NetSquared: Polished, Targeted Messaging through Social Media
If you’re trying to spark social change, it makes sense to approach it using one of your biggest assets: social media. Knowing that? The new NetSquared helps you keep your messaging polished and targeted. Right out-of-the-box, NetSquared is fully integrated with facebook, flickr, twitter and linkedin. The platform is also ready to embrace ‘what’s next’ as well.
Social media is changing the way the world works, there’s no doubt about that. The power of communication that social media holds with people and its uncanny ability to connect like-minded individuals these days is phenomenal – and it’s only growing larger by the day. So harness it with the new NetSquared! The new platform is all about social media integration and helping everyone get their message out there.
Here are a few different ways to do so:
1. Blog About It
Blogging allows you to reach all of your Facebook and Twitter followers without compromising the depth of your message – you can promote your blog and/or blog posts on each of your social media sites and still write compelling posts that help encourage impact through volunteerism within your readers’ respective communities. And by having your own blog website you can customize it fully to fit your organizations’ needs so that it best connects to people who want to be involved. NetSquared now comes with a fully integrated blog suite - http://www.netsquared.org/blog
2. Host a Twitter Party
This is a fast and effective way to reach a lot of people quickly. By creating a unique hashtag and promoting the party throughout all your social media outlets, you’ll create a virtual ‘party’ where people who are all working towards the same thing can get together and connect to one another and spread the word to others who are interested in helping promote social change. Twitter is completely integrated in the new netsquared when you set up your profile. There is a new "twitter" tab on your user profile. This is the engine that integrates your twitter community with NetSquared. #dailybit shares your latest challenges, victories and messaging with the entire NetSquared community.
You can learn how to throw a twitter party by visiting http://www.twitterpartyguide.com/what-is-a-twitter-party
3. Use Visuals and Videos to drive it home
You can do better than simply sending out text-based messages! You have to use visual appeals as well. People react to pictures and videos because they pull at people’s heartstrings in a way that text alone can’t. Words on a page remain just that until there are pictures to back them up, so make sure to include pictures or videos on your social media outlets.
The new NetSquared offers Flickr integration and a built-in WYSIWYG editor for your Net2 Local Group pages that lets you embed YouTube videos and images to really make your page tell the story of your group.
Also -- an image says a thousand words; try to include a photograph of your team or an inspirational photograph that drives your point home in your messaging.
4. Have a Call to Action - Use the new and improved Challenges Module
You can’t just have remote connections on social media though, you have to somehow connect to users on a local level, as well. The NetSquared platform arms you with our new and improved challenges module. Having something, such as an event, weekly meetings, and regular volunteering where people can actively participate will help bring that social change to a tangible level. Challenges are a great way to interact with the Net2 community and flex your organization’s muscle on the platform.
In the old platform - it required Net2 development work to post and set up a challenge - but on the new Net2 you can have an interactive challenge posted to the site in moments. You can build a new challenge today with your Net2 Partner administrator.
Visit http://www.netsquared.org/challenges/current to learn more.
5. Bring it all together
You would be amazed how much money and attention you can raise for a good cause and how many people will get involved through tactics like online bake sales, because it’s a situation where everyone wins and because it’s so easy to pass along the information to anyone and everyone.
If you’re new to the idea of online bake sales, they work like an online auction. Different people will volunteer to provide different ‘baked goods’ and then people can bid on each item with the knowledge that the money spent is going towards a good cause. Whoever wins the auction will get the baked goods mailed to them and the money will be donated towards whatever cause the bake sale is supporting. The internet knows no zip code boundaries, making it something that literally anyone can be a part of. You could set up the 'bake sale' in challenges, blog about it - and then tweet it out to your twitter - and #dailybit to send it to the entire Net2 community.
Here’s an example of a successful online bake sale that has covers every aspect: http://reciperenovator.com/healthyrecipes/cookies-for-cody/
Cody’s online bakesale rocks because it has a concise, solid story as to “why Cody?” It is accompanied immediately by photos and amazing lists of what to bid on. There is also a highly visible shout out to sponsors.
You don’t have to be literal like “cookies for cody” and sell/bid actual baked goods. Sell or bid on art projects - or bid out some consulting time from one of your rock-star team members. The selling point for getting sponsors and donors involved is that you can now leverage the world-wide NetSquared platform to promote your event.
Executed with savvy, bake sales can accomplish several goals simultaneously. Services and messaging from your organization is out to a wide audience; and your products and story will bring them back for more.
Social media is one of the most effective ways to call people to action, and you can bet that people will respond. Use it wisely and use it well and you’ll build up a following that will help change the world.
