Over the next few weeks, we’re shifting from celebrities charities to social media. Instagram is an excellent social media tool for your nonprofit, school or civic group, because of its emphasis on photography and videos. A lot more people, especially younger people, enjoy Instagram over Facebook because it’s fun and engaging. Although a lot of older people remain on Facebook, they too enjoy Instagram. In short, you see fewer disagreements and it’s a more relaxed place. So, before we get to Instagram success, we want to give you some facts.
If you want to get your nonprofit to leverage Instagram for marketing and fundraising, there’s no time like the present. Let’s start by knowing some of the facts about Instagram. Understanding them helps your charitable group to leverage it. According to Hootsuite, some of the things you should know about Instagram include:
- 1 billion people use Instagram each month.
- 71 percent of the people using the platform are under 35.
- 95 percent of the users on Instagram also use YouTube.
- 35 percent of people who go online also use Instagram.
So, let’s explore a few things about what you can do on Instagram to boost your brand. Remember, raising awareness encourages your followers to join you in making a social impact. As a result of following these tips, you get more Instagram success!
Hashtag Activism on Instagram
One of the easiest things for Instagram success is to promote your brand. And one of the best ways is to leverage the power of hashtag activism. In short, when you use hashtags, the objective is to share the information with your followers, supporters and the broader public. In turn, if it’s compelling, they may share your content, or take up your call-to-action. A call-to-action can involve asking people to share your post, make a donation, or watch a video, for example.
With the use of hashtag activism, you also look to get people to talk on social media about your cause or mission. If you get good at it, you engage with people and get them motivated to get involved. With hashtag activism, you could create your own hashtags. But you should also add some of the most popular ones on Instagram so people can find your information. Those include: #donate, #activism, #nonprofit, #givingback, #dogood, #socialgood, #giving, #philanthropy, #fundraiser, and #instagood.
80/20 Rule
The “Pareto Principle” (also known as the “80/20 Rule”) is something that holds true on social media as it does in other aspects of life and business. In brief, the 80/20 Rule means that 80 percent of your focus should be only on the top 20 percent of the activity. It was initially a concept related to economics. However, business management thought leaders later discovered that it could apply to almost anything you can think of in business and also life.
For social media platforms, such as Instagram, the rule means that people want to see 80 percent of the time images or videos associated with your cause but not directly related to it. The other 20 percent of the time, they welcome seeing your marketing or fundraising pitches. For instance, if you promote a particular fundraiser on Instagram, you should speak about it only 20 percent of the time in a week. Then, the other 80 percent of the time consists of posts related to your mission or cause but not asking. In short, this approach will help you attract more people because you’re not continually “selling” to them.
Advertisement on Instagram
Unfortunately, a lot of social media is about “pay to play” now that organic reach was throttled. So, you have to spend money and time on search engine optimization (SEO) and continually keep on top of the changes. One of the best ways to approach more people in marketing your nonprofit cause on Instagram is to use paid advertisement. You can find out more about advertising on Instagram by clicking here.
On Instagram, you have the chance to advertise your nonprofit organization in a number of ways. For instance, you can use sponsored photo ads denote it on the photo. Additionally, when you do a photo ad, there is a call to action for more information. A second option you can do is to do carousel ads, which work in the same way that photo ads do. However, but in this case you use multiple images.
You can also use video ads, which provide more traction with a more significant interest in video. Video ads work similarly to the other two approaches. As a result, each of these approaches will appear on the feeds of users to help you promote your cause. You also have the option of collection ads, which allow you to use both photos and videos. Finally, we’ll discuss Instagram Stories ads a bit more in our future post about the Instagram Stories feature.
Stay tuned to our blog and in the coming weeks ahead. We’ll explore more about Instagram success, including its local pages, Instagram Stories, IGTV, influencer marketing, and social media management tools.
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