Another channel? More places to post content, sites and logins to manage?

I get it. If you’re a nonprofit lean on time and resources, it can feel like you’ve tried everything — emails, printed magazines, Facebook events — in an attempt to break through. Yet new research from Personify’s recent Member Experience 2.0 omnichannel report suggests that Instagram could be the key, with multiple member groups citing it as the most effective social media channel.

Indeed, since its debut in 2010 Instagram has grown to over 1 billion monthly active users, 71% of whom are under the age of 35 making it one of the most powerful channels with Millennials and Gen Z – a trend we noticed and documented in our Young Members 2.0 report and shared thoughts on in this blog post.

The numbers offer additional compelling evidence of Instagram also boasts impressive engagement metrics, with over 60 percent of users logging in each day, second only to Facebook for the most engaged daily users. Users spend an average of 32 minutes on the app per day (more time than many people spend showering, eating, or doing other daily activities) and they’re not just scrolling through images. Instagram has a very high user interaction rate. According to a 2016 Forrester report, Instagram has a 2.2 percent per-follower interaction rate. That beats the other social networks – including Facebook with its 0.22 percent rate.

Nonprofits of all kinds have taken notice, using Instagram to share behind-the-scenes content designed to make their organization more accessible, high-impact visual proof of the value they’re delivering to their constituents and community, images designed to inspire action and more.

However, sharing the right content is only half the battle. Instagram is used to post over 55 million photos and videos per day. In June 2018, the site reported 49,830 photos were posted per minute. Moreover, 53 percent of users report following their favorite brand on Instagram and it has grown into the second most commonly used social media platform for marketers.

Constituents want to hear from you but in a sea of friends, influencers and commercial brands how can you make sure your Instagram content doesn’t get lost in their feed?

Never fear! We’ve got ideas to help you make the most of Instagram. Join us for a free webinar, at 11:30 AM CT on Thursday, October 24th, as we share the hacks, tips and tricks of making your organization Insta-worthy and show you how to attract members by creating posts that get noticed. You’ll learn:

• The types of content you should be creating to get maximum response from your members.
• 5 quick and inexpensive ways you can use Instagram for to find new members, engage them and keep them.
• Expert tips for incorporating Instagram into your broader campaigns for an even greater impact.
• And more!

Save your seat today!

http://go.personifycorp.com/insta.html

The post A Picture is Worth 1,000 Words appeared first on Personify.

Source: The Independent

• USA for Africa recorded the charity single, “We are the World”
• Mikhail Gorbachev becomes the General Secretary of the Soviet Communist Party and de facto leader of the Soviet Union.
• Coca-Cola changes its formula and launches New Coke.
• The Nintendo Entertainment System is released on US shores.
• A joint American-French expedition locates the wreck of the RMS Titanic.

But during my stroll down memory lane, there were two notable events that jumped out to me more than the others. First, was the release of summer blockbuster “Back to the Future,” which saw Michael J. Fox’s Marty McFly being transported to 1955 via a DeLorean that’s been transformed into a time machine.

The other was the founding of the WELL, the Whole Earth ‘Lectronic Link, a home for digital dialogue between writers and readers of the Whole Earth Review and widely regarded as the birthplace of the online community.

To say there’s been change in the ensuing years would be an understatement. The Pew Internet & American Life Project reports that 90 million Americans have participated in an online group and estimates of virtual community membership in the United States have exceeded 25 million – more than six times the population of Los Angeles. Then there was the rise of social media. Sites like Facebook and LinkedIn seemed to promise a new advent of digital communication, broadening the opportunities for users to participate in a more global community.

Yet for many nonprofits, that early promise remains unfilled.

The number of American adults on Facebook hasn’t increased since 2016. eMarketer reports that Facebook engagement is sinking, already down 10% versus last year with no end in sight and even more dramatic declines among key demographics with only half of American teens using the social media site.

LinkedIn now has 562 million members but only 260 million users are active on LinkedIn monthly. What’s the average amount of time spent per month by those active users? 17 minutes.

If we’ve learned anything, it’s that while social networks and community platforms seem interchangeable, they aren’t. The Community Roundtable defines social media as a loose network with the predominant structure being a hub and spoke model of interaction between an audience and the content creator. It is composed of users who have nothing in common (only using the platform because their friends are on it), creating a communal monologue with transactional engagement – a quick comment or, more often than not, a click of a like button.

However, as more and more organizations are learning, it’s not the quantity of engagement that makes the difference – it’s the quality.

In the 1986 film “Back to the Future,” Dr. Emmett Brown remarked to Marty McFly that you never know when or where a bolt of lightning will strike.

Marty, with the perspective of his recent trip into the past responded, “We do now.”

Many organizations are turning their attention back to online communities and forums, integrating the best of social media and leaving behind the risk to create a digital space designed to drive long-term, meaningful interaction. What can we learn?

To learn more about this, watch Personify’s on-demand Webinar, Back to the Future: Next Generation Forums, where we’ll explore:

• Trends driving digital engagement, including changes to keep an eye out for in your organization
• The importance of improving access and the growing role of forums in engaging members on the go
• Driving interaction, from opportunities for passive action to recognition and beyond
• How community members can drive a more personalized experience – and new tools available to support organizations looking to bring it all together.

The post Community, Your Destiny and the Importance of Going Back to the Future appeared first on Personify.

If you’re an event organizer, you’re often a jack (or jill) of all trades. You spend countless hours working to deliver a compelling lineup of speakers and sessions, develop professional development opportunities to help attendees grow in their careers and make new connections, and recruit event exhibitors and sponsors that will appeal to attendees. But let’s face it—we couldn’t host a successful conference without the organizations that participate in our event including exhibitors, attendees, speakers, sponsors and more.

If you’re looking to build long-term relationships with the organizations that invest time and resources at your events (and I’m guessing that you do), it’s critical to recognize and appreciate their contribution and show the value that is associated with being part of your event. We’re sharing four ways that you can recognize event exhibitors in person, online and via mobile and social, and demonstrate value:

1. Create Dedicated Activities for Event Exhibitors

Your partners and vendors likely have many options to invest their limited resources (both their marketing dollars and their staff’s time). To make sure that you’re creating an experience where exhibitors and sponsors feel valued, create dedicated activities to help them connect with attendees and prove the value of your conference.

This can include an exhibitor happy hour and gamification of the expo floor where attendees compete to visit different exhibitors for prizes and raffle drawings. You could also host an exhibitor spotlight where companies promote their solutions and product offerings over the lunch hour. Another option is to host a get together aimed at new attendees and sponsors to help first timers make new friends and exchange ideas.

2. Drive Traffic for Event Exhibitors via Website, Social Channels and Community

When Personify exhibits at a conference, the reason that we do it is because we want access to the audiences that the organization serves and to be able to show attendees the unique value that we can provide to solve a challenge or meet a goal. Similarly, with your exhibitors, you can increase the ROI of the exhibitor experience by creating high visibility for their organization.

Make sure that your exhibitors and sponsors are featured prominently on your organization’s website with an interactive floor plan and a link to more information about the exhibiting organization. Create space in the editorial calendar for your social media plan and in your online community to highlight exhibitors that will be at your upcoming conference. And, make sure to backlink to the exhibitor’s website to drive up their SEO value.

Before, during and after PersoniFest, our social media team pushed out dedicated social and community posts for our sponsors and exhibitors to show our appreciation for taking part in our annual conference.

3. Celebrate Their Success with Your Constituents

In addition to providing a time and space in the agenda for folks to visit the expo hall, consider creating an awards program or an appreciation dinner to highlight constituents’ success stories. This not only allows your members, donors and volunteers to learn from their industry peers, but also provides an outlet for exhibitors and sponsors to showcase their solutions and partnership opportunities with your organization.

For example, we created the Persi Awards at PersoniFest to highlight client success stories from the previous year. When possible, we included mentions of Personify’s partners and exhibitors that worked with our clients to help them reach their goals.

One of the 2019 Persi Award winners is our client the Texas Hospital Association who undertook a massive effort to move their billing and collection processes in house. We shared, both onstage during the keynote and afterwards in the blog post recap, how our partner and Personify exhibitor Intellidata played a crucial part in their billing transformation.

4. Directly Connect Event Exhibitors with Attendees

It’s a common issue that I have experience when attending a conference. I’m looking for a technology tool that can help me do X, Y and Z but I’m not sure which exhibitors offer that type of solution and so I spend time wandering around the expo hall hoping to come across a vendor that meets my needs.

There’s a better way. Intelligent matchmaking enables an attendee to connect face-to-face with experts that have a solution for a specific pain point or challenge in their organization. As part of your pre-show strategy, attendees can share the types of solutions they’re looking for on the expo floor and exhibitors can respond before or during the conference about how their solutions can help.

While this list includes a few ways to improve your exhibitors’ experience, it’s certainly not an exhaustive list. If you’re looking to revamp your exhibitor marketplace at your annual conference or tradeshow, learn more about our solutions for event professionals.

The post 4 Ways to Recognize and Create Value for Your Event Exhibitors appeared first on Personify.

This afternoon I found myself staring at a blank screen with no idea what I wanted to write.

I’d committed (with the best of intentions) to providing our Personify communications team with a post for the blog but didn’t specify what I would be writing about. Now the proverbial chickens had come home to roost. What did I have to work with? A deadline and surprisingly little in the way of ideas.

That’s a problem.

The dark corner of the bright spot

As the saying goes, content is king. Members and constituents of all stripes value the information provided by their organization across a growing number of channels. As a key strategy in supporting acquisition, driving engagement and keeping satisfaction (and retention) numbers high, a continuous flow of content that is both valuable and new has never been more important. While not a new idea, the momentum behind content marketing shows no signs of slowing down, with marketers turning to blogging, podcasting, vlogging, live video, and even Snapchat to share their organization’s message in a way that’s valuable, relevant and informative.

Sounds great, right? Constituents enjoy unparalleled access to information and opportunities for learning while organizations have endless chances to reinforce their value.

Good content comes from somewhere, a person gathering their thoughts, researching a topic and putting pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard) in order to share what they’ve discovered with a broader audience. That process is sparked by an idea, a question or perhaps a moment of inspiration.

What happens when that spark never happens? What happens when you need to feed a hungry content machine but you’re fresh out of snacks to share?

Some writers argue that “writer’s block” exists only as an excuse, designed to give permission to the inevitable human tendencies towards procrastination but as someone in the trenches I’m here to tell you the struggle is real. Perhaps you’re facing the pressure of deadlines, are afraid of introducing ideas that may be controversial or don’t want to publish anything less than perfect, so you don’t even bother starting.

When it comes to surmounting writer’s block, there’s no shortage of advice out there:

• Exercise to get the blood flowing
• Create a routine to help your mind find focus when it’s time to write
• Eliminate distractions and create a comfortable writing space
• Listen to music you love or try listening to music completely outside your comfort zone
• Read a book or inspirational quotes
• Spend time talking to a friend or loved one

The challenge is that writing is an art, not a science. There’s no magic formula that works for every person, every time. I’ve been confronted with writer’s blocks a handful of times over the course of my career and every victory looked different. More often than not, I’ve looked to author Charles Bukowski’s advice, “Writing about a writer’s block is better than not writing at all.”

Breaking through

Being proactive in taking the first step is important but so too is the realization that as a nonprofit, you benefit from having a wealth of subjects at your disposal. Here are three I’d recommend to anyone looking for a place to start:

Crowdsource inspiration from your staff…and your members

Ask a question. Lurk in one of the forums in your online community. Talk to your staff and see what’s top of mind. By tapping into the perspective of others you can reinvigorate your content with ideas you may not have previously considered. As an added bonus, you know the content you’re pulling together already has appeal to your constituents and is aligned with their interests.

Newsjack

(Note: This is not the movie from the ‘90’s. That was “New Jack City.”)

Something newsworthy dominating talk around the water-cooler in your office? Try turning it into content. See how it impacts your organization, ask members via your social media channels for quick thoughts or spin up a poll to gauge their reaction on a timely topic.

See what the experts say

Do you have favorite blogs? Publications? They may relate to your organization’s mission or be more general, but the chances are good they may publish the latest in industry news and offer both opinionated and unique commentary on each subject. Does your organization’s point of view align? Differ? How can your constituents incorporate this information into their role, both as a member but with regards to their profession? What does this mean to them?

Whether you’re a content creation team of one or 100, you’re bound to hit a wall at some point and that’s OK but movement is critical. Put one foot in front of the other. Ask for help, from constituents, look for commonalities with what’s in the headlines, draw inspiration from other industry experts. Once you start heading in a direction – any direction – you’ll find it’s easy to pick up speed. Before you know it, you’ll be writing. You may have even found that you’ve written an entire blog post.

The post Feeding the Content Machine: 3 Strategies for Beating Writer’s Block appeared first on Personify.

As long as nonprofits have been acquiring members so too have they been taking (or at least we hope they’ve been taking) the steps necessary to retain them, to keep them on board and part of the organization.

But it’s a brave new world filled with seemingly boundless free resources and an emerging population of members used to the transient, subscription-based models of things like their gym, streaming media or meal kits. In a previous blog post and in our recently published Young Members 2.0 report we shared the good news, that member not only still relevant but, in the eyes of younger members, is becoming more important. But is that enough to retain them?

Dark Clouds on the Horizon

Ensuring an authentic connection with young members is, unsurprisingly, an important indication of how difficult it will be to retain them and of their overall satisfaction with their membership. It is a culmination of your engagement efforts, where the rubber meets the road.

When asked if their association seemed out of touch with younger members, both Millennials and Generation Z respondents were more likely to agree than disagree, with African-American respondents in particular suggesting their associations were missing the mark (25 percentage points higher than average). Almost half agree that their experiences with associations have been “underwhelming.”

More concerning:

• Almost half of respondents in this study agree with the statement, “There isn’t a strong return on investment when it comes to participating in associations.”
• One in three respondents and two out of five Millennials agree with the statement, “I have no idea how being in association actually benefits me.”

In a word? Ouch.

Why Are They Leaving?

Only 40 percent of young members report their experience is “worth the dues (I) pay to be a member.” These perspectives show in questions asked to young members about retention.

In our report, almost one-fifth of all young members have let a membership lapse in the last year. When asked why, young members told us:

We also asked young members what is it that associations don’t get about asking them to renew their membership. Here’s some of what we heard:

• “They need to increase the value of benefits if they are increasing fees”
• “Sometimes the process is too lengthy when they could produce an online form instead of a paper membership form.”
• “They typically don’t ask if there is anything that they could do better”
• “Sometimes I need a payment plan”
• “The more they push or use sales pitches, the more they’re are losing me as a customer”
• “I would automatically renew if they targeted my age better with more members of my age and our shared interests incorporated as well.”

Recapturing the Magic

How can you overcome the retention hurdle with young members? The good news is that although the data in our study is pretty eye-opening, the steps you can take to mitigate the risk that you’ll lose them in the retention process are pretty straightforward and benefit all of your members:

• Reinforce the value you’re providing every step of the way. Consider taking a page out of the consumer sector and provide members with a year-end summary statement of benefits, quantifying the value of the benefits they’ve received.
• It’s been said before but bears repeating: Make membership affordable. Explore opportunities to align your existing membership offers with the preferences of subscription-savvy young members with monthly billing options.
• Make renewals easy with a streamlined, online process and automated workflows to send proactive reminders.

While membership is viewed as important by young members, the need for membership organizations to articulate a clear return on investment in order to stay relevant has never been clearer. Leaders interested in attracting, and retaining, young members must not only prove the real-dollar value of their membership but also coach young members in internalizing what membership means and in bringing this message to their own leadership teams and other prospective members.

Interested in learning more about what this means for your organization? There’s still time to join us for Personify’s upcoming webinar, February 27^th, where we’ll take a deep dive into the data to understand how to build awareness with Millennials and Generation Z and what you should be thinking about to drive conversion with these prospective young members.

Reserve your spot today.

The post Young Members 2.0 Lessons in Retention appeared first on Personify.

Oh engagement.

Coming off the Valentine’s Day holiday, mere mention of the word maintains its rosy glow as that most symbolic of next steps in a relationship, deepening a commitment in (what is often) a romance-fueled moment where two people agree to build a life and a future together.

In the nonprofit world, the word engagement takes on a slightly less sentimental definition but is no less important as we look to build, and strengthen, our bonds with constituents. Today’s member engagement is about expanding beyond transactional data. It is about those things plus value creation and using that value to deliver a compelling experience members can’t help but want to be a part of.

This is all happening while the world we live in is becoming increasingly interconnected. An explosion of publicly available content has given members accessibility to a variety of product, services and information services. No generation has benefited more from this environment than young members, commonly identified as those who are Millennials (1981-1996) and Generation Z (1997-2012). According to Forbes, Gen Z uses an average of 5 different screens – smartphone, TV, laptop, desktop and tablet – to peruse information media, compared to millennials who typically switch back and forth between 3 screens.

With all the interconnectivity and information available you would think it would be easy to engage young members, right? Or does the seemingly endless collection of platforms and channels make engagement harder?

Personify took the step of fielding our own original research and in December of last year asked 1,000 Millennials and Generation Z members for their perspective on a variety of topics. Our recent published Young Members 2.0 report examined not only the preferences of Millennials and Generation Z with regards to awareness and making the decision to join, but also sought to understand how they engage with the organizations they join.

The (Continued) Power of Email

With an early exposure to technology and smart devices, it’s no surprise that email is often the go-to communication tool for Millennials and Gen Z. According to Adobe’s fourth annual Consumer Email Survey, workers between ages 25 and 34 spend 6.4 hours a day checking their email. Generation Z in particular views email as essential, per The Future of Digital Communications, a study by SendGrid and Egg Strategy, and expects their use of email to grow.

These preferences extend into young members’ relationships with their association. Our report found:

• Almost three-quarters of young members report receiving email from their association often, either in the form of a newsletter (72%) or a more personalized message (73%) and both are effective in keeping young members informed and up-to-date.
• A majority report a preference for content weekly or more, with Gen Z members having a slightly higher appetite for greater frequency.

Staying Social

While email was a top engagement channel for young members in our report, social media also plays a critical role in keeping young members informed. Pew Research reports the typical 18- to 29-year-old surveyed in their research uses four social media platforms, whereas the average 30- to 49-year-old uses three. According to our data:

With opportunities for high-impact videos and visual stories that capture members who look and sound like them, Instagram ranked second among our survey respondents, with almost half of young members reporting they use it to keep up with their association and over three-quarters saying it’s an effective way to stay in touch. Surprisingly, few young members – just over one in ten – report engaging with their organization via Linked In.

Standing Out…Via Phone?

Reach out and touch someone with a phone call? Really?

Only one third of young members report receiving phone calls from their association yet a larger percentage of young members report phone calls work, with 78 percent of all members saying phone calls are either somewhat or very effective in engaging them. Almost half of Generation Z found these phone calls very effective.

When was the last time your organization called a young member to check in and talk about something other than a dues renewal? When it comes to engagement – creating and articulating the value membership provides – these opportunities for 1:1 interaction can prove invaluable in driving short-, and long-term, satisfaction.

Up Close and Personal at Events

We know in-person conversations play a large role in influencing a young member’s decision to join and engagement. Content is king, serving as a primary value driver for membership. The intersection of these preferences can be found at events.

When asked whether they had attended an in-person event for their association in the last 24 months, 81 percent of all respondents responded yes, with the number of Generation Z members attending events slightly lower than the overall average (77%). Which events are they attending? Workshops and trainings were at the top of the list with 49 percent, followed by parties (31%), networking events (30%) and a community service event (26%).

While satisfaction with these events was high, with 91 percent of young members reporting the events attended were at least somewhat valuable, a surprising 29 percent failed to receive any sort of post-event follow-up from their association – leaving a huge opportunity for engagement on the table.

Engaging Young Members

Today’s young members face a relentless bombardment of information and knowledge from a myriad of sources and bring to membership rising expectations of the value from their association. How can you stand out from the crowd and improve engagement with this growing demographic?

• The first step is to identify and acknowledge young members as a unique target market, and to understand their needs and desired experiences. Take the time to understand their goals, attitudes and perceptions regarding engagement and give them a seat at the table to ensure their voices are heard.
• Align outreach efforts with the preferences of young members and use each opportunity to consistently reinforce the value of association engagement. Newsletters, long a cornerstone of association communication programs and popular with the young members surveyed in Personify’s research, offer a great place to start.
• Don’t neglect the power of your people. Young members’ need for connection extends beyond recruitment. Create ample opportunities for 1:1 engagement, not only within your programming but also in regular communication.
• Stretch the value of events. Leverage a strong follow-up process, with testimonials from members who look and sound like them, to make a lasting impression. Create working groups in private communities to keep learning fresh and use the unexpected personal touch of a phone call to create a personal connection

Interest in learning more about what this means for your organization?

Watch our on-demand Webinar

The post Young Members 2.0: Lessons In Engagement appeared first on Personify.

About 51,100,000 results.

That’s what I got recently when I Googled “marketing to Gen Z.” For the curious, searching for “marketing to Millennials” yielded 56,200,000 results.

We read headlines about younger generations daily, but it’s not every day we get the opportunity to hear from young members (and prospective young members) directly but in December of 2018 Personify surveyed 1,000 Millennials and Generation Z members to understand their perspectives on membership and the organizations with which they engage.

While we talk about them as one audience, young members represent a diverse group. Millennials, born roughly between 1981 and 1997 include those finishing college to parents well into their careers, perhaps with kids. Generation Z is just starting to enter the workforce.

The first trick in getting young members onboard involves capturing their attention. How can associations and other member-focused organizations attract these generations?

Meeting Young Members Where They Are

When asked about all the ways they became aware of the association in which they were the most active, two-in-five young members report they were recruited by someone they already knew and two in five also report they were recruited in person at an event. Other top activities include:

• Via email
• Through an online ad
• Via Facebook

While Facebook performed well in our survey with regards to awareness, other social channels delivered mixed results in terms of their effectiveness in building awareness. In something of a surprise, LinkedIn ranks last among younger association members when it comes to initial recruitment with only seven percent of respondents becoming aware of an association via LinkedIn. In fact, twice as many (15%) attributed early awareness to Instagram.

Their appetite for digital media makes sense. There’s no shortage of articles talking about how digitally fluent Millennials and digital native Gen Z are early adopters in terms of their technology and are never more than arms reach from a mobile device. However, this deep experience has created heightened expectations. Millennials and Gen Z members demand the convenience of a seamless experience at every touch point with brands, both in-person and online. Each touch point must build on the last and be consistent with the next.

Harnessing the Power of Your People

Even with an array of channels with which to get the word out, traditional advertising messages don’t cut it with young members – you need something extra.

A recent study from Google found that Generation Z wants brands to be “a representation of their values, their expectations of themselves and their peers.” If they adopt the brand, what does it say about them as a person? Gen Z uses brands to help shape their world.

Why? The implications of being associated with a particular brand is part of it but there are thousands of products in-market today and the options are almost limitless. Although an extreme view, knowledge is available to anyone willing to look for it and networking can be achieved for free through digital sites.

They need a reason why becoming involved with your organization is going to create value in their lives, and they want to see the proof from their peers. After all, both generations distrust advertising and are leery of marketing messages. According to Hubspot, 84 percent of millennials don’t trust traditional advertising and data from SocialChorus shows only six percent of millennials consider online advertising to be credible while 95 percent do trust their friends. Research recently featured in AdWeek suggests  63 percent of Gen Z wants to hear from peers and everyday folks, not celebrities. All told, Gen Z is 1.3 times more likely to purchase a product recommended by one of their favorite influencers than by a television or film celebrity.

Personify saw a similar preference expressed in our own research. When asked where they would be likely to go to learn more about an organization they’d consider joining, young members report turning to other members. In-person conversations, whether at an event (49%) or with someone they already know (42%), proved the most effective in conversion. These one-on-one conversations with real people matter and remain essential in demonstrating value and creating a meaningful experience. When asked how important it was that an association facilitates connections with authentic people who understand their unique needs within the initial part of their journey, 94 percent of young members identified this as important, with almost two-thirds suggesting it’s very important.

Interest in learning more about what this means for your organization? Download our Young Members 2.0 report or watch our on-demand Webinar.

The post On Brand, On Message, On…Insta? appeared first on Personify.

Source: IMDB

1997 was the year Harry Potter was published, “Titanic” opened at the box office and the Hanson brothers skateboarded into the hearts of teen girls everywhere and gave us all the earworm that was their catchy pop hit “Mmmbop.”

It also the year I started my professional career and dove head first into the world of market research.

To say I’ve seen a lot of change in the last 20+ years would be a gross understatement but one area that has fascinated me the most is the interaction between people and technology, particularly the phenomenon of social networking. As a marketer, each interaction on one of these sites represents a new insight about a user and/or their behavior that I can use to personalize messages and be more relevant. The sheer number of people on social media sites also makes them incredibly attractive as a tool to build awareness with target audiences.

And they’ve been cost-effective. Anyone can create an account, build a page, set up a group. For nonprofits, often resource constrained by tight budgets and limited staff, social media sites seem like an ideal place to not only learn more about their constituents and build awareness for their cause, but also build their community. After all, members and donors are already there.

Friendster.com went live in 2002 and was adopted by 3 million users within the first few months but has since faded away. Then came MySpace, whose 100 millionth account was created in 2006 but was quickly overshadowed by Facebook who overtook MySpace in Alexa traffic rankings in 2008.

Facebook has maintained this leadership position, but storm clouds are gathering on the horizon. Whether through security breaches or attempts to monetize user data, 87 million accounts have had their information accessed. 865 million fake news posts have appeared in user feeds. This has created a sense of mistrust with Facebook user rates shrinking by 20 percent in key demographics. And in just released research from Pew Data, 26 percent of Americans have deleted Facebook from their phone while another 42 percent report taking extended breaks.

What does this mean? What, specifically, does this mean for nonprofits who lean on Facebook for their online communities, a critical component to keeping constituents informed and engaged? Do they do so at their own peril?

Rarely in my career have I seen anything transform as quickly as the relationship between Facebook and its users, with breaking news seemingly every week. Maybe the key to the future is in the past? After all, as Winston Churchill famously noted, “Those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it.”

Watch our on-demand Webinar

The post Have We Reached the Facebook Tipping Point? appeared first on Personify.

One theoretical perspective on what we’re doing is called Third Place theory, the idea popularized decades ago by sociologist Ray Oldenberg with his book The Great Good Place. He wrote that certain kinds of gathering places are essential to happiness and civic vitality.

Third place theory is the concept behind Cheers (you know, where everybody knows your name).

It’s exemplified by the kind of neighborhood barbershop where the conversation is just as important as the cut. It was Howard Schultz’s key takeaway from his visits to Italian coffee houses in the 1980s, and therefore what he strove to recreate stateside when he founded Starbucks Coffee.

In your third place (as distinguished from your two primary places: home, and work or school), you are among your tribe in a safe space. Your interactions reinforce your bonds and the culture of your group. You engage with your peers effortlessly. This place means a lot to you.

Historically, third places were organic and brick-and-mortar. Today, they can be less about where we meet than why, and we need third spaces in our digital lives, as well. Online communities have the potential to amplify the physical third place—say, your organization’s annual conference or your local chapters’ monthly meetups—and extend it year-round.

Here are a few ways to harness that potential:

1. Be and do in public.

Want to encourage people to trust you and feel comfortable opening up to others in the community? Make authenticity a nonnegotiable. Rachel Happe, cofounder of The Community Roundtable, notes that when community managers “work out loud”—meaning they are transparent about their efforts, thoughts and goals—members reciprocate because they see that “working out loud is easy to do and is rewarded with peer recognition and response.”

Working out loud could mean asking members for feedback, posting thoughtful reflections on issues important to your organization, celebrating accomplishments or being honest about the challenges you face.

This concept also has the bonus of creating a culture of transparency and inclusion in your members’ third place. Encouraging and fostering conversations about tough topics reminds your members that they are all a part of the conversation and have a seat at the table.

2. But, remember that what is written is perceived as “the word.”

Balance authentic activity with the knowledge that nothing you share in the community—or online anywhere—can be “off the cuff.” Quips that might pass by unremarked upon in speech are open to infinite analysis, rumination and comment when burned into pixels.

Before clicking “Post” or “Send,” try to imagine your members reading your post or message (here’s where those member personas come in handy!). If you’re sharing something that might cause controversy or upset, be sure to think through how you might respond.

Just like in real-life conversations, remind the members of your online community that they should think before they speak or type something out. There’s less of an opportunity to quickly backtrack online than in a face-to-face conversation, and tone can easily be misconstrued. In order for your online ‘third place’ to remain a safe place for your tribe, consider including some conduct guidelines.

And if something inflammatory or controversial is shared in the community, handle it with grace and compassion for all sides.  

3. Define what leadership looks like.

While third places are characterized by openness and democracy, they still need leadership. Ambassadors, champions and super-users can help spread community news, amplify and diversify messaging and culture, and connect with members on a peer-to-peer level. Be sure to define what leadership looks like in your community, and be sure to set your community leaders up for success.

These people aren’t meant to be in charge of anything. Like in other communities, these leaders are people who guide conversations, offer suggestions to others and help keep the culture of your third place consistent and reliable.

4. Make sure your user experience (UX) copy is speaking in your community’s voice.

The voices and stewardship of community managers and leaders are essential, but don’t forget that your community website is talking to members all the time—by itself! Helper text, error and success messages, notifications and other copy are all opportunities to imbue community culture and tone. Periodically review messaging and copy to ensure they’re on-brand—and even a little bit delightful.

Remember, member engagement can be part of your website’s design. When your online ‘third place’ encourages members to get more involved, interact with others and contribute in emotionally fulfilling ways, your members will return to the website again and again.

Here are a few nice touches from some Personify clients:

• The United Nations Foundation’s Girl Up Community speaks to girls and young women by having conversations in “chats” instead of “forums.” Same module, different vibe.
• The Blackbaud Community greets every new member with a welcome email that begins with the tongue-in-cheek “Welcome a’Baud!”
• The community for members of the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association is called—what else—The Hangar.
• If you have the services of a UX writer or copywriter, the community is a great place to use these. If you don’t, just remember screenwriter Michael Kanin’s mantra: “I don’t like to write, but I love to have written.”

Those moments you spend agonizing over each word will pay you back when you, and your members, visit your community and you feel like you’re truly where you belong.

The post For a Vibrantly Engaged Community, Look to Third Place Theory appeared first on Personify.