From algorithm-chaser to comms pro: Social media strategies for nonprofit clubs
Webinar Summary
How can an outdoor club create a social media account that actually engages its audience without burning out? That was the focus of the ORCBC’s webinar on November 9. The answer: There is no magic formula. It is about creating systems and work flows that make it simple for your organization to post educational or entertaining content at a sustainable, consistent cadence.
One thing to know
Whatever platform you use, whatever the content, whatever posting cadence, there is one rule of thumb: you only have three seconds to get people’s attention.
Speaker
Sean Benesh is a program lead and lecturer in digital media at Oregon’s Warner Pacific University, the communication director for Northwest Trail Alliance, the social media lead for the Oregon Timber Trail, and the founder and editor-in-chief of Trail Builder Magazine.
Connect with Seaon on: Instagram, LinkedIn, Website and Metricool
Bonus: Sign up to Trail Builder Magazine’s email newsletter and receive the free ebook The Trail Organization Social Media Playbook: A Practical System to Grow Volunteers, Donors, and Community Support.
The challenge
More than a billion posts and updates are published on social media platforms every day. But only 50% of the content anyone see in their feed is from the people or organizations they actually follow–the rest is ads and recommended content. In addition, the average person considers content for only about three seconds before deciding if they will engage or move on. And most people look at about 16 posts before logging off. It all adds up to a major challenge for outdoor recreation organizations: How do you get your followers to see your content?
5 Steps to Social Media Pro
1. Platform
There are many social media platforms and each has pros and cons. When deciding how to focus your efforts there are two possible strategies.
A. Pick one or two and go all in.
To decide consider where your audience is most active and/or the one that fits best with the type of content you want to share (pictures: Instagram; video: Youtube or Tik Tok; words: Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn).
B. Spray and play
Create content once and use a tool that distributes it to all the platforms.
Sean uses Metricool
Other similar tools: Cinchshare and Buffer
2. Plan
Content pillars: Develop a list of topics that you will post about. For instance a trail network manager might have these content pillars:
Upcoming events, event recaps, trail supporter highlight, volunteer profile, tool & trail education, about the organizations, sponsor shout outs.
Use the pillars as rotating topics to build a content calendar.
There is a correlation between the number of posts and audience growth, but capacity is more important than cadence.
Tip: “Start with a minimal sustainable cadence [at least once per week] and build from there,” says Sean. “Consistency wins.”
3. Generate
Every post needs to have a hook. Something that will stop the scroll and catch people’s attention in less than three seconds. Think headline, first sentence, first picture, first scene of a video.
Tip: use AI to help generate hooks. Give it your hook idea and ask for 10 ideas for how to use it. Or give it a topic and ask it for hook ideas.
Generally, content should be as high quality as possible and represent the brand you are trying to create.
Caveat: Interesting content wins, even if it is poor quality.
Create a pipeline of content by engaging your whole team. Train them in the basics of taking good photos and video and task them with capturing content.
Tip: Sean uses a Google Form and photo submission system to gather content to build posts from.
4. Engage
Content needs to do two things. First entertain or intrigue the audience so they stop scrolling and then motivate action.
After you’ve figured out the hook, think about what do you want them to do? Sign up for your newsletter; show up at a trail building night, share your video or post.
Collaborate with other accounts (sponsors, partners, volunteers, influencers) as often as possible. It’s a great way to piggy back on their audience.
Try targeting “adjacent niches” to build your audience. For a mountain bike club, post content for trail runners or gravel riders.
Tip: “You build a following by showing up everyday and adding value to people’s lives with interesting content,” Sean says.
5. Measure
Look at your metrics on each platform regularly to learn what engages your audience and what doesn’t.
Experiment with different content, pillars and platforms.
Likes and views are important.
Shares, comments and engagement are more important.
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