Supporting a Social Cause via Social Media.
Social media marketing has been a boon for social cause marketing, especially tools like Twitter and Facebook. Several social cause campaigns are running on social networking sites these days. Many not for profit organizations have recently joined Twitter and other social networking sites in order to promote their causes and they have received great support from the users of these medium.
Some successful Social cause marketing campaigns being run on Social Media are Pratham Books (@prathambooks Facebook Fan Page) , Make A Difference (@makeadiff Facebook Fan Page), Bell Bajao (@bell_bajao)and many more. Not only do they constantly interact with their followers they also use these platforms to spread their message and garner support for their causes. They are using their websites, blogs Facebook communities and tweets to make the people aware of various causes that they support. [List of Indian NGOs using Social Media Marketing]
The recent surge of celebrities joining Twitter and Facebook has also helped social cause’s marketers. Sachin Tendulkar (@sachin_rt) who regularly tweets about his efforts for campaigns like Crusade Against Cancer, Make A Wish, UN Environment Program and other programs that he supports, gets instant support and retweets from lakhs of fans following him on Twitter. This has a spiraling effect and users click on the links and also pledge their support.
And it’s not only the celebs who are helping causes online, some popular tweeple with their huge follower base are also making a difference in their own unique ways. @b50 and @annagh raised funds for a social cause during Diwali last year, based on Diwali wish tweets which used the #deepwish hash tag.
Similarly @netra has been organizing several tweetups from time to time in order to raise funds for various charitable causes. @hiyer has been able to garner popular support for several social issues especially Child Rights, Child Abuse, Gay Rights and many others through his blogs and articles. Kapil Dhawan or @streetanchor as he is popularly known to the twitteratti has a unique website Streetanchor.com where users can post videos and pictures of various social issues plaguing the society.
Small not for profit organizations who cannot afford conventional marketing mediums like TVCs and print ads on newspapers can easily adopt Social Media Marketing to gather support for their organization in terms of volunteers and funds. Social media presents an opportunity for these organizations to make a more focused approach in harvesting people’s interest and support.
We have also recently seen that social media has now gone mobile with various service providers giving away freebies for connecting with popular social networking sites. People today don’t have to be tied down with their desktops or laptops to share their views and spread the word. Neither do they have to read or write lengthy blog posts for it. They can do it on the go.
And with the media showering its attention on social media and celebrities joining social networking sites to interact with their fans, there is no dearth of users who will be more than willing to help out. As more and more people join social networking sites spreading the word for various social causes will only be easier with times to come.
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July 6, 2010 - 7:00 pm
@rangde (http://rangde.org) has also used social media very proactively giving away stuff, and blogging quite regularly about the latest developments in the organisation
July 6, 2010 - 8:22 pm
totally agreed.
social media is the new battleground for viewer attention. till the time its new, it is ruled by individuals and smaller players like NGOs.
i have a feeling that once even this becomes a part of the mainstream, then these sites will also become expensive for smaller players. till then, hopefully, lets wish the good samaritans best of luck.
we advertisers’ jobs just got more complicated
July 7, 2010 - 11:59 am
thanks for the mention Vivek. nicely drafted post – this one.
i agree with adee, yes, social media is a battleground for viewer attention. and if it is mediated well, for social causes, it uplifts spirits and increases awareness.
much that, in social media, one neednt be the cliché flag holding activist. you can just be yourself- shamelessly and vociferously share… and create an impact.
we just can “be”… and yet bring about “change”
July 7, 2010 - 2:24 pm
Hi, you might want to read about how FundACause has been spreading the word on NGOs and social causes here:
http://FundACause.posterous.com/about-FundACause
July 13, 2010 - 8:42 pm
I totally agree with all the people who have commented on this wonderful post…..!!!
Using social media as a tool for promoting social cause is a very unique and cost effective idea.
But one thing I want to quote here is that any media or any idea will not work until and unless people don’t take any step by himself..Because I don’t think that promoting this social cause through these social websites will work for long time because how many people are there who really bother about social cause kind of issues…Also how many are there who really know about these sites even.
So, I’m not discouraging this thing…but still I’m not fully convinced.
July 14, 2010 - 10:02 am
Thanks for the comment smriti… social media is just a platform to spread the word… it is not the goal it is just a means… using conventional media can be expensive for cash strapped not for profit organizations… the reach via social media is much more focussed than conventional media… it is easy to identify peer groups… word of mouth spreads faster… you must have seen it in the Jessica Lal case or for that matter Ruchika Girhotra case social media played an important role in both these cases… people who are really interested in making a difference will act anyways, social media just increases the reach of these organisations to those who are averse to conventional media… also it is a good way of increasing awareness… and one has to be present and using these social media platfor to understand how potent these tools can be in any sphere
July 15, 2010 - 1:16 am
this post is very usefull thx!