Social media in 2019: How you can stay ahead of the curve

If you rewind back slightly over a decade ago, many charities were looking at social media as a fad or a thing for the kids. Only a few saw the potential of what it could do back in 2007, however if we fast forward, we know it is one of the most important tools for charities today.

When we look at the impact so far, social media has changed the way we communicate, shop, date, parent, educate, donate money and more. With that being said, it has now become essential for charities to understand and be active across social media for 2019.

So what if you have 10k friends on Facebook?

The infancy stage of social media had huge importance on seeing how many ‘likes’ we could get but that is coming to an end. More and more charities are starting to realise that there is more than just getting ‘likes’ and ‘followers’ and are being a lot more strategic with what they do online as they are seeing the true benefits of these powerful platforms.

A lot of charities of all sizes are asking the question: So what? “So what if we have 10k followers on Facebook if none are doing what we want?”

All charities are now also media companies

The reality is that if you have published something on the internet or even sent an email, then you are a media company as well as a charity. Therefore, it is important to think like a broadcaster or a publisher because ultimately you are fighting for someone’s attention, usually your target audience.

If charities don’t know how to get attention and keep attention then the internet and its many digital platforms can be a lonely place.

Stronger Voices Social Media guide

I know first-hand how important social media is, but where do you start or how do you improve on your current efforts?

This is where the Stronger Voices ‘Social Media’ guide comes into play. In the guide I help you break down what social media is today, why it is important for charities and how you can go about using these tools to help grow, increase awareness and deliver support to your different stakeholders. You’ll also hear from Rethink Mental Illness on using social media to maximise the impact of their Time to Change campaign as well as tips from agency, MediaCom on content.

I have come across many charities that are doing exceptional things offline, but are struggling to showcase what they do online and this is what this guide is ultimately for: understanding and using social media to grow your charity in 2019.

The Stronger Voices guide series forms part of the wider Stronger Voices training programme created in partnership with the Equality an Diversity Forum and funded by City Bridge Trust, designed to help strengthen the voices of London’s equality sector.