Monday, July 30, 2012

Facebook for PR

A recent study of how nonprofits are using Facebook may offer some insights on the general impact and role of social media.  The study, a supplement to the annual eNonprofits Benchmark Study produced by M&R Strategic Services and NTEN Nonprofit Technologies, looks at how nonprofits have been using social media, the successes and failures, and makes some suggestions for the strategic use of Facebook and other social media outlets.
  First, some general results - the study found that the media nonprofit fan page had more than 30,000 "likes", and that wildlife and animal welfare related nonprofit sites were the most popular, with a median of more than 70,000 likes.  The use and popularity of nonprofit fan pages is showing significant growth. Between 2010 and 2011, the median growth rate for fan page users was 70%.  Churn (turnover in users) averaged 0.5% per month.  As for reach, the nonprofits examined reached an average of 20% of their fan base daily.
  The study also looked at several impact metrics. Using the People Talking About This (PTAT) measure, which measures how many people wrote about information on the fan page within a week, nonprofits averaged about 22 PTAT per 1000 fans.  About 9 per thousand "engaged" with the fan site on a daily basis (Daily Page Engaged Users).  Nonprofit fan pages had 2-3 "actions" (liking or commenting) per thousand fans (Daily Action Rate).  There were differences among the various nonprofit sectors in these "impact" measures.

Some of the recommendations -
  • "the key is to worry less about [the people who unsubscribe] and concentrate more on producing engaging content for the people who do want to hear from you."
  • "If your fan page is one-third the size of another group's page, but has three times the reach percentage, your message is reaching just as many people."
  • There are various ways to measure user involvement or impact, and nonprofits should focus on those that best match their missions and goals.

Sources -   Facebook Data Shows What WorksBrainyard News
You can access and download the main benchmark study, supplement, slides and webinar through http://www.e-benchmarksstudy.com/ 

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