Social strategies are vital for charities to build an audience and engage with supporters. However, without skills in social media strategy, many charities risk having their efforts go to waste.
Hannah Snowdon joined Dorset Youth as a Clubs & Groups Project Worker in 2017 shortly after many of the local youth clubs had funding withdrawn. As a result, her role was extremely hands-on, encompassing HR, communication, and running the charity's social media accounts.
"I realised very quickly that I wasn't a social media expert, and we needed a bit of help and direction," Hannah explains.
She had seen Digital Candle advertised and couldn't pass up the chance to get free help, so she posted her question about improving the charity's social media strategy.
"It was a really good way for us to kind of self-coach a bit with any advice we could explore," she adds.
Digital Candle represents a team of over 500 experts, each with unique skills in digital. Once Hannah had submitted her question, she was introduced to her social media expert over email, and the pair organised a time for their one-hour call.
"She had done research on our social media accounts and brought information with her, which I was really impressed with," Hannah says.
Over the hour, Hannah explained the social media challenges she had and gained advice on the specifics of each social platform and possible scheduling tools. Her expert also offered additional advice on related areas.
"We talked about branding and Mailchimp and newsletters as well, which kind of wasn't part of the original question but was relevant," she adds. "I think I made four or five pages of notes because she gave me loads of good information."
After her call, Hannah came away with a solid understanding of where the charity was going wrong with its social media, leading to a more focused approach.
"It really made us think about where we wanted to post: we had a Facebook profile, an Instagram profile, a Twitter profile, plus a LinkedIn profile and stuff on YouTube as well. It focused our efforts," Hannah asserts.
She adds that the fact that her hour of advice was free was invaluable, as it saved the charity money that may have been spent employing a social media manager.
"Our social media posting became more frequent; we were getting better impressions and better reach. Seeing our social media presence improve was really rewarding."
Hannah says that the free social media advice gained through her Digital Candle call was incredibly empowering, especially when communicating with senior leadership at the charity.
"I had got a bit stuck in the sense that I knew what we were doing needed changing, but I didn't know how to change it," Hannah admits. "I was able to go to the senior leadership and say, 'I think this is the direction that we should take.'"