Caitlin Thayer never expected to be in such demand. In fact, when she started consulting with nonprofits about social media, it was intended to be a small side job. Today, Barefoot Media LLC — the company she founded in 2009 — has become her full-time occupation. With demand for social media expertise skyrocketing, business is booming.
Social media, it seems, has fundamentally changed the way people — especially younger generations — communicate. In fact, every day, Thayer notes, more 250 million people use Facebook and 95 million tweets are sent through Twitter. “And usage of both platforms has doubled since February 2010,” she added.
With many nonprofits looking to raise awareness of their programs and attract new volunteers and donors, using social media — which Thayer defines as anything that is online and interactive — has become a necessity. “Organizations know they need a visible online presence, but many don’t know how to do it well,” she said. Enter Thayer’s expertise.
She has worked with a number of well-known Hartford-based nonprofits including Leadership Greater Hartford, United Way of Central and Northeastern Connecticut and the MetroHartford Alliance’s young professionals organization, HYPE.
“The key to success in social media is finding the right voice for your audience,” Thayer contends. “For some organizations, that requires educating people about what they do; for networking groups like HYPE, the tone needs to be very casual and event-centric.”
Julie Daly, HYPE’s program manager, agrees and notes that social media has revolutionized — and diversified — the way her organization communicates. It helps, of course, that HYPE’s membership is largely comprised of 20- and 30-somethings, a group that Daly concedes is very comfortable — if not obsessed — with using social media.
“Social media gives us incredible flexibility to connect with members,” Daly said, noting HYPE utilizes multiple platforms — including an e-newsletter, Facebook, Twitter and an interactive blog — to publicize upcoming events.
To maximize its exposure, HYPE often links its different social media channels, Daly explained. “We might launch a contest through twitter where you have to find a photo on our Facebook page or a topic in our of our blog posts,” she said. “The approach shows people all the places they can find HYPE in fun, interactive ways.
Such an approach, of course, takes work and dedicated resources — a necessity, if nonprofits are to leverage social media well, according to Thayer. She recommends that designated staff spend at least one hour a day on social media. “Nonprofits should be posting new information at least a couple of times a day,” she says. “It it’s not current, no one will pay attention.”
That’s a constant concern for Marty Rotblatt, director of marketing and development for Leadership Greater Hartford (LGH), who says the organization’s social media content is often top of mind. Each week, Rotblatt solicits staff input about content to be posted on LGH’s Facebook and LinkedIn pages. “The feedback becomes the work plan for the coming week,” Rotblatt explained.
In addition, LGH is establishing a volunteer-based task force to focus on how the organization can more effectively use social media. “We want to consider way we can integrate social media into our program curriculum, communications, and media relations efforts,” Rotblatt said.
And while covering all the social media bases may seem daunting, Thayer advises her clients, the majority of whom are nonprofits, to focus on those mediums that best suit their organizational needs. “For something instructional in nature, blogging may be a great approach,” Thayer explained. “However, for promoting events, Facebook may be the more effective tool.” Regardless of what platform organizations are using, Thayer cautions, the key is to do it well.
That’s the attitude Gloria McAdam has adopted. As president and CEO of Foodshare, the regional book bank for Hartford and Tolland counties, McAdam has used her daily blog for the past four years to raise awareness about hunger-related issues, comment on legislation and recognize donors and volunteers.
In the past couple of years, she says, her organization has also incorporated social media into its marketing and fund raising efforts as well. All press releases, for instance, are sent via Twitter and the organization’s annual Walk Against Hunger allows people to set up a fund raising page on Foodshare’s website and send donation requests to their online networks. And the strategy is paying off: of the $538,000 raised this year, more than $250,000 came from online donations — a number that has grown steadily over the past five years, McAdam said.
And online interaction shouldn’t stop when the donation comes in, Thayer contends. In fact, events — like Walk Against Hunger — are ideally suited for social media. “I recommend live tweeting during events,” Thayer said. “It can help let those who can’t attend follow what’s going on and keep them connected.”
Increasingly, it seems that connection is happening on social networks, considering that billions of pieces of information such as web links, news stories, blog posts, photo albums and video are shared online each week. That, of course, means there’s a lot of clutter vying for people’s attention, but Thayer sees that volume as an opportunity — particularly for nonprofits.
“It means there is demand for social media,” she says. “If organizations are looking to hook the next generation of volunteers and donors, building that connection will largely be online.” The numbers back her assertion: nearly 50 percent of 18 — 34 year olds start their day by updating Facebook, and among 18 — 24 year olds, Facebook usage has increased by 74 percent in the past year alone, according to figures compiled by website-monitoring.com.
Many organizations are scrambling to keep pace — and that’s been good news for Thayer, but she says her goal is to help her nonprofit clients develop approaches to social media that can be self-sustaining. That means Thayer will need to continuously find new clients, but she doesn’t seem concerned. In a world where 24 hours of video are posted to YouTube every minute, there will continue to be demand for social media expertise. And in the Hartford region, Thayer is likely to remain very much in demand.
