Closing the Loop Between Social Media and Offline Action

There are different ways to close the loop between social media and offline action as we get better integrating social media into our overall marketing and communications plans.  Think in both directions - offline to online and online to offline.  And, remember it is important to track your tactics to see which ones work.

Offline to Online: Window Clings and Sandwich Boards

I was in Oakland, CA and discovered Fenton's Creamery, famous for its ice cream.  The line was out the door. 

Lines are good because you can contemplate that important decision:  What flavor?   While I was debating between chocolate chocolate chip and coconut pineapple 95% fat free flavors,  I noticed a small sandwich board sign promoting Fenton's Facebook Page.  I "liked it" from my iPhone.

I posted the above photo on my Facebook page, primarily to test how different content sparks interaction on my own Facebook page.  But as a bonus, I learned from Facebook expert Mari Smith, that sandwich boards and window clings with Facebook and Twitter IDS are an effective technique to close the loop between offline and social media.

Nonprofits:  Increasing Engagement

In the nonprofit world, we've been focusing on the online to offline connection, or more specifically how to turn Slacktivists into Activists with Social Media.  This excellent post by my business partner, Geoff Livingston, provides some excellent tips for encouraging deeper engagement from your nonprofit's online social media friends and fans. 

Creative Ways to Track

I've also been reading about tips to track how your online social network activities are driving offline actions.  While these methods are geared for small business, they could be easily used by nonprofits.  They include:

#1: Use Google Voice Number on All Social Media Profiles and Track
#2: Promote Offline Events On Social Media
#3: Offer Coupons Exclusive to Social Media Channels
#4: Host A Tweet Up
#5: Connect Social Media and Email Campaigns

This year, we are seeing the twin trends of greater awareness from nonprofits for the need to integrate social media with existing marketing and communications plans while at the same time audiences are yearning for greater social media engagement from the charities and causes they love most.  This could be a win-win situation for your nonprofit organization if stop thinking of your social media channel in a silo.

A few questions:

• What are you doing to encourage offline ---> online action and what are you doing to encourage online--> offline action?

• How are you tracking your efforts?

Comments

[Juliana Pernik]

My organization (comprised of "young professional" volunteers) relies heavily on Facebook and Twitter to engage our members offline. Twitter is useful to start conversations about our mission and upcoming events; we also use twitter to learn about opportunities with other nonprofits. We use Twitter to both inform our followers about nonprofit events in the community and to encourage them to attend such events in real life.

We use Facebook, on the other hand, primarily to form a community among individuals already involved in our organization. Many people come to one of our events without knowing anyone else. Facebook is an excellent way for our group's members to put names to faces and to initiate group conversations about volunteering in our community.

We have zero budget, but we've been able to create a community of about 600 volunteers thanks to social media channels.

I'm very curious about how others use social media and how we might be able to improve our efforts...I just started using Twitter when I started our organization, so I still consider myself a social media novice!

[Scott Hawkins]

The non-profit organizations I serve are just beginning to close the gap between on and off-line outreach. One simple idea has recently emerged: old-fashioned business cards for each board member with both personal and organizational twitter handles prominently featured. Of course, initial basic training in Twitter use will be required, especially for some of our older-guard members!

[Chuck Johnston]

Excellent post Beth! It's amazing how our offline and online worlds are slowly merging. Your example of getting ice cream and "Liking" the shop on Facebook is a good take on how "worlds" merge. I'm curious what your results were on Facebook? Did people comment or Like your post?

For our organization, as a non-profit startup we differ from traditional non-profits in that we exist almost entirely online. Nearly all interactions with donors occur via e-mail, twitter, and Facebook. I think you're absolutely right in your suggestion in your first paragraph that non-profits need to think in both directions online ---> offline and offline ---> to online.

[Brohamm]

What is the value of Facebook fans or Twitter followers if you can't mobilize them into action?

The problem with most organizations is their inability to task individuals with specific actions (online and offline) and then track their progress in real time. It's time to bridge the gap between online and offline...organizaitons must get better at moving people into action.

There is a huge opportunity here for improvement so we built a company around this problem. We'd love to get the community's feedback as we have a heart for service and want to help.

http://www.wildfireplatform.com

Joe - @brohamm

[Carol-Anne Moutinho]

At events and tradeshows, we hand out free hard-copies of our most recent Not-for-Profit Pulse (survey-based trends and issues research for nonprofits) and drive people to our blog and other social media channels for more research and discussion. We find this a great way to generate face-to-face discussion and we also see a boost in traffic to our SM channels afterword. Nonprofits that offer information and/or research to members might also benefit from doing something like this.

[Lorraine Kalal]

I'm excited to have found you (thanks to my sister). I'll be checking back as I help nonprofits in my area. I've also linked to you.

[Becky Weiand]

Great tips!! We have started to promote our facebook page around our office a lot and it has really helped increase traffic! We actually make a point to show our new employees the page during training and inform them that the page is an employee resource where they can go to have their voice heard!