Using Twitter To Promote Your Cause

As regular readers will be aware I am a great advocate of charities and other causes maximising the benefits of the internet. This is especially so in terms of the Social Media opportunities which sites such as Twitter offer.

In the UK there has been recent influx of politicians onto Twitter. We are right in the midst of our 5 yearly cycle of electing the next Government and in the same ways as charities our political parties are trying to engage with as wide an audience as possible and to get their messages “out there” to the electors.

It’s great to see them taking advantage of Twitter and some are doing it incredibly well. Others are still working it out!

So as well as helping charities and other causes, I hope that as we enter the final stages of our General Election this post will also help them.

Let me say right at the outset that one of the biggest mistakes I see being made by people trying to promote causes (charity, political or other) is not following people back. If people have taken the time to follow you then surely it’s only good manners to follow them back? If they have followed you then they are interested in connecting with you, listening to what you have to say and hopefully supporting you.

Let’s think about it in terms of the offline world. If someone stuck their hand out to shake hands and said “Hi” would you ignore them? Would you turn down their donation? No of course you wouldn’t! The thought is inconcievable isn’t it? But that’s what I see many organisations and individuals do.

When I have asked the reason why I am told it’s because it’s impossible to keep up with the number of people. That’s why a programme like Tweetdeck (which is free) and the ability which Twitter offers to assign people to lists is so valuable. So don’t risk alienating people and of course remember that if you get people who you don’t want to engage with then you can add them to an appropriately named list! In the worst cases you even use the block function on Twitter.

Okay we have got that really key issue out of the way let’s look at some day to day practicalities of using Twitter to promote charities and causes.

1) Visibility – you must aim to have exposure on Twitter. Spend some every day writing new tweets and replying the tweets you get sent to you. Set up a daily routine for your twitter activities as well as the tweets you do on and off throughout the day or week.

2) Powerful profile – after registering at Twitter, one of your first priorities should be designing your own unique member profile. This page should aim to be interesting yet reflect your personal character or organisation.

3) Twittering – you should make a effort to tweet about the fun and interesting events as well as the more serious “messages” you want to get out there. Try to look at Twitter as a blank piece of paper, where you are free to write whatever you want others to know.

4) Twitter Networking – Millions of members use Twitter daily. Focus on making contact with those who are interested in what you are promoting.

Overall enjoy the opportunity to engage, connect and receive feedback – don’t think of Twitter as a pulpit from which you preach.

If you want to learn more then do read How To Use Twitter

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