Nothing tells ya "all these followers don't mean as much as I thought" like asking for 5 bux for a charity helping kids. I remember early on I did the math...if I have X followers and 35% of them give $1, I'll raise Z dollars. Then you raise 1/10th of z and go wait...but the followers. That isn't a knock, but it is a reality for most of us. See someone with a ton of followers ask them to support a charity for a small amount of money, where you can also see their thermometer, you'll be shocked at the # of donations to # of followers. Keep on building super fans over followers, people who will help you with things when you need it, likes don't clean lakes an environmental fundraising friend said toy me once. I've learned this lesson in the past, individual emails work so much better. If you wanna raise $ for your org you gotta do the work.
1000 true fans over everything https://kk.org/thetechnium/1000-true-fans/
Wil — To be fair, social algorithms suppress visibility on such asks, or things that just don’t naturally get reaction / engagement. I’m sure if the same message was communicated via an email list, the reaction would be much greater. But I feel you on the main point. Lots of followers doesn’t translate into action. Most people just don’t give a sh*t. And that’s life.
Wil Reynolds Point well made... Many years ago, I wrote an article titled: "What Is The Value Of A Like?" And today, I am still making the same inquiry. Back in the days of mail, postcard, newspaper and magazine direct marketing, we had a saying... "people vote with their dollars." Indeed, nothing has changed. The ability to reach the masses has become easy, fast and cheap (except for the time involved with content creation, editing and posting). But, to create true relationships is a skill that very few have mastered.
I agree with you, AND with the nuance that Rand provided. I do think this vernacular is very interesting of "Fans" and "Followers". I love the article "1000 True Fans" as much as anyone, and I also feel the need to point out that the term "follower" has really been bastardized beyond all recognition, especially by social media (in my lifetime) to be something lesser than. Christ, Ghandi, Martin Luther King Jr., Joan of Arc - those people had fans and detractors, but most importantly, they had -followers-. People didn't donate $5 to them, they gave their lives in service to shared cause. Real, owned, followership. I am totally a fan of Wil Reynolds (And Crystal too), but speaking as someone who has donated real dollars to the stuff you support, I really consider that to be owning my followership. (Despite the use of the term for a CTA button)
It takes a lot of thought and conversion streamlining to know when and how to ask for money. Most follower audiences are not prepped for the call to action. Look at political or some charity events that take in $Ms in days. Another vertical to study is follower audiences given something they really want to impact. Some Kickstarter, IndieGogo, and GoFundMe really know how to get that timing right. Using a professional follower group to drive social impact usually ends in disappointment.
Well, depending on the platform, an organic post will not get much traction due to the algorithm anyway. Some basic campaign types can be effective. Eventually, your followers can become the source for your favorite donor profile, and leverage this further down the marketing ladder. Cheers
I think it's the depth of the relationship. On social, I do not think there is substantial depth of relationship. I wouldn't call all of my followers to share some very happy or very sad news. So I wouldn't expect them to donate. I would expect friends (with a personal email) to help out the cause.
How much of that do you think is the medium and algorithm? e.g. Personalized email vs personalized LinkedIn message OR Email blast vs LinkedIn blast. Thinking about it, I know which ones I would be more likely to respond to.
I’ve also noticed that even amongst good people, Covid wore people out on fundraising. I used to be able to spark efforts but now I’ve failed on three or four in a row. People just are tired. Sadly.
Cofounder of SparkToro & Snackbar Studio. Author of Lost & Founder. Feminist. I love underdogs, cooking, & helping people do better marketing
2w100% agree about individual emails over social posts for fundraising or favors of any kind. But, disagree that this shows something about the lack of value followers have. Followers (on social) simply aren't optimal for that purpose, but similarly, having 400 friends you could email who'd donate $5 doesn't help you much at all if your goal is to spread an idea across an industry and influence the field's perception. Now, 40,000 social followers? Yeah, that'll really help. IMO it's not about what has some vs. no value, but about what kind of value and what kind of tactics to explore with each type of audience and medium.