Written by Emily Naismith, Spring 2020 Marketing and Strategy Intern
Through SODA's social media, we share stories of hope, high school and college students’ dedication to organ donation advocacy, and reasons why individuals should sign up to be organ donors.
In my internship at SODA, I learned many valuable lessons and skills that I will continue to carry for the rest of my career. For example, SODA has taught me what it truly means to give back to the community and contribute to a cause that can change the lives of so many people. Throughout this blog, I will be giving some major social media tips that you will be able to apply them to your own SODA chapters.
Tip #1: Use hashtags
Using hashtags within your post makes the content more engaging and is a great way to broaden your reach within the nonprofit community. Twitter reported that, “brands who use hashtags see a 50 percent increase in engagement compared to those who do not.” Hashtags allow social media users to find posts relative to their interests and can interact with other users who share those interests by using specific hashtags.
A few hashtags to consider using on platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram:
You can even put hashtags within your social media post. Here is an example of a post on our Instagram:
Here is an example of a post on our twitter:
Looking for more examples? Follow us on Instagram andTwitter! @sodanational
Tip #2: Reshare and Retweet!
Resharing posts is a great way to broaden your relationship with OPOs or other chapters. As a chapter, you can also retweet or reshare SODA’s National social media posts. We highlight other chapters on their milestones, or create blog posts about chapter leaders on their experiences volunteering with SODA.
An example of resharing content is shown on our Instagram page:
An example of retweeting is shown on our Twitter:
On our twitter, we retweet major holidays such as National Donate Life which is nationally celebrated every April! We retweet from accounts such as Donate Life America to get the word out about milestones in the organ donation community, stories of hope, and holidays.
Tip #3: Posting social media content during peak times
Another tip that we have is to post social media content during peak times of the week. Posting at these times can reach more likes, comments, reshares, and retweets on a post. We suggest following these times and day to increase engagement on your social media pages.
The most consistent engagement for Facebook is:
Best times: Wednesday, 11 a.m. and 1–2 p.m.
Best day: Wednesday
Worst day: Sunday
The most consistent engagement for Instagram is:
Best time: Wednesday at 11 a.m and Friday from 10 a.m-11 a.m.
Best day: Wednesday
Worst day: Sunday
The most consistent engagement for Twitter is:
Best times: Wednesday and Friday at 9 a.m.
Best days: Wednesday and Friday
Worst day: Saturday
Tip #4: Tell stories through your social media
On our social media pages, sharing stories of hope and organ donation milestones are a great way to capture the attention of the audience and advocate for the life-saving cause of organ donation.
For example, on our Instagram we shared the story of Jennifer, the mother of the second baby in the U.S born from the transplanted uterus of a deceased donor.
Sharing stories like these can help spread awareness about organ donation advocacy, and encourage others to sign up to be donors to give many individuals a second chance at life, or a possibility they never imagined could happen, such as Jennifer’s uterine transplant.
Tip #5: Use “link in bio” on Instagram.
Another tip is to use a link in bio when you are posting on Instagram. This is a call to action for your audience to either visit your website or to register to be an organ donor. Another tip is to change long links to bit.ly’s in order to shorten the links, and make a personalized back-end for the link.
For example, on our Instagram page we posted about a record breaking year for transplants in 2019:
In order for users to see the link, the link needs to be put in the “website,” section of Instagram in order to be clicked on. We changed the long link into a bit.ly, and added “organdonationmilestones” to the end of it to make it more engaging to the audience.
Thank you for taking the time to read Social Media 101 and we hope you consider these tips in your next posts for your chapters!
For more inspiration for your social media content, keep up to date with SODA by following us @sodanational.
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