief period of moderate engagement on Saturday afternoon, the lowest engagement mostly falls outside of the workday, every day before 8 a.m. and after 10 p.m.
Best times: Tuesday from 1–3 p.m. and Wednesday at 3 p.m.
Best day: Wednesday
Worst day: Sunday
For nonprofits, Twitter is an ideal destination to activate their fan base, raising not only awareness of their mission and message but also activating followers to drive traffic and engage donors. Supplement your strategy on Twitter with platform-specific approaches like using unique hashtags to organize and drive conversation around events or specific campaigns.
No matter what your nonprofit’s next move is on Twitter, the most consistent times to post occurred earlier in the day Monday through Friday, 8 a.m.–3 p.m. After that, engagement falls off every day before 4 a.m. and after 9 p.m.
Best times: Wednesday at 7 a.m.
Best day: Wednesday
Worst day: Saturday
LinkedIn historically targets a more specific audience than other social networks, with its focus on professional users. If you’re trying to create this share-worthy content, it’s no surprise that the most reliable engagement occurs during the work week, Tuesday through Friday, 8 a.m.–2 p.m. Engagement drops off outside of working hours, every day before 4 a.m. and after 8 p.m. Monday is also slightly lower on engagement, perhaps reflecting the rush to catch up post-weekend for the platform’s professional audience.
Best times: Wednesday from 8–10 a.m. and noon, Thursday at 9 a.m. and 1–2 p.m., and Friday at 9 a.m.
Best day: Wednesday and Thursday
Worst day: Sunday
How Often Should You Post on Social Media in 2021?
Social Media Calendar for national/international hashtags
https://www.sendible.com/social-media-holiday-calendar#today
Best times to post on social media
https://sproutsocial.com/insights/best-times-to-post-on-social-media/
