Social Media for New Organizations

“I worked out of desperation. I used to hit fast and run in hopes that people wouldn't realize that I really couldn't do anything.” - Betty Hutton

There is a popular belief that is completely untrue that having social media is absolutely necessary for success and presence online. The truth of the matter is, if you’re worried about what’s going on online, you would actually be better off asking yourself how often you’re on social media yourself and how much the thousands of posts you scroll through really grab your attention.

While some platforms boast over a million users, not all of them are constantly on social media, nor are they always wired into it, even if it can feel like the world is watching. Someone may have a Facebook or Twitter, but uses it once a month, if that, because his girlfriend told him to check out a post, while in comparison, you have people who bring their devices into the restroom because they can’t take their eyes off the action.

Regardless of the type of user and your desire to get more followers or engagement, here are a few tips:

Build your website first!!!

Do you have a website? If not, you should probably do that first before making a social media page! Web presence isn’t defined solely by social media, after all. Unless it’s a small community-level project, in which case, even an Instagram account for updates and donations has worked for intimate programs, such as animal rescues in small towns in the Philippines or microfinancing in Ugandan villages.

When you’re a new organization, you also have to remember people will be forced to have membership for certain platforms to access content–for example, Instagram requires you to have an account to view content! A website, however, just requires a browser and an address for people to go to, which means less barriers for entry.

Quality, not quantity

Nobody likes clickbait, and nobody likes a deluge of filler content. This is the easiest way to get people to mute you and have absolutely no remorse for forgetting you ever existed, if they even acknowledged it to begin with. Don’t try to post more if there’s nothing worth remembering or sharing, especially if it bores you. Instead, take the time to make something that doesn’t necessarily hit SEO terms, but can captivate and show that you’re not a page or a profile, but a person and people. People like people, not profiles or pages. If you respect them and keep it real, they’ll reciprocate. If an elevator pitch isn’t even a minute, you have at most five seconds to catch someone’s attention or get them to scroll past you. So make everything count!

Not all platforms are equal

Each social media platform targets different demographics, and believe it or not, many of the popular ones in the English-speaking world are not the first choice for people in certain countries. South Korea, for example, prefers Kakao Talk over WhatsApp and has a strong preference for Instagram over Facebook, followed by local platforms Naver Cafe and Kakao Story. Even then, the people on Facebook tend to be older and university age (Gen-Z) in South Korea have often shared that they prefer not to use Facebook, shocking Yonsei University, who had experimented with having their learning platforms utilize Facebook groups for more integration and bridging gaps–which ended up having more than a few students say that it managed to make Facebook more boring to them than they already thought it was.

It’s important then to figure out what your messaging is in the material and content you release, and identify the platforms that best reflect how you wish to be seen and characterized. So do your due diligence and look up the appropriate platform and the demographic before adjusting your message and content, because it’s not a one-size-fits-all approach!

Build yourself before your social media presence

If you’re relying on social media to be inspired or gain momentum, you’re doing it wrong. Social media drains people more than it energizes them, contrary to the short buzz of validation you get when you see likes and positive comments. Trying to get approval and support this way is the same as hoping your in-laws will always only have kind things to say to you and about you.

Instead of trying to find a way to use social media to boost yourself, you should use social media to reflect your own progress. This would be the difference between asking for advice on what to do to get more attention compared to doing something and noticing you just got a lot of people’s attention. For example: instead of asking people what would be a good project to finance for your microfinancing social enterprise, you decide yourself and stick to your decision, then you gauge how people respond to it, because if you try to please people, you’ll never be satisfied nor will you satisfy anyone. People respect those who are willing to die on the hill they choose to stand on, and don’t like people who ask which hill is the best one to get everyone else’s attention.

Life goes on

At the end of the day, whether you have a popular or fledgling presence, social media is a supplement to your web presence and your social impact. Like we said earlier, the popular pages and profiles are outliers, not the norm. If your social media gets in the way of the time needed for your operations and your health and well-being, take a step back and don’t think about it.

You didn’t start your organization to get approval and validation online, after all (hopefully!), and your projects should be your prime focus that gives you joy and purpose. When people can see this, you will find that they will share what speaks to them before you can say it yourself.

Unless you’re saying something that is equivalent to putting your foot in your mouth like some people do in their Twitter posts, your social media presence, engagement, and growth is an ongoing process and is a marathon, not a sprint. Take your time, but don’t invest too much time into it that is better used on your organization’s mission and projects.