Social media isn’t just good for business; it can also be used to help you garner support for your charitable cause. Some practices can be used in exactly the same way that commercial businesses employ them, while other practices may require minor adjustments. If you don’t know much about social media marketing, these tips can help you use your organization’s social media presence to spread awareness and support for your cause.

Share Your Events On Facebook and Twitter

If you’re hosting a food drive, charity dinner, or other fundraising event, sharing your event with your online followers can help you gain support. You may increase participation with a live video feed via your Facebook page. Later, you can share videos of the event on Twitter, which users can retweet to help you grow your reach.

Use Pinterest To Share Your Organization’s Needs

Pinterest is used for everything from sharing pop culture interests to sharing home decorating tips. It can also be used to help you tell the public what needs your organization may have, such as canned goods, clothing, or books. Some people are reluctant to donate, because they don’t know the best ways to help, but by posting pictures that tell people what you need, you may encourage more people to donate.

Don’t Forget Hashtags

Hashtags are important in helping you expand your reach. Without using hashtags, your followers may be the only ones who see your posts and, while those followers may share your posts, you will still drastically limit your reach. Try using popular hashtags that relate to your organization or cause. A hashtag is simply the # sign attached to a relevant word or phrase. Each time someone searches for that word or phrase, any post that incorporates that hashtag will come back in the search results.

Pictures Are Still Worth A Thousand Words

If you don’t have a video to share, you should at least share a photo in every post. Social media posts that include photos get significantly more interactions than text-only posts, so you should always try to include a picture. Your pictures should be original, clear, and relevant to your topic or caption.

As you begin using social media to market your cause or charity, you’ll find that some things work better than others. You can use this information to fine-tune the information you share on social media. Over time, this will help you develop the expertise to create more effective social media marketing strategies.